Tag: BARC

News channels see viewership fall in BARC week 14

MUMBAI: For the second consecutive week, news broadcasters have slumped marginally across languages in week 14 (4-10 April) of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India as against week 13 (28 March-3 April). Hindi news channels fell by nearly seven per cent and English by 10 per cent.

According to a joint report of BARC and Nielsen India on crisis consumption, the news genre has continued to grow exponentially by over 200 per cent in terms of viewership than its peers. The growth in week 14 is compared to pre-COVID-19 combine weeks of two and four (11- 31 January)

This is the fourth straight week that the audience has been flocking to watch the news more than any other category due to the rising concern over the COVID-19 crisis. Week 12 of BARC has so far reported an exponential rise in terms of viewership of news channels across languages.

Aaj Tak has topped the chart for the straight fourteenth week in the top five news channels’ list. However, the channel fails to retain its earlier week's performance and slumped by over 13 per cent to 372,688 weekly impressions this week as compared to 429,900 impressions in the previous week.

For the straight third week, Aaj Tak has become the number one TV channel in India in 2+plus category. Not just other news channels, the channel has also surpassed the most-watched general entertainment and movie channels in terms of viewership.

Maintaining its second lead for the third straight week, APB News marginally fell by over five per cent to 295,264 weekly impressions in the current week than 311,382 impressions in the last week. The channel has become the second-most watched TV channel across genre in week 14 of BARC.

Reclaiming its third spot after two weeks, India TV reported almost the same performance in terms of viewership this week as that of the previous week. The channel, however, grew with a very acute margin of 0.3 per cent to 283,103 weekly impressions this week versus 282,228 impressions in the last week.

Republic Media Network’s Hindi news channel Republic Bharat, improving its ranking this week, has climbed up to the fourth spot from fifth. The channel, however, dropped slightly in terms of viewership by nearly three percent to 272,602 weekly impressions in week 14 as against 280,219 in the previous week.

The channel's prime time debate shows – Mahabharat and Poochta Hai Bharat – become the most-watched between 6 pm to 9 pm during week 14. Republic Bharat was ahead of Aaj Tak with a mere 0.1 per cent, the former the lead with 15.3 per cent of the market share, whereas the latter giving cut-throat competition was at 15.2 per cent during the same time slot.

Zee Media’s Hindi news channel Zee News has not only fallen in ranking but also in terms of viewership. The channel tumbled by over 10 per cent to 270,066 weekly impressions in week 14 as compared to 300,324 impressions in the earlier week. From the second spot in week 11, the channel is positioned at the fifth position in the current week of BARC.

In the English category, Republic TV has maintained its dominance for the fourteenth week straight in terms of viewership. However, the channel, this week, declined marginally by around nine per cent to 1896 weekly impressions than 2082 impressions in the previous week. The channel has reported all-time high viewership numbers in the week 13 of BARC.

Majority of the channel’s viewership is drawn from its super prime-team debate show hosted by the network’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami. For the fourth week in a row, Republic TV has been the most-watched channel from 9 pm to 11 pm with a market share of 63 per cent.

Times Network’s English news channel Times Now has become the second most-preferred news channel for the straight fourteenth week of BARC. The channel, however, fell substantially in terms of viewership by over 28 per cent to 922 impressions this week versus 1284 impressions in week 13.

Network18’s English news channel CNN-News18 has improved its performance not only in terms of ranking but also in viewership. The channel, securing third spot, has gained substantially by over 40 per cent to 917 weekly impressions as compared to 653 impressions in the earlier week of BARC.

TV Today’s English news channel India Today fell to the fourth position from third for the first time in the last four weeks. The channel declined substantially by over 26 per cent to 866 weekly impressions in the current week as compared to 1182 impressions week 13. The channel had seen all-time high viewership gain in the previous week of BARC.

Making it in top five English news channels’ list for the second consecutive week, ZEE Media’s Wion has report marginally gain by over 0.6 per cent to 627 weekly impressions compared in week 14 to 623 impressions in the earlier week of BARC.

April 17, 2020
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.

