Pandemic and long-term dynamics of media consumption

Abstract

The results provide evidence that COVID-19 is a significant factor influenced the consumption of two leading media in Russia - television and the Internet. Since the pandemic is a global phenomenon, the study of the Russian media usage is conducted taking into account international media trends. The research indicates that the pandemic reinforced existing media consumption patterns or reversed them. Authors argued that technological communication innovations of the last decade have played an important role in this regard. It is shown that the trend of reducing the duration of audience viewership, which was previously inherent in television, was reversed during the 2020 pandemic. The results reported that the long term trend of increasing the duration of Internet use continued. This is especially true for online video segment. The significant increase in media consumption was observed during the first wave of morbidity and the introduction of quarantine measures. The pandemic has changed the socio-psychological atmosphere in society, influenced people’s way of life, which has led to the intensification of information processes in society. Media convergence processes gained additional momentum in the year of the pandemic. Mentioned above leads to deepening of mediatization. User screens of TVs, smartphones and other devices now form a unified space of struggle for the attention of the audience. This increases competition between traditional TV companies and global technological platforms, and has significant political, economic, and socio-cultural consequences.