Tag: Aaj Tak

News channels fail to retain shine; tumble substantially in week 7 of BARC

MUMBAI: The viewership of news broadcasters is very much dependent on events. And, this has become quite evident in week seven of Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) as news channels failed to maintain the shine, tumbling largely in impressions compared to week six.

In the current week, Hindi news channels declined by over 20 per cent, whereas English news channels fell by nearly 40 per cent in terms of weekly impressions as compared to the past week.

News channels saw a rise in viewership by over 14 per cent in week six specifically due to the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections.

Dominating the chart for the seventh week straight, TV Today Network’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak has declined by over 30 per cent to 101399 weekly impressions in week seven as compared to 146178 impressions in week six. The channel had gained over 25 per cent of impressions in the past week.

Despite the slump in viewership by over 11 per cent, Network18’s News18 India has climbed one spot up to grab the second position in the list of top five news channels with 90255 weekly impressions as against 108032 in week six. The channel had grown by 7 per cent in terms viewership in the past week.

Following the footsteps of News18 India, both the news channels in Hindi genre – India TV and Zee News, despite a decline in weekly impressions, have ranked at third and position. In week seven, the former fell by over 10 per cent to 88603 weekly impressions versus 99364 in week six, whereas Zee News slowed down by around 19 per cent to 80122 impressions as against 98654 in the previous week.

The most drastic shift was shown by ABP News Network’s Hindi news channel ABP News that fell to fifth from the second position in terms of viewership. The channel tumbled by over 30 per cent to 74713 weekly impressions in week seven as against 108032 impressions in the earlier week of BARC.

ABP News had given a cut-throat competition to Aaj Tak in week six by gaining almost as same as the size of viewership in terms of percentage. It had grown by 25 per cent last week. The channel made into the list of top five channels as it successfully maintained its rural viewership.

Failing to make into the final list of top five, Republic Media Network’s Hindi news channel somehow got featured in the urban section of the Hindi news channels' list. However, Aaj Tak has continued to maintain the top position in both urban and rural segments of Hindi news channels in week seven.

The decline continued in the English segment too as all the five channels in the list fell substantially in terms of viewership. And the most affected channel out of all news channels across genre is Republic Media Network’s Republic TV, which fell by near 50 per cent in the current week as compared to the last week. The channel reported 585 weekly impressions in week seven as compared to 1141 in the previous week.

This week, the other four channels in English news genre maintained their spots. Times News Network’s Times Now ranked at second position fell by 38 per cent to 413 impressions in week seven as compared to 664 weekly impressions in the previous week of BARC.

TV Today Network’s India Today TV, Network18’s CNN News18 and NDTV 24×7 have been ranked at third, fourth and fifth positions respectively on the list. India Today fell by over 30 per cent to 288 impressions as against 415 in week six, CNN News18 by over 23 per cent to 202 impressions versus 263 in the earlier week and NDTV 24×7 by over 29 per cent to 182 weekly impressions from 258 in the last week.

February 29, 2020
Hindi news channels viewership increases by 14 per cent in week 6 of BARC

MUMBAI: Delhi Legislative Assembly election has proved to be most fruitful for the news channels across genres. However, Hindi news broadcasters’ viewership has substantially grown by over 14 per cent in week six as compared to week five, according to the data published by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC).

One of the reasons behind the growth of viewership was the recently concluded Delhi elections. The polling was done on 8 February and the results of the same were declared on 11 February. Delhiites gave the mandate to Aam Aami Party, which garnered as many as 62 seats in 70-member Assembly.

TV Today Network’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak has continued to be the leader with the first spot in the top five channels list in the genre. The channel’s viewership grew by around 25 per cent to 146178 weekly impressions in week six as compared to 117478 impressions in week 5 of BARC. The channel also continued to maintain its dominance in both rural and urban segment viewership.

Outperfoming all its peers, ABP News Network’s Hindi news channel ABP News has given a tough fight to all other four channels in the list, including Aaj Tak. The channel, grabbing the second position, has improved its viewership count substantially by 24 per cent to 108032 impressions in week six as against 87015 impressions in week five. The channel was at the fifth position in week five of BARC.

