Ranbir Kapoor’s Sanju was the most discussed movie of 2018, beating Padmaavat and Raazi, according a joint report by UC Media Lab，Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Balaji Motion Pictures. The report sheds light on entertainment content trends and preferences on mobile phones for the year, analyzing Page Views and integrated Popularity Index. Ranbir Kapoor, on account of his movie release and personal life, was among the most discussed actors of the year, beating Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan. He shares the top spot with Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar.
2018 is the year when content emerged as the King with many low-budget movies striking gold at the Box Office. Manmarziyaan, Badhaai Ho, Andhadhun and Blackmail got a big thumbs up from viewers and raked in big moolah for the industry.
Celebrities’ life and gossip got the maximum eyeballs than movie and music；Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra were the most discussed celebrities
Analysing the content preference in Entertainment sub-categories, life of the stars and gossip surrounding their personal life tops the list of mobile entertainment content consumption, followed by news and discussion around Movies and Music along with Celebrity Fashion. Though Race 3 failed to live up to audience expectation，Salman Khan was still the most discussed bollywood actor of the year. Being the richest Indian celebrity in 2018, Khan’s TV show, Bollywood business, and personal life can always trigger discussion from the mass and media.
Among the actresses, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone retained numero uno positions. Priyanka climbed the popularity charts not just in India but in Hollywood too. Her wedding to American singer Nick Jonas hogged limelight and the fairy tale romance generated much discussion online. Deepika Padukone rode high on the success of Padmaavat, and her marriage to actor Ranveer Singh kept her in the spotlight.
Comedy actors and films have been very popular in Bollywood with many mainstream actors dabbing into comedy to cater to a wide audience. Akshay Kumar remains one of the most popular all-time comedic actors, followed by Govinda, Rajpal Yadav and Johnny Lever.
Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian television game show based on British programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, remained the most discussed reality show on TV. Kumkum Bhagya was the most discussed TV serial in 2018. The series is produced and developed by Ekta Kapoor under the banner of Balaji Telefilms, and is directed by Sameer Kulkarni. Kundali Bhagya and Naagin 3 were also part of the Top 5 list.
Kapil Sharma was back in the limelight with the return of his very-popular The Kapil Sharma Show. He was the Most Discussed TV Celebrity of 2018, along with Karan Singh Grover and Karanvir Bohra. Hina Khan, Jennifer Winget and Divyanka Tripathi were the top TV Actresses of the year and garnered maximum attention.
Redmi phone users from Delhi and Maharashtra contributed most page views on mobile entertainment content
According to the report, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat are the Top 6 States with Biggest Mobile Entertainment Content Consumption. Users in these cities have a preference for the Redmi mobile brand due to its cost effectiveness and high-end features. Samsung and OPPO are the other 2 most popular Smartphone Brands among mobile entertainment users. In the entertainment genre, mobile users prefer reading articles rather than watching video and gallery on UC’s platform. Articles of movie reviews, celebrity gossips account for the biggest pie. However, video format (movie scenes, fighting scenes, action scenes, romantic scenes etc.) accounts for 35% in overall entertainment content consumption and has big potential for growth.
User behavior on mobile screens will gradually play a bigger role for entertainment content marketing
Entertainment is the largest category in mobile content consumption for Indian users on UC’s news feed platform. Indian smartphone users spend 1.1 hours on an average on content related to entertainment every day. Recent developments of mobile screens have fundamentally impacted traditional media and entertainment industry within the Indian market, gradually changing viewing habits of people. With increasing popularity of smart devices and acceleration of network speeds, Indian users are gradually shifting from traditional media to digital media for content consumption. India’s growing middle class, a large population of millennials, increased economic growth prospects, as well as the development of digitization are some of the factors leading this trend. As the No.1 third-party mobile browser in the world, UC Browser, together with UC News, aims to deliver enjoyable content and experience to millions of users. UC has successfully partnered with multiple movies including Zero, Kedarnath, Uri: The Surgical Strike, Batti Gul Meter Chalu and Baazaar in the recent past.