ITV

Category: Viewership

  • Triveni Digital hosts virtual event to maintain service stability for broadcasters

    Triveni Digital hosts virtual event to maintain service stability for broadcasters

    MUMBAI: Triveni Digital has launched a web-based event, in place of the company's participation at PBS TechCon and the 2020 NAB Show, to help broadcasters maintain service stability and business continuity. The virtual event will take place on business days between 15 April 15 and 24 April, providing broadcasters with in-depth information on the company's latest innovations in digital TV data, metadata management, and service quality assurance solutions and offering personalized one-on-one sessions with Triveni Digital team members.

    "Keeping with our strong commitment to business continuity, Triveni Digital is dedicated to maintaining the same level of service stability and product satisfaction that our customers are accustomed to," said Ralph Bachofen, vice president of sales and marketing at Triveni Digital. "With canceled industry events and travel restrictions in place, broadcasters need access to vital information on how to uphold service continuity. We are excited to present the industry with this virtual event, which can be enjoyed from the safety of your own home."

    The virtual event, held daily, will include an update on Triveni Digital's latest innovations. Breakout sessions will provide insights into the benefits of using a SaaS-based business model for ATSC 3.0, offer a comprehensive overview of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain, and discuss NextGen TV applications. The virtual event will also highlight the recent updates made to the company's StreamScope Analyzer and StreamScope Enterprise solutions, which bring increased efficiency and enhanced service quality assurance to broadcasters. Broadcasters also have the option to request customized topics through the online event portal.

    The virtual event will be available between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. EDT. Reservations can now be made online. Alternatively, broadcasters can email Triveni Digital to schedule an appointment.

    Triveni Digital is a leading provider of programme guide and metadata management, data broadcasting, and service quality assurance solutions for broadcasters and service providers. Renowned for their ease of use and innovative features, Triveni Digital's solutions enable customers to deliver enhanced programs and services to television viewers. Working with leading industry partners, Triveni Digital employs an open and standards-compliant approach to the digital television market. As a leader in ATSC 3.0 solutions, a key contributor to standards development, and active participant in next-generation ATSC trials and deployments, Triveni Digital is leading the charge to a new, exciting broadcast television future. More information is available at www.TriveniDigital.com.

  • News channels fail to retain previous week’s shine; fall marginally in week 13 of BARC

    News channels fail to retain previous week’s shine; fall marginally in week 13 of BARC

    MUMBAI: As we are about to conclude the third week of the 21-day lockdown due to the COVID-19 situation, the overall news genre viewership has slumped marginally in week 13 (28 March – 3 April) of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, as compared to the earlier week (21-27 March).

    Hindi news channels fell by over 11 per cent, while English news channels by a mere 2 per cent. Despite the fall in week-on-week basis, the news channels have shown a stellar performance this week too in terms of viewership as same as the last two weeks i.e. week 11 and 12 of BARC.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the whole nation to go under lockdown and only news channels generate fresh content by giving a timely update of the rising infected and death counts.

    Leading the chart for the straight thirteenth week, TV Today Network’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak has declined by over 19 per cent to 429,900 weekly impressions in the current week as compared to 532,102 in week 12. The channel reported the best numbers in terms of viewership in the last week.

    However, the channel has seen maximum growth among all national genre leaders, as it grew by around 300 per cent, on average impressions of the week 1 -11 as against the average of week 12-13.

    Retaining its second position for a second consecutive week, ABP News Network’s Hindi news channel ABP News has also dropped marginally by over 8 per cent to 311,382 weekly impressions in week 13 as against 340,659 in the previous week. For the first time ever, the channel has posted its best weekly viewership numbers in week 12 of BARC.

    Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Hindi news channel Zee News has maintained its third spot in the current week too; however, it has fallen by 11 per cent in terms of viewership. The channel garnered 300,324 weekly impressions in week 13 as compared to 337,359 impressions in the previous week.

    India TV has secured the fourth spot. Despite moving one rank up from the previous, the channel marginally declined by around five per cent to 282,228 impressions in week 13 versus 296,305 impressions in week 12.

    Struggling to make a place in the top five news channels’ list for the last two weeks, Republic Media Network’s Hindi news channel Republic Bharat has secured the fifth spot with 280,219 weekly impressions. The channel has always been featured in the top five channels' list in the urban segment HSM.

    Where all other channels declined marginally in week 13, Republic Media Network’s English news channel Republic TV has gained by over six per cent to 2082 weekly impressions in the current week as compared to 1962 in week 12. The channel has been the leader in terms of viewership for the straight thirteenth week of BARC.