Retaining its position at number three, News18 India, a Hindi news channel of Network18, grew by around 7 per cent to 101566 impressions in week six as compared to 95139 impressions in week five. Similarly, India TV maintaining its stance at fourth position grew by over 12 per cent to 99324 weekly impressions in week six compared previous week to 88477 impressions in week five.

Meanwhile, the Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Hindi news channel Zee News has fallen to the fifth position from second and has seen a marginal increase of viewership growth by 1 per cent to 98564 impressions in week six as compared to 97652 weekly impressions in week five of BARC.

Despite being the biggest financial event in the country – Budget 2020, the viewership of news channels across genre, except business news channels, had slowed down by 20 per cent in week 5 (1-7 February) as compared to the previous week, BARC data had mentioned on its website.

The rise in the viewership of channels growth in week six has pointed out that the audience is more inclined towards political developments than financial happenings in the country. The current data has reversed all negatives posted in week five as compared to the current week as per BARC.

February 22, 2020
All news channels, except biz news, see viewership slump in BARC week 5

MUMBAI: Despite the biggest financial event in the country – Budget 2020, the viewership of news channels of across genre, except business news channels, slowed down in week 5 (1-7 February) as compared to week 4, according to the data released by Broadcasting Audience Research Council India.

Week 4 (25-31 January) had seen many national importance events such as Republic Day, Delhi Assembly poll campaigns, pre-budget preparation, and Shaheen Bagh firing. The news channels across genre had buzzing news information almost every day during week 4 of BARC.

Hindi News

The TV Today Group’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, leading the race in the viewership in the Hindi category, has retained its position at the top among peers. However, the viewership of the channel has dropped by 12.3 per cent to 117478 weekly impressions in week 5 as against 133942 in week 4.

In week 5, news channels had no major or national importance event except budget 2020. However, the Delhi poll campaign being one of the buzzing events was concluded by the evening of 6 February as per the model code of conduct of Election Commission of India.

Not just Aaj Tak, in the Hindi news segment, all other channels featured in the list of the week 5 saw a slump in viewership pattern as against week 4’s viewership. Zee News maintaining its second spot in the list of week 5 fell by 8 per cent to 97652 weekly impressions as compared to 106097 impressions in week 4.

Moreover, News18 India, which also retained its spot on the third position, saw a drop by 5.2 per cent to 95139 weekly impressions in week 5 versus 100395 impressions in week 4. Whereas India TV maintaining its fourth position but fell by 3.3 per cent to 88477 weekly impressions as compared to 91481 weekly impressions in week 4.

Replacing Republic Bharat, ABP News has bagged the fifth spot in the list of week 5 with weekly impressions of 87015. However, Republic Bharat tried to clinch a fifth spot in the urban segment of Hindi news channel with 51613 weekly impressions in week 5.

English News

In the English news category, Republic TV has maintained its lead in week 5, however, it slumped by over 12.5 per cent to 654 weekly impressions as compared to 749 impressions in week 4. Despite out throwing DD India from second spot, Times Now has also dropped by 3.3 per cent to 515 weekly impressions in week 5 compared to 534 impressions in week 4.

Meanwhile, India Today Television, taking Times Now last week’s spot, has dropped by 17.7 per cent to 303 weekly impressions in week 5 versus 368 impressions in week 4. Moreover, DD India falling to fourth position this week has substantially dropped by 74.6 per cent to 181 weekly impressions in week 5 as against 713 impressions in week 4.

DD India, a government-owned news broadcaster, was able to gain exponential impressions in week 4 due to 71st Republic Day event, which was authorised to show the exclusive footage of the event and also share it with other news channels by giving give courtesy to DD India.

Similarly, CNN News18 maintaining its position at the last spot but also fell substantially by over 30 per cent to 163 weekly impressions in week 5 as compared to 237 weekly impressions in week 4.

Business News

Budget being the most important event for the business news channels, Both CNBC TV18 of Network18 group and ET Now of Times News Network, in the English category, grew by over 100 per cent to 727 and 266 weekly impressions in week 5 respectively. CNBC TV18, leading between the two, had garnered 275 weekly impressions and ET had achieved 123 weekly impressions in week 4.

Similarly, in the Hindi business news category, Both CNBC Awaaz and Zee Business grew by 21 per cent and 41 per cent respectively. The former garnered 2492 weekly impressions, whereas the latter settled at 2131 impressions in week 5 as compared to 1965 and 1249 impressions in week 4 respectively.

