TV and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of the Television Platform Consumption Choices of Millennials in Gauteng during a Pandemic

On 31 December 2019 the first reports of COVID-19 appeared. To control the spread of the disease, countries across the globe implemented social distancing and quarantine measures. In South Africa, a nationwide lockdown was implemented on 26 March 2020 which meant that the majority of the South African population were housebound. Very little research has been conducted to establish the effect of the pandemic on the way South Africans consumed television. This was a mixed-methods study of 385 Millennial television viewers in Gauteng, South Africa, to establish the ways in which the pandemic affected the type of television platforms used and subscribed to, considering the physical and financial ramifications of the nationwide lockdown. The findings indicated that, among Millennials in Gauteng, over-the-top (OTT) streaming services were the preferred television platform, with most participants using Netflix as their main source of TV entertainment. Many participants also indicated an intention to “cut the cord” with pay-TV providers, once live news and sport broadcasts become available on OTT TV platforms. The shift from pay-TV to OTT services was accelerated by financial constraints caused by the pandemic.