    Retaining its second spot for the thirteenth week in a row, Times News Network’s English News channel Times Now declined by over six per cent to 1284 impressions in the current week as against 1375 impressions in week 12. The channel reported best-ever numbers in term of viewership in the previous week of BARC.

    TV Today Network’s English news channel India Today has dipped by 0.7 percent in terms of viewership in week 13. Maintaining its third spot, the channel garnered 1182 weekly impressions in week 13 as compared to 1190 impressions in the earlier week of BARC.

    In the megacities category, India Today has become the most-watched with number one rank. The channel grew by over 12 per cent to 657,000 impressions in megacities among NCCS 22 plus Male AB in week 13 as compared to 583,000 impressions in the last week.

    Similarly, Network18’s English news channel CNN-News18 has retained its fourth spot in the list for the third consecutive week of BARC. The channel slumped than its peers by over 23 per cent to 653 weekly impressions in week 13 as against 848 impressions in the previous week.

    Featuring for the very first time in the top five English news channel’s list so far this year, Zee Media’s international news channel has secured the fifth spot. The channel has gained at least 623 weekly impressions in week 13, little less than CNN-News18.

    According to a joint report released by BARC and Nielsen India on the crisis consumption – the impact of COVID-19, the overall news broadcasters grew by over 250 per cent in terms of viewership in week 13 as compared to combined week two and four of BARC.

  • Star India postpones channel launches indefinitely

    Star India postpones channel launches indefinitely

    MUMBAI: Star India has deferred the launch of five upcoming channels – Vijay Music, Star Sports 3 HD, Star Gold 2 HD, Star Movies Select and Disney Channel HD. In an intimation to distribution platform operators, the network did not provide any reason for the delay.

    The channels were first announced in January’s RIO. Most of the channels were to launch on 1 February while Disney Channel HD was scheduled for launch on 1 March. Star Gold 2 was supposed to be rebranded from Movies OK.

    Additionally, Star India also announced that it is offering an extension to DPOs whose contracts expired on 31 March and they failed to enter into new agreements. They have been provided an extension till 30 April as an ‘interim measure’.

    “This is to inform all distributor of television channels (“DPOs), whose subscription license agreement executed with Star India Private Limited and/or Disney Broadcasting India Limited has expired on 31 March 2020 or is expiring by efflux of time on 29 April 2020 (and have not signed the subscription license agreement version three dated 1 January 2020), is further extended for a period ending on 30 April 2020 as an interim measure by way of extension letters, on terms and condition detailed therein,” says the intimation.

    A similar announcement was made on 20 March giving them an extension on agreements that expired on 29 February, up to 31 March. It is unsure where these extensions are being provided due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis which has impacted all industries including the broadcasting and cable TV industry.

  • BARC week 13: Sony Entertainment Television continues to hold position in urban market and pay platform

    BARC week 13: Sony Entertainment Television continues to hold position in urban market and pay platform

    MUMBAI: In week 13 of BARC India ratings, where most of the GECs were seen losing their position to DD National and slipping down from last week's position, Sony Entertainment Television was the only channel that continued to hold its third position on the pay platform and in the urban market. In fact, the channel has jumped from the seventh position to fifth position in the rural market. This week for the first time DD National grabbed the leading position on pay platform and Urban market. 

    On pay platform DD National, Sony SAB, Sony Entertainment Television, Colors, Star Plus, Zee TV, Dangal, Star Utsav,  DD Bharati and Star Bharat were the top ten channels in the week 13 of BARC India ratings.

    Pay Platform 

    In the urban market, the top ten channels were DD National, Sony SAB, Sony Entertainment Television, Colors, Dangal, DD Bharati, Star Plus, Zee TV, Big Magic and Star Utsav in week 13 of BARC India ratings.

    Urban

    Dangal, DD National, Big Magic, Sony SAB,  Sony Entertainment Television, Colors, Zee TV, DD Bharat, Star Plus and Star Utsav were the top ten channels in the rural market

    Rural  

    On the free platform, Dangal, Big Magic, DD National, DD Bharati, Manoranjan Grand, DD Madhya Pradesh, DD Uttar Pradesh, DD Rajasthan and DD Arunprabha were the top nine channels in week 13 of BARC ratings.