February 14, 2020
R-Day, pre-Budget prep, Delhi election help news channels gain viewership

MUMBAI: The 71st Republic Day, Budget 2020 preparation and Delhi election campaigns have kept news channels across genres busy, Broadcasting Audience Research Council India portrays in its week 4 data between 25 January and 31 January.

The TV Today Group’s Aaj Tak has topped the Hindi news segment with 133942 weekly impressions, of which the channel received 54244 weekly impressions in rural and 79699 weekly impressions in urban.

Gaining at least 106097 weekly impressions, Zee News bagged the second spot in the Hindi news genre in the week 4 report of BARC. The channel achieved 41453 weekly impressions in the rural segment and 64644 in urban.

Network 18’s News18 India was ranked third with 100395 weekly impressions, followed by India TV at fourth position and Republic Bharat at fifth, both channels received 91481 and 90594 impressions respectively.

In English genre, Republic TV clinched the top position with 749 weekly impressions, followed by DD India which garnered 713 weekly impressions in Week 4 of BARC. DD India had exclusive rights to telecast the Republic day event, which perhaps helped the channel to gain more eyeballs.

Times Now being settled at the third position has garnered 515 weekly impressions in Week 4 of BARC. Whereas, India Today Television at fourth position and CNN News18 at fifth spot with 368 and 237 weekly impressions respectively.

As the budget preparation being the major focus, the business news channel CNBC TV18 of Network18 has gained 275 weekly impressions, followed by Times group’s ET NOW with 123 weekly impressions.

February 7, 2020

Aaj Tak grabs 19% market share during election coverage

MUMBAI: Aaj Tak has acquired 19 per cent of Hindi News channel market share on counting day of Maharashtra and Haryana state assembly elections 2019. The channel was ahead with 27 million more impressions than the next channel.

The data released by BARC is evident in how the viewers continue to prefer the India Today Group when it comes to 360-degree election coverage.

The India Today Group’s Axis My India exit poll, accurately predicted the outcome of the State Assembly Elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, while most other media outlets faltered. On-the-ground reporting, accurate exit polls prediction and the use of state-of-the-art tools for election coverage on a large scale led the group to the No.1 position.

On the counting day, Aaj Tak’s share was 19 per cent of all 14 Hindi news channels, placing it on the topmost rung of the ladder when it comes to viewership. India’s most-watched Hindi news channel, Aaj Tak, was 27 million gross impressions ahead of ABP News that held the No.2 position. During the hours when the votes were being counted, Aaj Tak’s viewership surpassed that of other TV channels like Sony TV, Zee TV and Colors.

(Source – BARC, TG- 15+, Market – HSM, Time Band – 8:00 to 18:00 hrs). In the 15+ M AB TG, Aaj Tak was the No.1 TV Channel in HSM Market(Source – BARC, Market – HSM, Time Band – 8:00 to 18:00 hrs)

Channel	WK43'19
Aaj Tak	126137
ABP News	98751
India TV	95809
News18 India	95468
Zee News	89434
Republic Bharat	84704
News Nation	53842
News 24	41856
TV9 Bharatvarsh	41572
Tez	36388
India News	26974
NDTV India	19771
Zee Hindustan	19629
DD News	8552

*Source – BARC, 15+, HSM, G Imp’000

Channel	Shr%
Aaj Tak	19.0
ABP News	16.0
NDTV India	2.0
News 24	6.0
News Nation	5.0
Zee News	10.0
India TV	11.0
India News	3.0
DD News	1.0
Tez	3.0
News18 India	10.0
Zee Hindustan	3.0
Republic Bharat	9.0
TV9 Bharatvarsh	4.0

*Source: BARC, TG: 15+ NCCS ALL, Mkt: HSM, Period: 24^th Oct’19, TB:0800-2400Hrs, Market shr% based on 14 Hindi News Channels.

India Today TV was also on the No.1 position in the English news genre, surpassing channels like Times Now, Republic TV, NDTV 24×7 among others. On the polling day and the counting day combined, it recorded the highest number of gross impressions in all the megacities of India.

