MUMBAI: Times Internet has released a study titled ‘The Changing Lingual Face of Digital India’ highlighting the rapid shift of digital users towards regional content consumption. With this study, Times Internet has validated the rising trend of online content consumption across the eight most widely consumed regional languages in the country. To map the magnitude of this trend, online content consumption patterns of over 90 million netizens were evaluated, unveiling many future possibilities and the impact of content in regional languages.
According to the study, out of the 90 million plus surveyed digital users, more than half of the Indian internet user base is non-English. More than two thirds of Hindi readers are also reading English. Regional languages have surpassed English with a 66 per cent share in overall content consumption.
Across all regional languages, news as a genre sees the highest content consumption at 67 per cent, followed by Sports at 17 per cent and Entertainment at 16 per cent. Whereas, News in Bangla language tops the chart with 72 per cent.
Out of the 66 per cent, the ratio of specific regional language consumption is that 4.49 per cent user base consumes Kannada, 5.61 per cent Tamil, 5.61 per cent Telugu, 7.44 per cent Bangla, 8.98 per cent Marathi, 3.08 per cent Malayalam, 4.49 per cent Gujarati, 35.6 per cent Hindi and 24.57 per cent in English.
The regional language user base in India has grown at a CAGR of 41 per cent between 2011 and 2016 to reach the current 234 million. This is expected to grow by 18 per cent CAGR to reach 536 million by 2021 versus English, which is expected to grow at 3 per cent CAGR to reach 199 million by 2021. By 2012, regional language users will account for 75 per cent of India's internet user base.
Regional language content consumption is not limited to native state/cities anymore but it is a countrywide trend now. Delhi consumes 52 per cent in English, 47 per cent in Hindi, 0.4 per cent in Marathi, 0.4 per cent in Bangla and 0.2 per cent in Kannada. Mumbai consumes 62 per cent in English, 18 per cent in Hindi, 19 per cent in Marathi, 0.4 per cent in Gujarati and 0.6 per cent in Kannada.
The study highlights that content consumption in regional languages among younger audiences is fast growing, with consumption among Indians in the 25-34 age group being the highest.
Currently, women are consuming regional language content highest than ever before. Among female users, Gujarati language sees the highest online content consumption at 44.78 per cent. Whereas, 22.02 per cent of Hindi content, 29.22 per cent of Marathi content, 29.75 per cent of Kannada content, 30.61 per cent of Bangla content, 22.37 per cent of Tamil content, 23.95 per cent of Telugu content and 38.83 per cent of Malayalam content is consumed by women.
Mobile is fast becoming the primary screen for regional language content consumption with Hindi consumed for 69.7 per cent, Marathi consumed for 40.3 per cent, Kannada consumed for 61.8 per cent, Bangla consumed for 66.3 per cent, Telugu consumed for 65.6 per cent and Malayalam consumed for 72.7 per cent.
The report states that India is inching closer to becoming a digital-first nation as affordable smartphones and low priced 3G and 4G connections are driving internet penetration and digital literacy in the country. Access to high-speed Internet connectivity is no longer restricted to metro cities, which is causing a massive shift in online content consumption patterns, across the country.
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