Tag: India Today Group

India Today Group Digital Locks Down the Top Spot

India Today Group has achieved yet another milestone by ascending to the No. 1 position in the digital domain, well ahead of all its rivals. As per the latest Comscore data (March’20), India Today Group continuously holds the top spot of India’s No. 1 General News Group. While India is under a strict lockdown due to the global pandemic COVID-19 – users have started consuming more news content than previous indicative data. India Today Group properties were the most preferred one by users for news consumption across all digital parameters.

Here’s how India Today Group has stayed on top of this change, among all verticals of the digital parameters:

Most Visited Websites:

India Today Group has accomplished the top spot in the most visited websites. With a sharp rise to 8.48 Million Unique Users on Desktop and 156.17 Million Unique Users on Mobile Web, it has become the go-to news source across the country, providing the most relevant and topical news with well-researched opinion and data publishing.

With this increase in Mobile Web unique users, India Today Group has reached – 40% of India’s Mobile Internet audience. (Comscore, MMX, Mobile Metrix, Mobile Web Only, General News, Unique Visitors, March 2020, India).

Most Downloaded App:

India Today Group has engaged its mobile app users with innovative content formats through videos, live blogging, daily short highlights or news articles. During March’20, India Today Group’s mobile apps were the most downloaded news apps in India. 3.95 Million app downloads recorded (Source: Similar Web Insights, Downloads, Android News Apps, Original News Content Creators, India). Additionally, with 13.21 Million Unique Visitors India Today Group holds the No.1 position on Comscore as the most visited News Mobile Apps.

With over 10 Million unique visitors Aaj Tak has also become the 1st News mobile app to cross 10 million monthly mobile app unique visitors. (Comscore Mobile Metrix, Mobile App Only, General News, Custom list of original news content creators, Unique Visitors, March 2020, India)

Most Watched:

With over 4 Billion Video Views in a month, India Today Group also enjoys the title of being the No. 1 News Video Publisher on Social media. India Today Group’s viewers particularly enjoy consuming news through their video platforms, in the form of news segments and original programming on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. (Source: Socialblade, Custom List of News YouTube Channels News, All Languages, Gained Video Views, March 2020 & Crowdtangle Intelligence, Custom List of News Facebook and Instagram pages, all languages, Video Views, March 2020)

Highest Followers:

With a collective Social Fan base of 160 million, India Today Group has become the voice of the people on Social Media. With Aaj Tak being the No. 1 Hindi News Brand across social media platforms with highest numbers of fan base. YouTube Subscribers : 35.7 Million, Facebook Page likes : 23.71 Million, Twitter Followers : 9.7 Million and Instagram Followers : 3.5 Million

May 4, 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
India Today Group-Axis-My-India Exit Poll Hits Bull’s Eye in the Delhi Assembly Elections

NEW DELHI: When India Today predicts election results, the country can rest assured that it has seen what others have missed.

The India Today-Axis-My-India poll anticipated the AamAadmi Party's sweep in the February 8 vote, giving it between 59 and 68 seats in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. Its nearest rival, the BJP and its allies, were projected to get two to eleven seats and the Congress none.

By Tuesday evening, the predictions turned out to be exceptionally accurate, with the AAP securing 62, the BJP around 8 and the Congress knocked out for a duck at time of writing.

Once again, the India Today-Axis-My-India exit poll has delivered the most accurate picture of elections in the world's largest democracy.

No other media outlet could forecast the results with as much precision.

GOING BEYOND NUMBERS

The India Today-Axis-My-India exit polls are meticulously accurate because the surveys go beyond the numbers.

In Delhi, for instance, the pollsters measured voting behaviours, preferences and predispositions of the city's diverse demography.

Like a thorough statistical exercise, the survey delved deeper into the voters' educational background, economic conditions, work, age-groups, caste, and religious affiliations.

The same model was adopted in every exit poll — and the predictions have been astoundingly correct.

Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson, INDIA TODAY Group said, " Everytime we get a poll right the stakes get higher. This was our 5th poll bang on. The trust put in us by our viewers is a big responsibility and makes us work harder (and gives us many sleepless nights!). People keep asking me what's the secret sauce that even your bitterest competitor quote and copy your poll. The answer is simple. We wear glasses with no colour when we look at data. Data is always neutral. The partnership of the best data input from Axis and serious ground reporting from our team before every election has made this incredible feat possible. Having an unparalleled platform with the combined muscle of broadcast, digital and social also helps a little‼

THE EARLER POLLS THAT THE INDIA TODAY AXIS MY INDIA GOT RIGHT

JHARKHAND FORECAST

The India Today-Axis-My-India exit poll forecast the fall of the BJP in Jharkhand, giving it 22-32 constituencies in the 81-seat state Assembly. The opposition alliance comprising the JMM, the Congress and the RJD were projected to secure 38 to 50 seats.

The actual results were no different. The BJP won 25 and the opposition alliance 47 seats.

HARYANA, MAHARASHTRA FORECAST

In Haryana, the India Today-Axis-My-India forecast 32-44 for the ruling BJP. The survey foresaw the Congress ranks swelling in the range of 30-42 seats.

The actual results delivered 40 seats to the BJP and 31 to the Congress.

In Maharashtra, the BJP and the Shiv Sena, then in a pre-election alliance, together secured 161 seats, and the NCP-Congress 98, as predicted in the India Today-Axis-My-India exit poll.

The Sena and the NCP-Congress eventually stitched a new alliance together to form the state government.

INCREDIBLE TRACK RECORD

Of all the elections that took place in India between 2013 and 2020 to date, India Today-Axis My India post-poll surveys have given the most accurate predictions in 95 per cent of the cases.

Since 2013, Axis My India has conducted 40 post-poll surveys, of which 38 have been spot on. Since their association with India Today in 2016, the pollsters have predicted 35 elections, of which 33 turned out to be accurate.

Conducting the largest exit poll for the world's largest democracy the 2019 general elections, the India Today-Axis My India exit poll, for instance, predicted 339-365 seats for the BJP-led NDA and 77-108 seats for the UPA in the new Lok Sabha. In actual results, the NDA got 352 and the UPA 92 seats in the lower house of parliament.

Axis-My-India chief Pradeep Gupta attributes his successful predictions to team work and scientific monitoring of voter behaviour. "We follow international best practices. Our methodology is highly refined that helps us eliminate margins of error," he explained. "Our sampling is the most demographically and politically representative in any given election. There's zero tolerance for any compromise on quality. That's perhaps the reason why the Harvard Business School is doing a case study on Axis-My-India for the GE 2019 predictions."

February 11, 2020
India Today Group Digital is the No. 1 Destination for General News Consumption

New Delhi: India Today Group Digital has established its dominance in the news genre across all digital platforms (Desktop, mWeb, App). The latest Comscore September 2019 insights titled ‘Trends in Online News Consumption’ highlight India’s love for online news and, that Indians consume news content more than entertainment. With 138 million monthly unique visitors, India Today Group beats all Indian entertainment brands like MX Player (95 Mn Unique Visitors), Star India (87 Mn), Jio TV (60 Mn) & Saavn Group (51 Mn). Source :Comscore, Mobile Metrix, Custom List of Entertainment entities, Unique Visitors, September 2019.

The report also finds that vernacular language news content is consumed most and Hindi is the preferred language, leading with 66% reach, 6 times higher than any other vernacular language in India. Aaj Tak tops Hindi news consumption and is the No.1 news brand across digital & social platforms such as Desktop, mWeb, App, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

The Comscore September 2019 insights also show that mobile web has maximum unique visitors but mobile apps lead with highest engagement due to more time spent. The India Today Group Digital Apps topped the charts with 926 million total minutes spent, highest among all original news content creators in India.

Comscore insights also reveal that General News is the most consumed news category in India. India Today Group Digital retained its leadership in the General News category and is now No.1 for the last 10 consecutive months.

The Comscore report states that overall news consumption in video format is also increasing. India Today Group Digital with a robust growth of 39% in the last one year is India’s No. 1 General News Video publisher too.