April 11, 2020
‘Ramayan’, movies drive out pay Hindi GECs, news from across genres list

BENGALURU: Weeks 12 of 2020 (Saturday, 21 March 2020 to Friday 27 March 2020) and 13 of 2020 (Saturday, 28 March 2020 to Friday, 3 April 2020) witnessed big changes in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly lists of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms. Week 12, the first week of the All India 21-day lockdown due to the dreaded covidvirus-19 had seen the entry of a Hindi News channel, the free to air (FTA) AajTak from the India Today group at rank 7. Only three GEC channels, two of which were FTA –Dangal (at rank 1), Big Magic (at rank 8) and Pay channel Sony Sab (at rank 3), were present in BARCs’ across genres on all platforms list in week 12 of 2020. Three Movies channels were also present in the list in week 12 along with two Telugu and one channel each of Tamil and Hindi News genres. Combined viewership of the Top 10 channels across genres in week 12 of 2020 was 8 percent higher than the combined viewership in week 11. From the Network’s perspective there were two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN), Star India and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from Enterr10 Television, Sun TV, TV Today group and Viacom18.

Week 13 of 2020 saw combined viewership of Top 10 channels across genres on all Platform climb even further- week 13 of 2020 saw week on week combined weekly impressions grow 18.3 percent as compared to the previous week. Eight of the channels in the weekly list for week 13 were the same as in week 12, but with higher ratings and a shuffling of ranks. Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa and AajTak exited the list in week 13 to make way for DD National (at rank 1) and Viacom18’s Kids channel Nick (at rank 9). BARC attributes DD National’s growth of viewership to re-runs of programmes such as Ramayan, Shaktiman and Buniyaad amongst others.

Four Hindi GECs, three channels from the Hindi Movies genre and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels Across Genres on All Platforms. Please refer to the figure below:

Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 12 of 2020 had seen the exit of five big GECs’, four of which were Hindi GEC’s and one was a Kannada GEC. All the channels were flagship channels. The Hindi GECs’ were Viacom18’s Colors, SPN’s Sony Entertainment Television, Star India’s Star Plus and Zeel’s Zee TV and the Kannada GEC was Zeel’s Zee Kannada. Three of the channels that replaced these GECs’ were Hindi Movies channels and two were Telugu GEC channels. BARC revealed during a teleconference that many GECs’ have included classic soaps& dramas and movies as big part of their programming, more so in South India. Four Telugu channels, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Hindi GEC, Kids and Tamil genres made up BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across genres in week 12 of 2020. There were two channels each from SPN, Star India, Sun Tv Network, Viacom18 and Zeel.

Week 13 of 2020 saw two channels exit BARCs’ weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres-the Sun Tv Network’s Telugu GEC Gemini and Zeel’s Zee Telugu. The new entrants were pubcasterDoordarshan’s (DD) flagship channel DD National and the Sun Tv Network’s Tamil Movies channel KTV. Hence there were three channels from the Hindi Movies genre, two channels each from Hindi GECs’, Tamil and Telugu and one channel from the Kids genre. From the network’s perspective, there were two channels each from SPN, Star India, Sun Tv Nework, Viacom18 and one channel each from DD and Zeel.

Please refer to figure below.

Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres

BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres in week 12 of 2020 saw the exit of one Hindi Movies channel -ABZY Movies, to be replaced by Hindi News channel AajTak. The other nine channels in week 12 were same as in the previous week, with some shuffling in ranks. There were three channels each from the Bhojpuri and Hindi Movies genres, two channels from the Hindi GEC genre and one channel each from the Hindi News and Youth genres. There were four channels from Zeel, three channels from Enterr10 Television, two channels from B4U Network and one channel from the India Today group.

Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres in week 13 of 2020 were the same as in week 12. The channel that exited the list was Zeel’s Bhojpuri channel Big Ganga, which was replaced by DD’s DD National. The nine channels from the previous week had some reshuffling of ranks. There were three channels each from the Hindi GEC and Hindi Movies genres, two channels from the Bhojpuri genre and one channel each from the Hindi News and the Youth genres. There were three channels each from Enterr10 Television and Zeel, two channels from B4U and one channel each from DD and the India Today group.

