VIA BEETCAM– As people stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, data is showing an increase in media consumption across all platforms. This may come as no surprise, but in a BeetCam interview, Peter Bradbury, chief commercial officer of Nielsen Global Media US, provided greater detail around exactly how much of an increase there has been so far.
This uptick is consistent with other major events like the Snowpocalypse and other weather phenomena, and also in line with the behaviors of people who work remotely, who typically spend a few more hours every week engaging with media.
In some areas that have been quarantined, there have been significant spikes, such as Seattle, which is up 22 or 23 percent across demographics. For younger demographics, consumption has almost doubled, especially for gaming devices.
But what is changing about the greater media landscape due to coronavirus? It’s already clear that there has been a mass production halt, both in scripted programming and in live events like sports.
“There definitely is a change in the content that will be available for folks to consume.” Bradbury says. “That’s irrefutable at this point.”
Instead, people are choosing to spend more time binge-viewing, catching up on old programming, and gaming.
“So although the supply of new stuff is certainly going to slow for a bit,” Bradbury says. “We don’t see any sort of trail off in consumption. Just the opposite, significant increases.”
It remains to be seen how this will affect the buying and selling ecosystem. Guarantees that were made in deals for current programming were made in a pre-Coronavirus world. This should be good for both the sellers and the buyers who will get larger audience exposure.
These trends are all consistent with early reads coming from countries like China and South Korea who experienced Coronavirus before the US. As people in these countries have been out of the workplace, they have spent more time consuming media.
“They’re catching up on world news and local news to understand the impact of the pandemic,” Bradbury says. “But they’re also just viewing a lot more entertainment, playing a lot more video games, and choosing to binge watch shows and get caught up. It’s a good way to take a break from the news cycle.”
Bradbury was interviewed remotely at home via the BeetCam powered by Zoom.
