Telenor says the increased viewing to its T-We platform during the lockdown has continued, even though much of Norway has now reopened for business.
Audiences in May average at 7 per cent higher than the same period in 2019, despite sport and the Eurovision Song Contest being largely absent from TV screens.
“The fact that TV viewing increased with the closure of society is no surprise, but now we see that it persists. I would dare to predict that when many people stay in their home country over the summer too, and now that football and other sports are starting up, we will see a much higher consumption of TV content in the time ahead, says Camilla Amundsen, head of fixed network and TV, Telenor.
The T-We platform has in the region of 580,000 homes.
Norway’s annual Constitution Day on May 17 – when Norwegians would typically be out celebrating with friends – produced the largest audiences.
“We see a large increase in both streamed content and traditional linear TV viewing. News is the largest linear growth, and we notice that international news channels have increased viewing time. Of the households that follow CNN, the viewing time has increased from 1.5 hours in January to 4.5 hours in May,” says Amundsen.
97 per cent of TV viewing takes place from the TV box, or smart TV connection. The remaining proportion of TV viewing takes place on tablets, mobile phones and computers.