A summary of the data and blogs published as part of our COVID-19 digital consumer survey tracker
Summary of the project
The PEC partnered with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to commission AudienceNet to conduct a weekly survey to find out how people were engaging with digital cultural content, such as streaming music or watching theatre online.
The project was initially planned to run for 6 weeks between 9th April to 24th May 2020. This was then extended to a further three waves of surveys to cover July, August and September 2020.
The first part of the survey, referred to as waves 1 to 6, was carried out over six weeks from April to May, when the UK was in a full national lockdown. The national lockdown ended on July the 4th, although local lockdown restrictions remained in some places, such as Leicester. There were then three further waves of the study, referred to as 7-9, carried out in July, August and September, during which some parts of the UK were in local lockdowns at various points.
All the reports sorted by date
The final summary and insights report
- Digital Culture: Consumption in Lockdown (August 2020)
The reports from every week of the survey:
- Wave 1 (2nd -12th April)
- Wave 2 (13th – 19th April)
- Wave 3 (20th – 26th April)
- Wave 4 (27th April – 3rd May)
- Wave 5 (4th – 10th May)
- Wave 6 (11th -17th May))
- Wave 7 (6th – 12th July)
- Wave 8 (3rd – 9th August)
- Wave 9 (14th- 20th September)
Key findings
- Long term trends, such as the decline in downloading in favour of streaming content, were accelerated.
- People in local lockdown areas watched more television and films than those in less restricted areas.
- The end of lockdown saw a considerable uptick in physical purchases of music and video games, indicating that the retail experience is still important to many people.
- The relaxing of lockdown measures hasn’t had a noticeable effect on people’s reported wellbeing.
- There was an increase in those who are working inside the home and those who say they are working from home more.
Related News and Press
With the right financial support creative industries could fuel the Government’s growth mission and help tackle persistent regional inequality
A new report published today by the AHRC-funded Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (Crea…
Access to Finance: launch of new research project
New research is being undertaken by Creative UK in partnership with the Creative Industries Policy a…
New research points to a looming creative economy skills shortage across the UK
New report shows ‘severe’ decline in creative further education participation Embargoed 17 July 00.0…
Press Release: New research, including – once in a decade data – provides comprehensive overview of audiences and workforce across arts, culture and heritage.
Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 15 May 2024 (BST) For the first time, census data has been used to provide…
Press Release: UK’s creative industries are an export success story
New report shows creative strength despite Brexit and Covid Embargoed 00.01 Wednesday 20 March 2024,…
Introducing the Creative PEC’s Research Fellows Network
By Professor Hasan Bakhshi, Director Creative PEC and Professor Giorgio Fazio, Director of Research …
‘One Creative North’ plans finalised at summit ahead of Convention of the North
30 organisations meet to set out a bold new vision for the north of England’s creative industries To…
Press Release: Investing in ‘creative clusters’ is key to economic growth– and helping to level up the UK economy
A new report published today, provides fresh insight on where policy intervention could be best targ…
Press release: With coordinated action North of England based creative industries could add £10bn to the UK economy
Today, the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and the Creative Industries Polic…
Press Release: ‘Creative Corridors’ can be the key to the UK’s creative industries’ ambitions
Today (Saturday 16 September), three major institutions announce a joint agreement to work together …
Press release: Relationship between creative industries and gentrification overstated says new study
August 2023 – It’s a commonly held view that the arts drive gentrification. Many city leaders …
Press Release: Could the UK be a creative haven for writers? With support from policymakers, yes, says new report
17 August 2023 – The latest Authors’ Earnings Survey, from researchers at the CREATe Research …