Dekh Bhai Dekh, Malgudi Days and others a hit during lockdown: Airtel

Even ‘Bollywood classics’ section has seen a streaming volume growth of 100%. This includes movies like Chaudhavin Ka Chand, Mother India, Don, Padosan and Andaz Apna Apna.

cult TV shows like Malgudi Days, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Zabaan Sambhal Ke, Rajani and many more have reportedly witnessed 300% surge in streaming volumes. (REUTERS)

With increased consumption of internet, the Covid-19 lockdown has also resulted in the increased use of TVs. And now Airtel has revealed what its Xstream users are binge watching most of the times throughout the day. As per the firm, cult TV shows like Malgudi Days, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Zabaan Sambhal Ke, Rajani and many more have reportedly witnessed 300% surge in streaming volumes.

Even 'Bollywood classics' section has seen a streaming volume growth of 100%. This includes movies like Chaudhavin Ka Chand, Mother India, Don, Padosan and Andaz Apna Apna.

Airtel adds that around 80% demand surge for retro content comes from users who are placed in non-metros and smaller towns in states such UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Also, the average session time on Airtel Xstream has also risen by 40%.

"The current situation has made video entertainment an obvious and large use case. At the same time, it has given all of us more time and space to travel back in time and rekindle some fond memories as the situation also make us emotional. Airtel Xstream has been focused on India-first content and our solid library of classics is giving us a good play and driving up user engagement," said Adarsh Nair - Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel.

With more people sitting at homes during the lockdown, other streaming services are also likely to witness a surge in viewing sessions. And keeping that in mind, companies like Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have decided to stream videos in lower resolution than usual so as to prevent servers from overloading.