Report

Online Videos in India—The Long and Short of It

An insight into users, platforms, and creators of online videos in India.

By Arpan Sheth, Shyam Unnikrishnan, Sriwatsan Krishnan, and Manan Bhasin

First published on octubre 06, 2021
min read


Online video consumption has exploded over the last few years, with a surge in both users and usage bolstered by prolonged stay-at-home periods during the pandemic. India’s large base of approximately 640 million Internet users, of which about 550 million are smartphone users, is rapidly growing and spending more time online. The Indian Internet user spends more time online than several countries globally, including China. Most of this time—a staggering one hour per day for a smartphone user—is spent consuming videos India’s online video user base has scaled to more than 350 million people, growing at 24% annually from 2018 to 2020—two times faster than countries such as China and Indonesia. Time spent on online videos per daily active user per day has increased by 60% to 70% over this period. Despite this rapid boom, there exists massive headroom for growth—online video user penetration in India is nearly 60% of Internet users, compared with more than 90% in China Digital video entertainment consists of short-form videos (SFV), which are between 15 seconds and two minutes, and long-form videos (LFV), which are more than two minutes long. Videos can be made by users or professional creators, and they may be prerecorded or livestreamed. A mix of global social media and entertainment giants as well as local specialist platforms are getting in on the online video action. The lines that have traditionally divided SFV from LFV are increasingly blurring. Platforms are expanding offerings to cater to broader consumer needs and occasions to enhance stickiness. DOWNLOAD THE REPORT (PDF)

Online video consumption has exploded over the last few years, with a surge in both users and usage bolstered by prolonged stay-at-home periods during the pandemic. India’s large base of approximately 640 million Internet users, of which about 550 million are smartphone users, is rapidly growing and spending more time online. The Indian Internet user spends more time online than several countries globally, including China. Most of this time—a staggering one hour per day for a smartphone user—is spent consuming videos

India’s online video user base has scaled to more than 350 million people, growing at 24% annually from 2018 to 2020—two times faster than countries such as China and Indonesia. Time spent on online videos per daily active user per day has increased by 60% to 70% over this period. Despite this rapid boom, there exists massive headroom for growth—online video user penetration in India is nearly 60% of Internet users, compared with more than 90% in China

Digital video entertainment consists of short-form videos (SFV), which are between 15 seconds and two minutes, and long-form videos (LFV), which are more than two minutes long. Videos can be made by users or professional creators, and they may be prerecorded or livestreamed. A mix of global social media and entertainment giants as well as local specialist platforms are getting in on the online video action.

The lines that have traditionally divided SFV from LFV are increasingly blurring. Platforms are expanding offerings to cater to broader consumer needs and occasions to enhance stickiness.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT (PDF)