U.S. CTV viewing — which essentially shows that people are watching at home in their living rooms, not just on handheld devices — was up 21% between the beginning of March and the beginning of April, according to a Vevo rolling average, showing increases well above general CTV growth. More specifically, the family-viewing genre is up more than 45%, and soundtracks and scores are also up 28%, and (even more unusually for the month of March) holiday music is up 31%.
The Family Viewing Genre includes children’s music and soundtracks, Christian music, holiday music and similar fare.
Of the trend, Kevin McGurn, Vevo’s president of sales and distribution, said, “Family-friendly video content has always been integral part of Vevo’s catalogue. We are fortunate to have TV content ratings that place 80% of our videos as TV-14 or better. With families co-viewing from home now more than ever, we are really pleased to see videos from the world’s biggest stars be a source of comfort, creativity and community during this time.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new appreciation for streaming platforms while families are “together at home.” Variety recently reported that the streaming competition depends on strong children’s content, and during this time of self-isolation, the streamers have become a conduit to the outside and a way to stay connected to a world that is full of diversity — and that has applied to the music programming they’re watching as well.
This commentary was originally published at Variety on May 23, 2020
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