Channel	Gross Imp'000s
India Today Television	109
Times Now	101
Republic	90
NDTV 24×7	34
CNN News 18	25
Mirror Now	15
Wion	4
India Ahead	1
News X	0

*Source : BARC, Market: Megacities, TG: Males 22+AB,Dates: 21st Oct'19 & 24th Oct'19,Gross imp'000s.

India Today TV increased its viewership by 149.6 per cent compared to the previous week.

Channel	WK42'19	WK43'19	Growth Compare to last week
India Today Television	87	218	149.6%
Times Now	152	219	44.5%
Republic TV	158	227	43.9%
CNN News18	43	60	40.0%
NDTV 24×7	45	58	29.5%
Mirror Now	50	47	-5.8%
Wion	38	22	-42.6%
India Ahead	4	10	133.7%
News X	8	2	-74.5%

*Source – BARC, 22+ M AB, Period as per below table, Gimp’000)

It may be recalled that during the General Elections in May 2019, the picture was not very different. Aaj Tak and the India Today TV ruled the poll viewership, with 13 crore viewers tuning into Aaj Tak on the counting day alone (Universe, All India, Counting Day) and being the most watched channel across genres. India Today TV had not only beaten the other English news channels but also recorded a viewership that was higher than other English infotainment and entertainment channels (NCCS A, Megacities, Counting Day).

November 5, 2019

BARC week 29: Rural drives Hindi news viewership up

BENGALURU: The combined viewership of the top 5 Hindi news channels across the urban and rural Hindi speaking markets or HSM (U+R) grew 4.7 per cent in week 29 of 2019 (Saturday, 13 July 2019 to Friday, 19 July 2019, week or period under review) as compared to the previous week according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data. Combined weekly viewership of the top 5 Hindi news channels for week 29 of 2019 was 476.727 million weekly impressions as compared to 455.410 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Viewership growth in week 29 of 2019 was led by the rural Hindi speaking market or HSM (R), which grew by 8.9 per cent from week 28. Urban viewership in the Hindi speaking markets grew by 1.5 per cent during the week under review as compared to the previous week. The combined weekly impressions of the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R) was 200.340 million weekly impressions as compared to 183.955 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Combined viewership of top 5 channels in HSM (U) was 277.783 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 was compared to 273.724 million weekly impressions in week 28.

Viewership growth could be attributed to the fact that only the final match of the ICC World Cup was played during the week under review. Since India was not involved in the final of the premier global cricket tourney, interest and hence viewership must have petered out. Earlier, cricket did eat into the viewership of many genres because of overlap of timings with primetime in India. Viewership could climb further with improved weather across the country. All the Hindi news channels in the three BARC weekly lists – HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U) in week 29 of 2019 were the same as in week 28 with a slight shuffle in ranks in HSM (R). All three lists were led by Aaj Tak.

Hindi news viewership in HSM (U+R)

All the five channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) witnessed growth in viewership. The list and ranks of channels in week 29 of 2019 were the same as in week 28.

Aaj Tak at rank 1 in week 29 of 2019 witnessed a growth of 3.5 per cent at 123.173 million weekly impressions as compared to 118.957 million weekly impressions in week 28. At second rank, News18 India saw viewership grow by 8.3 per cent to 96.403 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to 88.974 million weekly impressions in week 28.

India TV, ranked three, saw a growth of 2.6 per cent in viewership in week 29 of 2019 at 90.012 million weekly impressions as compared to 87.736 million weekly impressions in week 28. At fourth rank, ABP News witnessed a growth of 6.1 per cent in viewership in week 29 of 2019 at 89.531 million weekly impressions as compared to 84.397 million weekly impressions in the previous week. At fifth rank, Zee News saw viewership grow by 3 per cent in week 29 of 2019 at 77.608 million weekly impressions as compared to 75.346 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

Hindi news viewership in HSM (R)

All the five channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R) witnessed growth in viewership. The list and ranks of channels in week 29 of 2019 saw a slight shuffling of rank as compared to week 28.

At rank 1, Aaj Tak witnessed a growth of 7.6 per cent in viewership at 53.977 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to first rank and 50.149 million weekly impressions in week 28. Continuing on at second rank, ABP News saw a growth of 12.9 per cent in week 29 of 2019 to 41.047 million weekly impressions in HSM (R) as compared to 36.355 million weekly impressions in week 28.

