Virgin Media, the leading cable operator in the UK has revealed how Covid-19 has shifted TV viewing habits of its customers in a new data published.
In the early stages of lockdown, Virgin Media saw a 10% increase in customers watching TV compared to pre-lockdown, with every customer watching an extra 41 minutes per day on average.
News, music and radio channels saw huge growth in demand as customers tuned in to stay informed and entertained. Appetite for video on demand programmes and streaming apps has also grown significantly, with customers spending 29% longer watching programmes at a time that suits them using Virgin TV.
Driven by the fast evolving situation and daily media briefings, news channels saw the largest boost in popularity during lockdown. Virgin Media customers spent 17 million more hours per week – 25 minutes on average per customer each day - watching the news in early lockdown compared to pre-lockdown.
With millions more people working from home, music and radio channels experienced a 50% increase in demand as customers tuned in to their favourite hits to stay entertained.
The popularity of streaming apps showed no let up during lockdown. Customers turned to on demand TV and streaming apps in their droves, spending 29% more time watching video apps in early lockdown than the pre-lockdown period, with Netflix experiencing a 32% surge in app usage time via the Virgin TV platform during early lockdown.
The YouTube app was also accessed by 16% more users and overall viewing time increased by 37%. With families spending more time together indoors fighting over the TV remote, multiscreen viewing has proved hugely popular with a third more customers turning to the Virgin TV Go on demand service in early lockdown. The growth in demand for multiscreen viewing has continued throughout lockdown and now live sport has returned to our screens, Virgin TV Go use of live TV has increased 12% increase in May when compared to April.
David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer, Virgin Media
Whether tuning in to the latest news or catching up on favourite movie or TV series, our customers have been glued to their television sets throughout lockdown to stay informed and entertained.
