A series of recent studies by various parties have found that women in India are consistently turning towards their mobile phone as a source of entertainment.

A recent study published by Google and IPSOS reported that Indian consumers are ditching their televisions for smartphones faster than any of the 40 countries surveyed. In fact 49% of the respondents from India stated they would rather give up their Television than their smartphone.

Mobile TV company Yamgo recently ran a research campaign in a bid to discover more about their audience. The 4 week study spanned several platforms including social media and focus groups and Yamgo’s websites and applications.

Ian Mullins the CEO and founder of Yamgo TV said, “Our audience is growing globally on a daily basis and it’s important to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our viewers. We want to ensure that we are consistently providing our viewers with content that they are going to love, websites and apps that they find easy to use and a quick streaming service. The best way for us to ensure we are meeting these criteria is by asking Yamgo viewers directly what they want from their mobile viewing experience”.

Findings from the research has both supported the existing knowledge of Yamgo and provided useful insight into emerging trends in the industry.

The research showed that Yamgo TV has a strong following of Indian women aged 18-24 with a particular interest in fashion. Our research showed that Indian women in the 18-24 age bracket were markedly more engaged with Yamgo’s extensive line up of fashion content. Fashion focused adverts received a far higher click-through rate than similar adverts for different genres. The Indian females in this age bracket also were also far more socially engaged than their older counterparts and proved to be far more likely to act on an advertisement that featured a social recommendation from a friend (e.g a Facebook Like) than a paid for advertisement. The research found that Bollywood is the second most popular television genre amongst Yamgo’s Indian female audience and also found that News is the most popular genre for women aged 35-44, two times more popular than any other genre in this age range.

With research by Nielson placing the estimated number of smartphone users in India at 27 million these recent studies by Google, IPSOS and Yamgo could have major implications for the future of mobile television and advertising in India.

The take-up of television in India has been rapid and it has become clear that the role of television is changing the lives of Indian women, particularly in rural areas. The world of TV opens windows for viewers to see what life is like in other cultures which demonstrates an alternative lifestyle in comparison to their own. A study by Jensen (Brown University) and Oster (University of Chicago) held profound insight into the impacts television has on Indian women.

The study followed women in 2,700 households over 180 villages. The authors found that the arrival of cable TV and shows likes “Days of our Lives” quickly impacted the beliefs and opinions of rural Indian women. Results from the study found that after the delivery of cable TV, girls between the age of 8 and 10 were 8% more likely to go to school and the number of births by women under the age of 35 fell by more than half.

The findings of the study show that TV has ability to strongly influence the viewer- however it is apparent that viewers are becoming more opinionated about the content they want to see on their screens.

Sahara One is one of India’s top entertainment conglomerates which recently signed a deal with Yamgo to broadcast on the mobile network. A representative for Sahara One said about the strength of female viewers, “As an entertainment channel we have a strong female following. What’s important to learn about female fans is that they are far more likely to discuss events that have occurred on TV with their friends and family than male viewers. Our female followers are highly engaged and social which means that Sahara One is talked about frequently amongst our viewers, therefore reinforcing the Sahara One brand”.

The research shows a large percentage of Indian consumers have a preference for their smart phone over traditional television which will develop an increase in demand for mobile television content. A large percentage of Indian females now have instant access to influential programmes and entertainment which may result in further developments of the Indian culture, particularly as mobile devices become more readily available to rural area of India.

As a mobile TV company with an international audience, Yamgo consistently researches and interacts with viewers in order to deliver premium content that their audience will favour. Yamgo TV is available to watch for free from www.yamgo.com or to watch direct from a mobile device www.yamgo.mobi.

The Yamgo application is free to download from all leading app stores including iTunes and Google Play.

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