News18 India climbed a place to third rank in week 29 of 2019 with 20.1 per cent viewership growth to 38.136 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth rank and 31.751 million weekly impressions in week 28. India TV climbed down a place in week 29 of 2019 to fourth rank with a growth of 4.1 per cent at 36.078 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 34.671 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Retaining fifth rank in week 29 of 2019 was Republic Bharat with a growth of 0.2 per cent at 31.102 million weekly impressions as compared to 31.029 million weekly impressions in week 28.

Hindi news viewership in HSM (U)

All the five channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U) witnessed growth in viewership. The list and ranks of channels in week 29 of 2019 were the same as in week 28.

At rank 1 in HSM (U), Aaj Tak saw growth of 0.6 per cent in week 29 of 2019 to 69.196 million weekly impressions as compared to 68.808 million weekly impressions in the previous week. News18 India was ranked second in week 29 of 2019 with a 12.9 per cent growth in viewership to 58.266 million weekly impressions as compared to 57.223 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

At third rank, India TV witnessed a growth of 1.6 per cent to 53.934 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019 as compared to 53.065 million weekly impressions in week 28. Ranked four, ABP News saw growth of 0.9 per cent in viewership in week 29 of 2019 to 48.484 million weekly impressions as compared to 48.042 million weekly impressions in week 28. Completing the quintet at fifth rank was Zee News which saw growth of 2.8 per cent in week 29 of 2019 to 47.903 million weekly impressions as compared to 46.586 million weekly impressions in week 28.

July 30, 2019
BARC week 27: Middling impact on Hindi news ratings in budget week

BENGALURU: Like the English News genre, budget week (week 27 of 2019, week under review, Saturday, 29 June 2019 to Friday, 5 July 2019) did not spring too many surprises in terms of spurt in viewership for the Hindi news genre either. The Hindi news genre fared a little better than its smaller English sibling in terms of ratings. The combined ratings of the top 5 Hindi news channels in week 27 of 2019 as Broadcast Audience Research Council of India weekly data increased 7.8 percent or by 31.223 million weekly impressions during the week under review as compared to its immediate trailing week in the combined urban (U) and rural (R) Hindi speaking market or HSM (U+R). The list of channels in HSM (U+R) during week 27 of 2019 differed by one channel as compared to the previous week – ABP News entered BARC’s weekly list pf top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) at the cost of the Arnab Goswami-led Republic Bharat.

Combined Ratings of the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U) increased 6.4 percent or by 15.522 million impressions in week 27 of 2019 as compared to week 26. All the five channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 channels in HSM (U) were the same as in week 26 except for a slight shuffling of ranks. In the case of BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R), ratings of the top 5 Hindi news channels increased by 7.8 percent or 12.739 million weekly impressions in week 27 of 2019 as compared to week 26. Four of the 5 top Hindi news channels in week 27 of 2019 were same as those in week 26.

Hindi news in HSM (U+R)

The combined ratings of the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) in week 27 of 2019 was 433.197 million weekly impressions as compared to 401.974 million weekly impressions in week 26. As in the previous week, Aaj Tak led the HSM (U+R) list with 111.001 million weekly impressions in week 27 of 2019 which was 11.3 percent more than the 99.763 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Continuing on at second rank was India TV in week 27 of 2019 with 87.484 million weekly impressions which was 6.5 percent more than 82.126 million weekly impressions in week 26.

Also continuing on at its previous week’s third rank was News18 India with 83.750 million weekly impressions which was 7 percent more than the 78.254 million weekly impressions in week 26. ABP News entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) at fourth rank with 76.631 million impressions. Dropping down a place to fifth rank was Zee News with 74.331 million weekly impressions which was 1.4 percent more than the 73.275 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

Hindi news in HSM (U)

The combined weekly impressions on the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U) were 259.773 million weekly impressions in week 27 of 2019 which was 6.4 percent more than the 244.251 million weekly impressions in the previous week. All the channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels list in week 27 of 2019 were same as in week 26, except with a slight reshuffling of ranks.

As has been the norm, Aaj Tak led the rankings with 64.168 million weekly impressions which were 12.8 percent more than the 56.871 million weekly impressions in week 26. Climbing up a place to second rank in week 27 of 2019 was News18 India with 54.426 million weekly impressions, 7.5 percent more than the 50.612 million weekly impressions in week 26.