    Free Platform  

  • BARC 13: Gujarati market witnesses new entrant Zee 24 Kalak

    BARC 13: Gujarati market witnesses new entrant Zee 24 Kalak

    MUMBAI: In week 13 of BARC India ratings, Zee Bangla Cinema replaced Colors Bangla in the Bangla market and Asianet Movies replaced Zee Keralam in the Malayalam market. In the Gujarati market, four news channels grabbed their position in the top five list and Colors Gujarati Cinema was the only movie channel holding its position in the Gujarati market. There was also a new entrant in this market, Zee 24 Kalak, which replaced News 18 Gujarati.

    In the Bangla market, Zee Bangla, Star Jalsha, Jalsha Movies, Zee Bangla Cinema and Sony Aath were the top five channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings.

    Bangla

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Zee Bangla 203666
    2 STAR Jalsha 170549
    3 Jalsha Movies 152513
    4 Zee Bangla Cinema 105739
    5 Sony Aath 98215
    WB (U+R): NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    In the Bhojpuri market, Bhojpuri Cinema, Zee Biskope, B4U Bhojpuri, Big Ganga and Danbang were the top five channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings.  

    Bhojpuri

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Bhojpuri Cinema 66255
    2 Zee Biskope 57660
    3 B4U Bhojpuri 46611
    4 Big Ganga 34688
    5 Dabangg 16570
    Bihar/Jharkhand (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    In the Gujarati market, ABP Asmita, TV9 Gujarati, Colors Gujarati Cinema, Zee 24 Kalak, and Sandesh News were the top five channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings.  

    Gujarati

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 ABP Asmita 60146
    2 TV9 Gujarati 57346
    3 Colors Gujarati Cinema 46255
    4 Zee 24 Kalak 36352
    5 Sandesh News 32837
    Guj / D&D / DNH (U+R): NCCS All: 2+ Individuals, 

    In the Kannada market, Zee Kannada,  Udaya TV, Udaya Movies, Colors Kannada and Star Suvarna were the top five channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings.  

    Kannada

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Zee Kannada 436618
    2 Udaya TV 271846
    3 Udaya Movies 232404
    4 Colors Kannada 210562
    5 Star Suvarna 188123
    Karnataka (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    In the Malayalam market, Asianet, Surya TV, Mazhavil Manorama, Asianet and Flowers TV were the top five channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings    

    Malayalam

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Asianet 223877
    2 Surya TV 138428
    3 Mazhavil Manorama 102512
    4 Asianet Movies 84837
    5 Flowers TV 79582
    Kerala (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, To get this data on your Twitter timeline, tweet with #BarcTweet Top 5 Malayalam Channels

    Zee Marathi, Fakt Marathi, ZeeTalkies, Shemaroo Marathibana and Colors Marathi were the top Marathi channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings  

    Marathi

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Zee Marathi 185385
    2 Fakt Marathi 170146
    3 Zee Talkies 168048
    4 Shemaroo Marathibana 108348
    5 Colors Marathi 55090
    Mah/ Goa (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    Pitaara TV, PTC Punjabi, Zee Punjabi, Maha Punjabi and PTC News were the top five channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings.  

    Punjabi  

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Pitaara TV 82561
    2 PTC Punjabi 62917
    3 Zee Punjabi 57933
    4 Maha Punjabi 32438
    5 PTC News 30945
    Pun / Cha (U+R): NCCS All: 2+ Individuals,

    Sun TV, KTV, Zee Tamil, Star Vijay and Star Vijay Super were the top five Tamil channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings  

    Tamil

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 Sun TV 1201629
    2 KTV 534163
    3 Zee Tamil 364126
    4 STAR Vijay 349994
    5 STAR Vijay Super 196317
    Tamil Nadu/ Puducherry (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 

    ETV Telugu, Star Maa, Gemini TV, Zee Telugu and  Gemini Movies were top-five Telugu channels in week 13 of BARC India ratings  

    Telugu

    Rank Channel Name Weekly Impressions (000s) sum
        Week 13
    1 ETV Telugu 562747
    2 STAR Maa 523795
    3 Gemini TV 411416
    4 Zee Telugu 373343
    5 Gemini Movies 309738
    AP/ Telangana (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals, 
  • Prasar Bharati on a Covid-19 awareness drive

    Prasar Bharati on a Covid-19 awareness drive

    MUMBAI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is making all efforts to educate and inform its viewers regarding the Covid-19 pandemic by leveraging its vast network of broadcast, radio and digital services. The pubcaster operates the largest network of TV and radio with thousands of transmitters and hundreds of stations/channels/services spread across the country.

    DD News and DD India on TV, AIR on radio and Prasar Bharati News Service (PBNS) and NewsOnAir app on digital are playing lead roles in keeping the people informed.