Please refer to the figure below:

April 10, 2020
#9pm9mins sees lowest-ever viewership since 2015

MUMBAI: Prime minister Narendra Modi’s addresses to the citizens of India have been keenly watched in the last few weeks. Even as his address on 24 March, announcing the 21-day nationwide lockdown, got the highest ever views, his subsequent address on 3 April led to a low point for TV viewership.

On 3 April, PM Modi had urged people to demonstrate a collective will to fight COVID-19 by switching off all lights at home and lighting a lamp, candle or turning on the mobile phones’ flashlight on 5 April, Sunday, at 9 pm for nine minutes.

The third edition of BARC-Nielsen report studying viewership trends during lock says that TV viewership dropped by 60 per cent during these 9 minutes as compared to previous weeks. Additionally, the viewership during these nine minutes was the lowest ever since 2015.

“The decline started by 8.53 pm and came back to current trends only after 9.30 pm,” adds the report. 9 pm is considered as a primetime, even for a Sunday and so the viewership dip is staggering.

The latest address of PM Modi failed to achieve traction the way the first two addresses announcing Janta Curfew and 21-day lockdown, did.

“The prime minister’s 11-minute video message on #9PM9Minutes garnered over 1024.5 million viewing minutes. The Janta Curfew address (19 March) and 21-day lockdown (24 March) announcement achieved 1275.3 million and 3862.9 million viewing minutes respectively. Both the addresses were telecast for at least 30 minutes on almost all news channels..

As the media and entertainment industry has stopped generating fresh content, the only genre being kept under essential services – news channels – is able to show and update viewers about the pandemic with new content. This has helped news broadcasters to gain viewership exponentially by over 250 per cent for the third week straight, as per the report.

It is observed that viewers watch news on TV first thing post waking up and also sign off their day either by watching news or movies.

April 10, 2020
India Today becomes most-watched channel in megacities in week 13 of BARC

MUMBAI: For the first-ever time this year, India Today has become the most-watched channel in the megacities, clinching number one spot in week 13 of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. The channel has secured second spot in the previous week in the same category.

The channel has grown by over 12 per cent to 657,000 impressions in megacities among NCCS 22+ Male AB in week 13 as compared to 583,000 impressions in the last week. Republic TV has fallen by around 19 per cent to 619,000 impressions this week from 763,000 in the last week.

Republic TV has been leading the chart in megacities in terms of viewership. However, India Today reaching a new high is something that was speculated considering last week’s stellar performance of the channel in terms of viewership.

In the same category, Times Now, being at the third spot, garnered 386, 000 impressions, and CNN-News18 with 195,000 impressions has been ranked at the fourth position.

The viewership of news channels has grown exponentially in recent weeks due to the COVID-19 situation. Moreover, except news, all other genres have stopped producing fresh content, which could be termed also one of the reasons for the rise in the viewership of news broadcasters.

April 9, 2020
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.”

April 9, 2020
NBF decries Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s suggestion to ban media ads

MUMBAI: The News Broadcasters Federation (NBF) has appealed to the prime minister to reject the suggestion by Congress president Sonia Gandhi for a “complete ban on media advertisements- television, print and online – by the government and public sectors undertakings (PSUs) for a period of two years”. The NBF also requests Gandhi to withdraw her suggestions in this regard.

The NBF says: “At a time when other industries and sectors are scaling down resources and expenses, we, the news broadcasters of India are facing increased costs as we provide emergency and essential service at the time of national crisis. We request the government to support the news broadcasters through all means to ensure their survival.”

News broadcasters serve as an influential, public awareness and emergency communications system to get information on the doorsteps of the common citizens across the length and breadth of the country, especially in current times of national lockdown due to the world health emergency of COVID-19. Due to this, news television viewership has increased exponentially by 298 per cent, according to BARC, says the NBF release.

The NBF also requested the government to consider advertising spends by private and public sector companies to news broadcasters disseminating public awareness campaigns/information/publicity during the current period to prevent the spread of COVID-19, to be considered as a corporate social responsibility activity.

