ITV

Tag: Ananda Bazar Patrika

  • BARC week 25: ABP News back in combined urban & rural top 5 list

    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.

  • BARC week 24: Hindi news ratings plunge further

    BARC week 24: Hindi news ratings plunge further

    BENGALURU: Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) sum of weekly ratings of top 5 Hindi news channels across the Hindi speaking urban – HSM (U) and rural – HSM (R) as well as the combined HSM (U+R) were lowest ever in week 24 of 2019 (Saturday, 8 June 2019 to Friday, 14 June 2019, week or period under review). BARC recommenced publishing of data in the public domain in week 13 of 2019 after a hiatus of seven weeks to allow ratings to stabilise after implementation of TRAI’s new tariff order, and the ratings for week 24 were the lowest ever since then.

    The sum of weekly impressions of the top 5 Hindi news channels was 457.884 million weekly impressions in HSM (U+R); 187.489 million weekly impressions in HSM (R); and 275.549 million weekly impressions in HSM (U). Comparatively, the 11 week average (between weeks 13 and 23 of 2019) of the sum of weekly impressions of the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) was 653.192 million; in HSM (R) it was 288.937 million and in HSM (U) it was 367.834 million.

    Of the reasons that this drop could be attributed to is BARC having reverted to the earlier process of treatment of landing page beginning with week 23.  Added to this is the fact that the timings of the ongoing cricket tourney by the ICC World Cup 2019 in England and Wales overlap primetime of most channels, including Hindi news, could have affected viewership ratings. Many in the industry feel that BARC reverting to the old treatment of landing pages and filtering out data from outliers is better.

    There was no change in the list of channels in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) except for shuffling of ranks. In the case of HSM (R), India TV re-entered BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi news channels. Living Media (India Today Group) flagship Hindi news channel Aaj Tak continued its supremacy at rank 1 of the Hindi news genre in urban, rural as well as combined urban and rural markets. Aaj Tak was the only channel among the top 5 that saw ratings in week 24 of 2019 climb as compared to week 23.

    HSM (U+R)

    With 115.088 million weekly impressions in week 24 of 2019, Aaj Tak led BARC’s weekly list of top Hindi news channels as compared to 110.763 million weekly impressions. Continuing on at second rank was Network18’s News18 India with 93.574 million weekly impressions in the week under review as compared to 97.484 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Climbing up a place to third rank in week 24 of 2019 was Rajat Sharma and Ritu Dhawan’s India TV with 87.283 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth rank and 88.807 million weekly impressions in week 23. Dropping a rank to fourth place in week 24 of 2019 was ARG Outlier Media’s Republic Bharat with 81.129 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 90.570 million weekly impressions in week 23. At fifth rank in week 24 of 2019 was Zee Media’s Zee News with 80.790 million weekly impressions as compared to 88.617 million weekly impressions in the preceding week.

    HSM (R)

    At rank one in HSM (R), Aaj Tak garnered 49.718 million weekly impressions in the Hindi speaking rural market in week 24 of 2019 as compared to 50.815 million weekly impressions in week 23. Climbing up a place to second rank was the erstwhile Ananda Bazar Patrika’s ABP News in week 24 of 2019 with 35.906 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 38.881 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Dropping a rank to third place in HSM (R) during the week under review as Republic Bharat with 34.764 million weekly impressions as compared to second rank and 40.454 million weekly impressions in week 23. News18 India also climbed a place to fourth rank in HSM (R) with 33.721 million weekly impressions as compared to fifth rank and 34.771 million weekly impressions. Re-entering BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels list for HSM (R) was India TV with 33.370 million weekly impressions in week 24 of 2019.

    HSM (U)

    Aaj Tak regained its first place in the urban Hindi speaking market in week 24 of 2019 with 65.370 million weekly impressions as compared to second rank and 59.948 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Dropping a place to second rank was News18 India with 59.873 million weekly impressions as compared to first rank and 62.713 million weekly impressions in week 23.

    India TV retained rank three in week 24 of 2019 with 53.913 million weekly impressions as compared to 54.765 million weekly impressions in week 23. Also retaining its previous week’s fourth rank was Zee News with 50.028 million weekly impressions as compared to 53.451 million weekly impressions in week 23. Completing the quintet in HSM (U) was Republic Bharat in week 24 of 2019 at its previous week’s rank 5 with 46.365 million weekly impressions as compared to 50.116 million weekly impressions.

  • India TV appoints Jayanta Ghoshal as political editor

    India TV appoints Jayanta Ghoshal as political editor

    MUMBAI: India TV has appointed political journalist Jayanta Ghoshal as its political editor, while Prafulla Kumar Mishra has joined as editor, guest relations and coordination.

    Jayanta Ghoshal has over 35 years experience in political reporting. He started his career as a staff reporter in the Bengali daily Bartaman in 1984 and rose up to the position of National Political Bureau Chief.  He joined Ananda Bazar Patrika group as editor, Delhi in 2002 and worked there till last month.

    India TV chairman and editor-in-chief Rajat Sharma said, "We are proud to have an experienced political journalist like Jayanta Ghoshal in our news channel. I know Jayanta personally since the last several decades and I respect his acumen. I look forward to working with him, particularly since the Lok Sabha elections are on the horizon."