Dropping down a rank to third place in week 27 of 2019 was India TV with 53.488 million weekly impressions which was 3.6 percent more than the 51.622 million weekly impressions in week 26. Continuing on at its previous week’s rank four was Zee News with 44.962 million weekly impressions which was 4.5 percent lower than 47.076 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Also continuing on at fifth rank in week 27 of 2019 was ABP News with 42.729 million weekly impressions which was 12.2 percent more than the 38.070 million weekly impressions in week 26.

Hindi news in HSM (R)

The combined weekly impressions on the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R) were 176.034 million weekly impressions in week 27 of 2019 which was 7.8 percent more than the 163.295 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Four of the five channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels list in week 27 of 2019 were same as in week 26, with a slight reshuffling of ranks. Zee News entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R), while News18 India exited it.

Continuing on at its previous week’s first rank was Aaj Tak with 46.883 million weekly impressions in week 27 which was 9.2 percent more than the 42.892 million weekly impressions in week 26 of 2019. Climbing up a place to second rank was India TV with 33.996 million weekly impressions in week 27 of 2019 which was 11.4 percent more than the 30.504 million weekly impressions in week 26.

ABP News also climbed up a place to third rank in week 27 of 2019 with 33.902 million weekly impressions which was 11.5 percent more than the 30.413 million weekly impressions in week 26. Dropping down two places was Republic Bharat with 31.934 million weekly impressions in week 27 of 2019 which was almost flat (up 0.28 percent) as compared to 31.845 million weekly impressions in week 26. Zee News entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R) in week 27 of 2019 with 29.369 million weekly impressions.

July 13, 2019

Aaj Tak and India Today TV emerge as top scorers on Budget Day

MUMBAI: Aaj Tak and India Today TV, the Hindi and English news channels of India Today Group were the Budget Day’s most preferred news destinations, perched pretty well atop the news viewership table.

The 2019 budget presented by the Indian Government on 5th July had millions tuned in. Throughout the reporting of the budget, India Today TV and Aaj Tak helped all sections of the populace decipher the various complexities of the budget, and delivered key insights regarding the state of the country’s economy.

Here’s how Aaj Tak fared during budget hours compared to other networks:

Channel	Gross Impressions (0000s)
Aaj Tak	3698
Zee News	2149
ABP News	2148
India TV	2125
News18 India	1091

* Source – BARC, 15+ NCCS ALL, Time Band – 11:00 – 14:00, period – 5th July 2019, Market – HSM

Through their decades of experience, the most respected and popular journalists of the country delivered comprehensive facts and insights on the budget on both India Today TV and Aaj Tak, and political experts on these platforms drilled down several vital aspects of the policies announced. With this impeccable reputation behind them, both Aaj Tak and India Today TV established themselves as the No.1 news destinations on Budget Day.

Here’s how India Today TV fared compared to other channels:

Budget Day		Budget Hours
Channel	Impressions'000 {Sum}	Channel	Impressions'000 {Sum}
India Today TV	45.1	India Today TV	27.6
Times Now	35.5	Republic TV	4.3
Republic TV	28.2	Times Now	3.5
Mirror Now	22.7	Mirror Now	2.0
NDTV 24×7	18.1	NDTV 24×7	0.4
CNN News18	9.2	CNN News18	0.1

Source for Budget Hours: BARC, Mkt: Mega Cities, Time Band: 1100-1300hrs TG: 22+ M AB, Period: 5th July’19, G’Imp’000

With a resounding victory on budget day, both the channels have established themselves as the bastions of solid reporting and the gold standard in their respective genre.

July 12, 2019

Aaj Tak maintains non-stop 52 week numero uno status

MUMBAI: After setting new benchmarks of viewership in the recently concluded Lok Sabha Elections, AajTak has added another feather in its cap by dominating the Hindi News genre in the recent 52 consecutive weeks as per the BARC data (Source – BARC, TG: 15+, NCCS: All, Market: HSM, Period: Wk 26’18-Wk 25’19, Avg Weekly Gross Imp’000).