“The advertising revenue contribution by government and PSUs is minuscule in comparison to the overall advertising market which is pegged at less than 0.5 per cent to India’s GDP. But in contrast, the advertising sector acts as a key catalyst to create mass and expeditious awareness among citizens, creating demand among consumers and leading to higher spending which creates employment to millions, directly and indirectly, and ultimately benefiting the exchequer in terms of tax revenue.”

“Advertising revenue forms the backbone for sustenance of FTA news broadcasters, especially at such crucial time when the operational cost has increased by more than 20 per cent, as news channels are scaling up their effort, by putting hundreds of experts, doctors, public health experts, civil and police personnel, and government officials on air in a massive effort to disseminate the right information and counter the barrage of fake news by reaching out to the largest part of India’s 1.3 billion people at the time of national crisis while themselves at risk,” it goes on to add.

April 8, 2020
ABP News Network asserts digital dominance

MUMBAI: ABP News Network (ANN) has witnessed a massive consumption uptick on its digital platforms, owing to the strong, round-the-clock coverage on COVID-19. Garnering the trust of billions, the digital arm of ANN has become a credible choice for the viewers in every major news week.

According to the BARC and Nielsen Crisis Consumption report, viewership in the country has witnessed a rise of 11 per cent to 622 million viewers between 21 – 27 March 2020 (week 12) when compared to January 11-31, 2020 (week 2). Through minute-to-minute updates and comprehensive insights on the pandemic, ANN’s digital platform has garnered a whopping 15.7 billion impressions in the month of March (Source: YouTube Analytics), attesting their dominance on the digital front.

In addition, the group has witnessed record-breaking viewership in March 2020, with 1.3 billion views on YouTube (Source: YouTube Analytics), surpassing the previously recorded numbers of the general election in May 2019, as content consumption on smartphones have increased by 12 per cent with users spending 3.8 hours a day on their devices.

Apart from YouTube, ABP News & ABP Ananda have done exceptionally well on Facebook, keeping the viewers apprised and engaged. ABP News has garnered 12.34 million total interactions and 223 million views, surpassing its nearest competitor Aaj Tak with 45 per cent higher total interactions (Source: CrowdTangle; 20 March-31 March). And, ABP Ananda has achieved 2.28 million total interactions, six per cent higher total interactions than its nearest competitor Zee 24 Ghanta (Source: CrowdTangle; 20th Mar-31March 20).

The BARC-Nielsen report also highlighted that viewers chose to ‘search’ for more news through multiple channels during the lockdown. In this light, ABP Live App has also emerged as the viewers’ topmost pick from Week 2 of March 2020 (09-15) to week 3 of March 2020 (16-22), observing a humongous upsurge with plus 46 per cent users and plus 138 per cent total video views.

Since its inception, the digital arm of ABP News Network has championed issues on multiple spectrums – may it be social, political, environmental or cultural. The platform possesses a rich portfolio of diverse content that appeals to different age groups and audiences.

ABP News Network chief executive officer Avinash Pandey says: “We are proud to be a pioneer in the digital news segment. With the COVID-19 situation evolving, we have seen it as our duty to provide the viewers with a veracious account of all developments through our digital platforms.”

“Our commitment to deliver the best, even amid trying times has brought us to this leading position and we are pleased to be the viewers’ most-preferred news destination. It is now time for advertisers to fine-tune their media plans amid the ongoing shifts in consumer behaviour to leverage the highly-engaged audiences across the digital spectrum,” adds Pandey.

April 7, 2020
News channels report highest ever viewership gain in week 12 post lockdown

MUMBAI: The overall news genre has reported the highest ever weekly viewership so far this year in the week 12 (21-27 March) of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India as compared to the previous week (14-20 March), courtesy the lockdown.

In the current week, the Hindi news channels' combined viewership has surged by around 140 per cent, whereas the English news channels' weekly impressions rose by over 130 per cent.

The unprecedented crisis in the nation due to the spread of the novel coronavirus has led a tremendous surge in the viewership of news channels.

TV Today Network’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak, dominating the chart for the twelfth week straight, has reported growth of 150 per cent to 5,32,102 impressions in week 12 as compared to 2,16,024 in week 11. The channel, so far, has shown the biggest ever viewership gains this year alone.