    “Our first priority has been to ensure that authentic news and information is made available to the citizens. The pubcaster has put in tremendous energy and effort towards informing and educating the citizens regarding COVID-19,” says Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati.

    Both DD news and AIR news have created a special COVID-19 bulletin twice a day in English and Hindi with designated slots. These bulletins have been made available digitally through a dedicated YouTube playlist for the benefit of private media. A dedicated channel has also been designated on DD FreeDish to continuously stream COVID-19 informational videos and news. The same is also available digitally via YouTube, informs Vempati.

    He says: “As a contingency plan, the national news streams on both TV and Radio have been made accessible to all the regional services as a fall-back mechanism so that no channel or station goes blank during the lockdown. Even vacant slots on DD Free Dish are continuously streaming COVID-19 information during this period.”

    The pubcaster is airing informational videos at high frequency on all TV channels and equivalent jingles on all radio services. A dedicated bi-lingual national news service has also been started by AIR News which is available on all FM, MW, DTH and web.

    Vempati says, “The greatest impact of the pubcaster is in regional services and local languages. Both TV and radio are innovating and using digital tools to keep the news and information going despite lockdown. Several of these regional efforts have been reported upon by media across the country. All of this is being curated and shared on social media from our main twitter handles apart from being aggregated in the NewsOnAir App.”

    The pubcaster’s global digital platform, NewsOnAir App, aggregates all of TV and radio content digitally. It is available on both Android and iOS. The app has more than 200 radio streams from across India. It has several audio-on-demand content; this includes hourly news bulletins in all Indian and several foreign languages to entertainment content, including historic shows of Vividh Bharati. NewsOnAir is a one-stop App for experiencing all of public broadcasting content.

    Vempati believes that the suspension in the production of original content is the time for innovation. “The entire industry has been impacted with the production coming to a halt. But we see this as a period for content innovation for new and unique formats and genres of content to emerge. Our radio teams are working on the same, leveraging remote communication tools to generate new content; as an example we had an early morning show of bird songs crowdsourced from across India. Also, in the pipeline are radio plays and book reading.”

  • Tired of COVID-19 news, Indians turn to movies: BARC-Nielsen Report

    Tired of COVID-19 news, Indians turn to movies: BARC-Nielsen Report

    MUMBAI: Indians have become bored with excessive COVID-19 news. Which is why in week three of lockdown, people have switched over to movie channels, driving the genre viewership up, as per the latest BARC-Nielsen report.

    In week 13, viewers spent more than one hour on movie channels and it has grown by 77 per cent week on week. Bangla, Gujarati and Punjabi movie channels recorded the highest viewership growth by 138 per cent, 117 per cent and 90 per cent, respectively. Hindi movie channels witnessed 82 per cent and Telugu movie channels' viewership grew by 51 per cent.

    Other language movie channels’ growth rates:

    In week 13, overall TV viewership grew by four per cent over week 12. The overall viewership of television is up by 43 per cent compared to the pre-COVID period (11 January 2020-31 January 2020) and COVID disruption week three (28 March 2020- 3 April 2020). This week, the viewership growth is driven largely by movies unlike week 11 and 12 where news was the major growth driver. The viewership in HSM has grown during early morning and late-night time slots during the COVID period.

    The report says the top GEC channels’ growth is also driven by movies they aired. Telugu top four GECs witnessed 14 per cent growth in viewership and 20 per cent growth in duration. Tamil top four GECs grew by 128 per cent in viewership and 45 per cent in duration and Malayalam top five GEC witnessed 10 per cent viewership

    The average time spent on TV is up by 28 per cent from the pre-COVID period to COVID disruption week three. Viewers watched television for more than three hours per day. The non-primetime slot continues to grow by 81 per cent. HSM witnessed the highest growth by 97 per cent in the non-primetime slot while the south grew by 60 per cent.

    The early morning slot, i.e., 4 am to 6 am, is driven by news. People are watching news in the early morning time slot. While late-night viewership, i.e., 1 am to 2 am, is driven both by news and movies. The south market continues to follow its earlier norm of viewing time zone.

  • No top programme, advertiser and brand data for week 13: BARC India

    No top programme, advertiser and brand data for week 13: BARC India

    MUMBAI: Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) will not be able to make available data on top programmes, top advertisers and top brands for week 13. The ratings agency has informed that due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, partners’ operations are disrupted and so it can’t make information available for the week starting 28 March up to 3 April.