    As an experienced political journalist, Ghoshal has closely observed the working of successive governments at the Centre and in West Bengal. He was instrumental in guiding the fledgling Bengali daily newspaper Bartaman to Number 2 position, a spot it still holds.

    Prafulla Kumar Mishra has 18 years' experience in TV journalism. He started his career in Sahara Samay, and worked in Zee News, DD News and Times Now as Chief Programme Coordinator.

    Ghoshal broke several exclusive stories that included preparations for Pokharan-II nuclear tests in 1998, and Raghuram Rajan going to resign as RBI Governor in 2016. He interviewed both the prime ministerial candidates, Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi during the 2014 general elections.

    India TV MD and CEO Ritu Dhawan said, "These new appointments indicate the fresh ground India TV is going to break in its endeavor to become the pioneer of top quality news content. I wish both Ghoshal and Mishra the best in their new roles."

  • Star in process of selling its 26% stake in MCCS to ABP

    Star in process of selling its 26% stake in MCCS to ABP

    MUMBAI: Star India is in the process of transacting the sale of its 26 per cent stake in Media Content & Communications Services (MCCS), the company that owns and operates three news channels, to its joint venture partner Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group.

    “We have offered our shares to ABP Group at a mutually agreed value. We are in the process of selling our entire stake in MCCS”, said Star India chief executive officer Uday Shankar in an interview with Indiantelevision.com.

    The completion of the transaction will free News Corp from owning any stake in a local news venture in India. Star had already disengaged itself from any involvement in MCCS and the Star brand name had been taken out of the Hindi, Bengali and Marathi news channels.

    In April this year, Star and Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group had announced their divorce. MCCS, the joint venture company with Star as a 26 per cent stake owner and ABP holding the balance 74 per cent, launched Star News in March 2004, Star Ananda (Bengali) in June 2005 and Star Majha (Marathi) in June 2007.

    According to a source, Star is selling its stake at a value that is not high. Shankar, however, declined to talk on this. “We do not talk about our financials. All that I can say is that we have split amicably,” he said.

    MCCS has operationally broken even since FY’11, from its loss of around Rs 60 million in the earlier year on a revenue of Rs 2.13 billion, according to market estimates. The company’s revenue in FY’12 has crossed Rs 2.6 billion.

    When asked whether Star was planning to buy a stake in NDTV, Shankar said the company had decided to exit the news business in India because of the 26 per cent FDI cap in the news sector. “We will not invest in any news venture including NDTV till the FDI cap is upped. “

    Star feels that the whole economics of the TV news business in India is not working. “News Corp is not a financial investor. If you are not in the driver’s seat or have no significant say in the business, it doesn’t make strategic sense at all,” said Shankar.

    But won’t the former MCCS CEO and a newsman himself miss the news business? “We have created a tremendous entertainment footprint and will now build the sports business. News is definitely a gap in our portfolio. But unless there is a change in the FDI limit, it doesn’t make sense,” said Shankar.

    Balaji Telefilms is the other joint venture company where Star has exited from any involvement but is holding on to its 25.9 per cent stake. While Star has been wanting to sell for long, the promoters of Balaji Telefilms have not made the purchase yet as the share prices have slipped drastically over the years. In the joint venture termination agreement inked in 2008, Balaji had the right to purchase the shareholding held by Star for an aggregate price of Rs 190 per share. But that period has lapsed and Star has the right to independently find a buyer for its stake in Balaji Telefilms.

  • Essel Group picks up stake in UNI

    Essel Group picks up stake in UNI

    NEW DELHI: The Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group, which is the co-owner of DNA newspaper along with the Dainik Bhaskar group, has joined the United News of India (UNI) board as a shareholder.

    News agency UNI has shareholding from about nine big media organisations who also form the board of the news organisation formed in 1961.

    Confirming the development, Essel Group senior vice-president Ashish Kaul said, “We are on the board of UNI now as a shareholder, but the quantum of the holding cannot be disclosed at this point of time.”

    Kaul also clarified that Zee Telefilms, also an Essel Group enterprise, has nothing to do with the UNI deal. The other shareholders and board members of UNI include media outfits like HT Media, Times of India group, Ananda Bazar Patrika and The Hindu.

    Chandra has used his investment vehicle, Mediawest, to conclude the UNI agreement.

    Launched in March 1961, UNI has grown into one of the largest news agencies in Asia. today it serves more than 1000 subscribers in more than 100 locations in India and abroad. They include newspapers, radio and television networks, web sites , government offices and private and public sector corporations.

    The agencies communication network stretches over 90,000 kms in India and the Gulf states with bureaux in all major cities and towns of India.

    UNI has collaboration agreements with several foreign news agencies, including Reuters and DPA , whose stories are distributed to media organisations in India.

    Apart from that, UNI has news exchange agreements with Xinhua of China, UNB of Bangladesh, Gulf News Agency of Bahrain, WAM of the United Arab Emirates, KUNA of Kuwait News Agency, ONA of Oman and QNA of Qatar.