TV: A thing of the past?

We, at FSG, were curious to understand how young mothers from low-income households were using smartphones, because it had implications on how we were building out one of our programmes.

Most women we spoke with reported actively using YouTube for entertainment and to watch ‘do-it-yourself’ videos, which included discovering new rangoli designs, or learning about fashion and new stitching styles.

Many of them search for videos using voice commands, as it is simpler and more convenient than searching by typing on their phones. A young tailor said that she just has to say ‘naye salwar ke design’ (new suit designs) and YouTube would show her a list of options. She then uses the related videos section to discover other videos.

Despite the growing popularity of smartphones, they haven’t replaced the television as the main source of entertainment. The latter allows an entire family to watch together, and makes it easier to consume content passively, while performing other household tasks and work. As the young tailor says, “I can stitch clothes for my customers or perform household chores while the television is playing in the background. I cannot do the same while watching videos on the smartphone.”

Mahesh Nayak is an associate director at FSG in Mumbai. Riya Garg has experience as a management consultant, specialising in social impact. (They would like to thank Ashish Karamchandani, Jaagruti Didwania, Ishwar Gawande, and Mansha Kumar for their support and guidance on the study.)

This story has been edited from FSG’s blog.

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