Achieving a new feat, Aaj Tak has become the number one channel with 24 crore reach in India's second category in week 12 than all its peers across categories such as news, GEC, and movie. Not just that, the channel has also been the leader in terms of viewership during Janta Curfew day, with over 66 million impressions and 1,98,96,832 weekly viewing minutes.

Jumping to the second spot from fifth, ABP News Network’s Hindi news channel ABP News has grown mostly by over 160 per cent to 3,40,659 weekly impressions in week 12 as compared to 1,30,035 in the last week. This is the biggest ever weekly impressions the channel has achieved in 2020.

Though the channel has slipped to the third position from second, Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ Hindi news channel Zee News has gained the third-highest viewership in the current week. The channel advanced by over 137 per cent to 337,359 impressions as against 142,089 in week 11.

Retaining its place at the fourth spot, Network18’s Hindi news channel News18 India has also grown exponentially by around over 134 per cent to 305,732 impressions this week as compared to 130,391 impressions in the earlier week. The channel has garnered the all-time high reach on news channels of Network18 with over 22 crore reach in India 2+ category in week 12.

Despite gaining over 115 per cent in terms viewership in week 12, India TV fell from the third position to last in the top five news channels list. The channel has gained 296,305 weekly impressions in the current week as compared to 137,578 impressions in the previous week of BARC.

Being number one for the twelfth week straight, Republic Media Network’s English news channel Republic TV has surged by over 130 per cent to 1962 impressions this week as against 852 in the previous week. This is the biggest ever viewership gain, the channel has reported so far this year.

Maintaining its stance at the second position, Times News Network’s English news channel Times Now has grown over by 113 per cent to 1375 impressions in week 12 as against 644 in week 11. The channel, so far, has shown the biggest ever viewership gains this year alone.

TV Today Network’s English news channel India Today Television has gained most in percent-wise by over 184 per cent to 1190 impressions in week 12 as compared to 418 impressions in the previous week. The channel has turned out to be the most-watched channel in the megacities in one day, gaining total impressions of 4417 in week 12 of BARC.

Not just that, India Today has also been the most preferred channel in the 15+ category during the first three days of lockdown period that began from 25 March and which falls in week 12 of BARC. The channel has also ranked number two with a rise of 24 per cent in both megacities and all India.

Retaining its place at the fourth spot, Network18’s English news channel CNN-News18 has grown by over 122 per cent to 848 weekly impressions in the current week as compared to 381 in week 11.

For the first-ever time, BBC World News has been featured in the in top five English news channels’ list with 565 weekly impressions in week 12 of BARC.

A joint report released by BARC and Nielsen India on crisis consumption mentions that the news genre has shown around 300 per cent increase in terms of viewership across the general category (English, Hindi and regional).

The business news channels in both Hindi and English languages have risen by 180 per cent in viewership.

The report also points out that while the primetime consumption of news across the country has surged by over 250 per cent, non-prime time news slot saw a rise of 344 per cent in terms of viewership. However, perhaps for the first time, there has been a drop of over 15 per cent in viewership in general entertainment channels during the primetime slot.

April 3, 2020
13% upsurge in advertising FCT during Covid-19: BARC-Nielsen report

NEW DELHI: The global Covid-19 pandemic has been hitting businesses across the globe hard. It was being estimated that the trickledown effect will eventually find its way in the advertising industry as well. But if the latest BARC Nielsen report is to be believed, that might really not be the case.

Despite many channels being unable to air new episodes because of canned shootings, advertisers haven’t withdrawn their FCTs back. As per the report, there has been a 13 per cent spike in advertising FCT in the corona period, week starting 14 March as compared to the time period between 11 and 31 January (termed as the pre-corona period).

The highest spike of 147 per cent, as expected, was recorded by social advertisements. Following categories were banking and finance sector (47 per cent rise), food and beverages (36 per cent rise), and services (22 per cent rise)

However, several categories witnessed a dip in the advertising FCT. Surprisingly, personal healthcare went down by 29 per cent. Auto and hair care went down by 17 per cent and seven per cent respectively.

March 27, 2020