Sonyliv.com is a major force when it comes to video content in India and surroundings, and what it's recently discovered about video and mobile devices is certainly noteworthy. A recent study on its operations shows that there's quite a bit of content being consumed on mobile devices in the region, and it's not just smartphones, but tablets as well, and even regular desktops getting in on the action.

The study found that fully 53 percent of viewers for Sonyliv.com content—which includes titles like “Indian Idol Junior” and “Comedy Circus Ke Mahabali”--were turning to mobile devices to watch video. Another 32 percent were viewing online, likely through desktops and laptops, while the remaining 15 percent turned to tablets, based on Sony LIV user data.

The study further offered breakdown in terms of audiences, revealing that gender is a particularly unusual matter here. While video consumption in India is largely male-driven—roughly 71 percent of all video is male-consumed, and about 29 percent is taken up by the ladies—sonyliv.com shakes that picture up considerably with only 53 percent of video consumed by males and the ladies stepping for 47 percent, or near parity. What's more, the age breakdown is a bit unexpected as well, with 46 percent of viewers between 15 and 24 years old, 32 percent between 25 and 34, 17 percent between 35 and 44, and the rest coming in above that.

Perhaps less surprising are the selected genres for videos online: comedies and daily dramas are seen more often online, with comedy, drama and thriller titles accounting for 78 percent of all total video viewed. Within that, 30 percent is comedy, 25 percent drama, and 23 percent thriller, not surprising given that roughly 94 percent of the content available at sonyliv.com falls into one of these three categories, with sections for horror and game shows remaining blank.

It's interesting, however, that the subgenres aren't more skewed: Indians apparently love the thriller genre, watching it almost as much as drama despite having roughly half the content available. Perhaps most interesting was what the viewers were turning to for video choices; while 64 percent watched catch-up episodes of recent content, just over a third of viewers were turning to compressed versions of released shows known as “Quickisodes.”

Sony Entertainment Network's executive vice president of new media, business development and digital / syndication, Nitesh Kripalani, offered some remarks in commentary on the numbers revealed, saying “At sonyliv.com, we are captivated with data and analytics and believe in leveraging the insights to drive a superior world class viewing experience. We publish insights based on real data that we study every hour of the day. This is done by monitoring the consumption behavior of over 50,000 unique visitors on an average who log on to sonyliv.com, across all platforms i.e. online, mobile and tablet.”

The data and analytics here do tell quite a story, and some reasonable suggestions emerge like putting more development into thriller content, as well as possibly bolstering the horror content. It's also surprising to see more users go into mobile devices to view video, especially after a recent study showed viewers elsewhere less likely to view video on mobile devices, or more specifically, mobile networks. Regional differences may have had a hand in this, though. Still, it's clear that online video is doing pretty well no matter what the region, and will likely continue to do so for some time to come.