Study: The peaks in Indonesia media consumption

The COVID-19 situation has finally eased up a little in Indonesia, with its large-scale social restriction measures (PSBB) going into a transition phase in early June. During the implementation of PSBB, Indonesians were urged to stay at home and avoid social interaction, which ultimately gave rise to new habits and routines.  

According to a report by content discovery platform Dable, media consumption has increased during the COVID-19 period among Indonesians. These increases are namely in business and regional categories, entertainment category, and on mobile and personal computers (PC). The report is based on internal data collected by Dable from February to April 2020.

In March, the total traffic of media consumption increased by 28% since February after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced in Indonesia. In April, although there was a slight decrease, high-level of traffic was still maintained. This is amidst the spread of COVID-19 and the implementation of its large-scale social restriction measures (PSBB) in the country.

1. Surge in media consumption in business and regional news

Media consumption in the business category increased by 62% in April, as compared to February when stocks rapidly declined due to the fear of the COVID-19 virus. In April, media consumption in the regional category also increased by 61% compared to February. There was a general increase across all media categories (business, entertainment, general news, news, regional, sports) in March, while the news and sports categories saw a decrease in April. 

2. The leap in content consumption on mobile and PC

Content consumption on mobile and PC have also seen an increase over the past few months. In March, before the full-scale work-from-home measures were implemented, traffic from PCs increased by 35% as compared to February. The consumption level on PC decreased slightly in April, while the increased level of mobile consumption was maintained.

3. Prominent increase of media consumption in entertainment category

On average, Indonesians sharply increased the daily consumption of entertainment content due to the tiring effect on COVID-19 news. Whereas in April the sports category decreased by 12% compared to February due to the suspension of sporting events as preventive measures against COVID-19, according to Dable.

Dable is a content discovery platform that analyses data collected from over 2,300 media companies worldwide to provide tailored recommendations to site visitors based on various personal traits (such as gender, age, areas of interest). Established since 2015, the South Korean company has operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Korea, and Taiwan as well. According to its website, it has partnership with over 1,200 media affiliates in Asia in 2018. Some of its media partners in Indonesia include Republika, Tempo.co, MSN, ANTARA News, and VIVA.

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