According to GfK, British TV sales on 15-21 March-- the week Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a lockdown of the country due to the coronavirus-- are up by 59.5% in volume and 43.3% in value compared to the same week last year.

The numbers cover the UK, but one can imagine the situation to be at least somewhat similar throughout Europe.

The jump is highest among the smaller screen sizes, 42-inch or less, leading to overall purchases having the lowest average price point seen in the year. The analyst suggests customers are buying basic models for practical solutions, rather than splashing out to enhance the viewing experience with a better model. Either way, people face having the entire household at home every day, possibly with the need to keep distance from each other, and as such are buying an extra TV to spread around the house.

Looking into what people are watching, GfK says the percentage of viewers "frequently" watching DVDs or Blu-ray discs is up from 5% in the week of 2nd March, to 11% in the following week. Meanwhile "download to own" (DTO) content viewing is up from 4% to 9%. However premium TV packages, such as Sky Sports are down from 24% in the week of 2nd March to 20% in the following week, the result of a lack of live sports content available at the moment.

"[W]e expect a rise in people signing up to video-on-demand platforms-- albeit potentially only on a short-term or trial basis," the analyst concludes. "Whether this will have a long-term benefit for the services, with people retaining subscriptions at the end of their trials, is something we will be tracking.”

Go TV Sales Jump in the Week Boris orders Britain to Stay Indoors