Audio series platform Pocket FM released its ‘Rewind2023: How India Got Entertained This Year’ highlighting the consumption behaviour and trends on the platform during the year.
The platform exceeded 75 billion minutes of streaming, with an average monthly streaming of over six billion minutes. The listener community has crossed 130 million across the globe. It has registered over 20 million transactions in 2023, closing the year with 2.5 million monthly transactions. Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore turned out to be the most active cities, with over five billion minutes being streamed from here. Emerging cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Surat and Pune also ranked in Pocket FM’s top 10 Indian cities for 2023.
In 2023, the top genres were drama, romance, and sci-fi and fantasy. Males showed a preference for drama series, while females exhibited a greater interest in romance. Surprisingly, both genders demonstrated equal excitement for sci-fi and fantasy series consumption.
The platform achieved growth in 2023, doubling its audio series catalogue to end the year with 2000-plus titles. 17 audio series surpassed 100 million plays, while 40 titles exceeded 50 million plays. In terms of revenue, 13 audio series surpassed the Rs 10 crore mark, and 25 series achieved Rs 5 crore in collections. Insta Millionaire turned out to be a mega-blockbuster with Rs 100 crore revenue collections.
The standout shows of the year, ‘Insta Millionaire,’ ‘Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To,’ and ‘Devil Se Shaadi,’ emerged as hits, leading in both playtime and revenue collection in India.
“This year, audio series as a category has surged in popularity, firmly establishing as a mainstream entertainment choice. We have emerged as a leading entertainment destination, boasting an average daily time spent of over 115 minutes and witnessing 24×7 entertainment consumption throughout the day. This year our blockbuster series Insta Millionaire has crossed Rs 100 crores in revenue, possibly the first entertainment title in audio to achieve the landmark. We predict this trend to get stronger, with audio series rising to prominence among the top three forms of entertainment, inspiring and complementing the storytelling in movies, web series, and TV,” Rohan Nayak, co-founder and CEO, Pocket FM, said.
Pocket Novel has grown with its revenue increased by 500%. Transforming into a literary haven, its writer’s community has grown to exceed 150,000 writers. More than 25 novels garnered over 10 million reads, with 250-plus novels hitting the one million reads mark. Additionally, 75-plus novels from Pocket Novels were turned into audio series on Pocket FM.
Users spend an average of over 100 minutes daily on this novel platform. The readers’ favourites span across romance, drama, suspense, fantasy, and sci-fi genres.
“Audio series as a category has been instrumental for writers, enabling them to share their stories with millions across the world. Thousands of writers are joining our community every day, inspired by the success stories of existing writers, turning us into a launchpad for storytellers through audio series,” added Nayak.
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