    On its website, BARC India says, “BARC India is committed to weekly data release and will be releasing viewership data as scheduled on Thursday, 9 April 2020 at 1 pm. However, partners' operations have got disrupted and data for top programs, top advertisers and top brands are unavailable and hence will not be released for week 13.”

    It further adds, “We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and thank you for your support and wish you safety, good health and peace of mind.”

    Other viewership data has been made available.

  • Social ads dominate TV during COVID-19: BARC-Nielsen report

    Social ads dominate TV during COVID-19: BARC-Nielsen report

    NEW DELHI: Overall advertising FCT grew by nine per cent in the week starting 28 March over the pre-COVID time period between 11 and 31 January, as per the third edition of BARC India & Nielsen Media Explain “The Crisis Consumption – Impact Of COVID -19 On TV And Smartphone Behaviour Across India” findings, 

    Sports registered the highest jump of 86 per cent, followed by business news at 44 per cent. Music, kids, lifestyle, youth, and infotainment witnessed slight dips in ad FCTs. 

    The top categories contributing to the FCTs were toiletries, growing by 190 times, followed by social and cultural associations (+66 times), and ice cream/frozen dessert (+11 times). 

    Other top performers included social advertisements by NGOs, which clocked a 628 per cent increase, followed by similar advertisements by the government (+244 per cent). Other top categories include cellular phone services (+166 per cent), corporate videos (+155 per cent), and paints (+101 per cent). 

    Some of the top brands in week 13 are Dettol and Lifebuoy Toilet soaps, Harpic, Lizol, Hotstar VIP, etc. 

     

    Another trend highlighted by the report is the brands’ inclination towards creative COVID-focused advertising on various platforms. Print and television dominate the choice of media for most brands. 

     

    Top categories contributing to these COVID-based ads are financial services, retail, telecommunications, and food.

     

     

  • DD National viewership soars due to classics’ re-run

    DD National viewership soars due to classics’ re-run

    MUMBAI: DD National has become the most-watched channel in week three of lockdown. The third edition of BARC-Nielsen report on TV+ smartphone consumption during the crisis shows that Ramayan on DD National at 9 am and 9 pm garnered 545.8 million weekly impressions in week 13. Mahabharat, which airs on DD Bharati at 12 noon and 7 pm, garnered 145.8 million impressions. The return of the classics made DD National the most-watched channel across India

    The re-telecast of the show Ramayan garnered the highest-ever rating for a Hindi GEC show since 2015. The show was highest rated in the urban market and megacities. According to BARC India data, the first four episodes of Ramayan garnered an average of 28.7 million impressions.

    "After the news of Ramayan made headlines and social media trends were dominated by it, we have had a flood of rights holders themselves approaching us with iconic content that aired in the past on DD," Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati told Indiantelevision.com.

    Vempati informs that there has always been a demand from audiences to bring back the iconic serials of DD's golden era. So, DD started to re-telecast old shows like Shaktiman, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Shriman Shrimati, etc.

    In 1987, Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan was aired for the first time on DD National which gathered many people in front of the television. But this time to entertain people at home and ensure the successful implementation of social distancing during COVID-19, the public broadcaster brought back the show on its Hindi GEC platforms DD National and DD Bharati.  

    Vempati says, “This demand was the reason why even before this crisis started, Prasar Bharati Board approved the new content acquisition policy last year. The current crisis however made a radical difference to these content acquisition efforts. There was a tumult of requests on social media. The prime minister in his speech to the nation spoke of a metaphorical Lakshman Rekha when he called upon the citizens to stay at home and to keep social distance for an effective lockdown. I am thankful to the I&B minister Prakash Javadekar for his advice and guidance in accelerating our efforts to engage with the rights holders to bring back the iconic serials to DD so that the public broadcaster was able to play its role in the government's efforts to ensure a successful lockdown.”

    Apart from DD National and DD Bharati, Doordarshan’s regional channels are also bringing back old shows. Recently, DD Sahyadri started airing a special programme Aarohi from the 1980’s.

    According to BARC data, the viewership on Doordashan channels rose by 16 per cent in 2019 over 2018. Last year also Prasar Bharati added 11 regional channels on DD Free Dish to expand its reach. Fifty per cent of its viewership comes from Hindi channels and the rest is garnered by its regional channels. “News and live coverage have been Doordarshan's USP. 2019 was an important year from a news and live standpoint with the general elections and several major public events all of which cumulatively contributed to the growth of DD's viewership,” says Vempati.

    With regards to advertising and revenue growth on the back of these old shows, Vempati says, “It is too early to discuss revenues. Our priority right now is to ensure the audience are engaged and the lockdown is effective.”