Despite TikTok ban, India’s short-video consumption is rising in leaps and bounds

New Delhi | Mumbai: Indian social media users are spending more time on short videos, with little sign their appetite has been blunted by the ban on Byte-Dance-owned TikTok. Video views have shot up to the billions for apps such as MX Player’s TakaTak, Roposo and Trell. Facebook’s photo-sharing app Instagram also said engagement had risen for its short-video format Reels, which was test launched a week after the ban was imposed on June 29 on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok following border hostilities. A Roposo spokesperson said the app saw 60 million users in July and user engagement had been exceptional, with more than 2 billion video views per day. “Talent-based content is doing extremely well in terms of engagement,” the person said. “Funny videos and voiceovers are the other winners. We have more than 24 channels across a variety of categories–comedy, entertainment, films, devotional, music etc., that lets users create and consume content as per their interest.” TakaTak’s video views rate has grown to more than 1 billion daily within a month of its launch, said MX Player chief executive Karan Bedi. The average daily time spent per user on the app is about 20 minutes. 77666040TakaTak has about 45 million monthly active users. MX Player is owned by Times Internet Ltd (TIL), part of the Times of India Group, which publishes The Economic Times. “We have grown from 0 to 1 billion video views per day in this one month,” Bedi said. “Over 15 million videos have been uploaded in this month on the platform and are seeing great traction. We expect to continue growing exponentially in the time to come.”Virat Kohli, Neha Kakkar and Katrina Kaif are using Reels, said Manish Chopra, director and head of partnerships at Facebook India, adding that Reels is being received very well. Video accounts for more than a third of the posts on Instagram in India. “A variety of public figures and creators, from across India, are starting to use the feature,” he said. “Short-form video has become a big part of how people want to be entertained, both on our app and others.” Gaana chief executive Prashan Agarwal said the app had crossed 185 million monthly active users as more people signed up for the HotShots app. “More than 300,000 creators have joined Gaana HotShots over the last one month,” he said. “We are seeing around 115+ video views per user per month.” Over the next nine months, the app plans to move up to 250 million monthly active users on the back of its content offerings across short videos, music and podcasts. Gaana is also owned by Times Internet Ltd.

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