AajTak was the No. 1 news channel across all key milestones of Lok Sabha Elections which took place during this period including all 7 polling days, days of BJP & Congress manifesto launch, nomination days of key leaders including PM Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi to name a few. The channel was also the most watched news channel on Exit Poll day. On CountingDay, AajTak was on the top across all TV genres in the country, beating even Hindi GECs, Movies and Sports channels.

Apart from the Elections, AajTakregistered market share of as much as 20% during some key news developments in this 52-week period. These includecoverage of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s demise, Pulwama Attack,BalakotAir Strike and the following developments around IAF officer AbhinandanVarthaman’s capture and release by the Pakistani forces.

July 3, 2019
BARC week 25: ABP News back in combined urban & rural top 5 list

BENGALURU: The ABP Group’s Hindi news channel ABP News made a reappearance in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in the combined urban (U) and rural (R) Hindi speaking market or HSM (U+R) in week 25 of 2019 (Saturday, 15 June 2019 to Friday, 21 June 2019, week or period under review). The channel was last present in the HSM (U+R) list in week 22 of 2019. ABP news also re-appeared in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 news channels in HSM (U) at fifth rank. In both the cases – HSM (U+R) and HSM (U), the entry of ABP News in BARC’s weekly lists of top 5 Hindi news channels resulted in the exit of Republic Bharat from them. Further Zee News re-entered the HSM (R) list during the week under review.

BARC’s treatment of the landing page and outliers since week 23 of 2019 as well as the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) World Cup 2019 in England & Wales continued to impact viewership ratings of Hindi news channels. The timings of the ongoing cricket tourney overlap primetime of most channels, including Hindi news channels. The combined viewership of the top 5 Hindi news channels which had dropped in week 24, plunged even further to a new nadir in individual HSM (U) and HSM (R) as well as the combined HSM (U+R) during week 25 of 2019.

Hindi news in HSM (U+R)

Aaj Tak retained its numero uno position in HSM (U+R) in week 25 of 2019 with 112.678 million weekly impressions as compared to 115.088 million weekly impressions in week 24. Also, continuing at second rank was News18 India with 85.899 million weekly impressions in week 25 as compared to 93.594 million weekly impressions in week 24 of 2019.

At third rank was India TV with 84.554 million weekly impressions in week 25 of 2019 as compared to third rank and 87.293 million weekly impressions in week 24. Zee News climbed up one place to fourth rank in HSM (U+R) in week 25 of 2019 with 82.955 million weekly impressions as compared to rank 5 and 80.790 million weekly impressions in the previous week. As mentioned above, ABP News entered the HSM (U+R) list in week 25 of 2019 with 77.011 million weekly impressions.

Hindi news in HSM (R)

In HSM (R) also, Aaj Tak retained first rank with 48.518 million weekly impressions in week 25 0f 2019 as compared to 49.718 million weekly impressions in the previous week. ABP News held onto its second spot in HSM (R) in week 25 of 2019 with 35.559 million weekly impressions as compared to 35.906 million weekly impressions in week 24.

India TV jumped up two ranks to third place in week 25 of 2019 in HSM (R) with 31.897 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 33.370 million weekly impressions in week 24. As mentioned above, Zee News re-entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in week 25 of 2019 at fourth rank with 31.053 million weekly impressions. Completing the quintet in HSM (R) at rank was Republic Bharat in week 25 of 2019 with 30.818 million weekly impressions as compared to 34.764 million weekly impressions and rank three in week 24.

Hindi news in HSM (U)

In the case of BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels also, Aaj Tak retained first rank with 64.160 million weekly impressions in week 25 of 2019 with 64.160 million weekly impressions as compared to 65.370 million weekly impressions in week 24. Also retaining its previous week’s second rank was News18 India in HSM (U) in week 25 of 2019 was News19 India with 55.102 million weekly impressions as compared to 59.873 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

India TV also retained its third rank in week 25 of 2019 in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U) with 52.657 million weekly impressions as compared to 53.913 million weekly impressions in week 24. Continuing on at rank 4 in week 25 of 2019 in HSM (U) was Zee News with 51.902 million weekly impressions as compared to 50.028 million weekly impressions in week 24. ABP News re-entered the HSM (U) list week 25 of 2019 with 41.452 million weekly impressions.

July 3, 2019