December 16, 2019
How India consumes digital news

MUMBAI: India is a large, chaotic, noisy democracy at work. And nothing encapsulates this better than the desire for news in Indians, be it through print, broadcast or even digital. Digital news in India, as per comScore’s latest report, receives an average of 282 million unique visitors (UVs) every month, making India the second-largest online news consuming nation in the world after China.

Digital news is also the most popular content category by reach, having a 96 per cent reach, just above social media, entertainment and retail at 95, 95, and 94 per cent. News penetration in India is actually higher than other key populations like China and the USA, says the report titled ‘Trends in Online News Consumption,’ that analysed data for the month of September.

However, despite the high penetration of digital news in India, the average time an Indian spends on news sites at 191 minutes is much lower that countries like Finland (667), China (496), and the US (352).

The rise of news aggregators

Thanks, perhaps, to the high-demand of news in India and to comparatively lower time spent on news sites, the biggest players in news category are news aggregators. Data from comScore’s report shows that out of the 282 UVs for the month of September, nearly 158 million came through news aggregators. Together, news aggregators recorded a staggering 187 per cent growth in 2019.

Among news aggregators, Dailyhunt remains the undisputed market leader, having 43 per cent market reach. Flipboard, Newspoint, Google News, Inshorts, and UCNews have carved out a space for themselves but none of them is in a position to challenge Dailyhunt’s current market domination.

Mobile leads the way

The popularity of news aggregators is also aided by another peculiar Indian market trait, the popularity of mobile screen over desktop. Over 90 per cent of the total time Indians spends on digital news sites is on mobile screens with desktop compromising just below 10 per cent. The compatibility of news aggregators on mobile screens is aiding their growth.

However, the same poses challenges for advertisers looking to monetise the popularity of digital news. Desktop interface is more compatible for advertisings than a mobile screen. News aggregators, currently, advertise by strategically placing branded content and promotions in between important stories.

Vernacular shows promise

Another feature that distinguishes Indian digital news market from other key markets like China, USA, Brazil, Canada, and the UK is the tremendous content diversity on news sites in India. While all other key digital news markets are one language dominated, in India, a huge amount of traffic to news sites comes from vernacular languages.

News, but in video format

The report also finds that for news sites, video remains the best option to engage consumers. In the last one year, top news sites have increased their video output vastly, and have benefitted from it.

Also, You Tube is the most preferred partner for growth in news videos. The study finds that news sites benefit tremendously by contributing videos to You Tube. The report finds that out of the total 85 million UVs on India Today Group site, 84 million came from You Tube. For Times Internet, the figure was 25 million UVs out of the total of 33 million UVs.

News is here to stay

If there is one take away from the report, then it is that news, in whatever format, is here to stay. Also, in India, digital news is showing growth alongside a healthy growth in broadcast news, without much harm to print news.

However, for news sites to remain relevant in a fast changing Indian digital news market, videos and effective partnerships with social media like You Tube and Facebook, is critical.

November 30, 2019
BARC week 39: Not much impact of UNGA on Hindi news viewership

BENGALURU: Pakistan Premier Imran Khan’s shenanigan’s at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) did not seem to have much effect on the viewership of Hindi news channels in week 39 of 2019 as combined weekly impressions of the BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi news channels grew by just 7 percent as compared to the previous week. Hindi news viewership in Hindi speaking markets – both urban -HSM (U) and rural (HSM (R), as well as the combined markets -HSM (U+R) seemed immune to Islamophobia and Islamic Terror that many global leaders spouted during their respective UNGA speeches as BARC data for the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) increased to 545.803 million weekly impressions in week 39 of 2019 from 511.897 million weekly impressions in week 38. Viewership growth in week 39 of 2019 was driven by HSM (U), while Aaj Tak and Zee News were the biggest gainers in both HSM (U) and HSM (R), as well as HSM (U+R)

Comparatively, viewership of the top 5 English News channels increased by as much as 41 percent during the week under review as compared to the previous week.

Hindi news viewership in HSM (U+R)

While the channels listed among the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U+R) were the same, there was a small shufflingof ranks in week 39 of 2019 (Saturday, 21 September 2019 to Friday, 27 September 2019, week or period under consideration). Aaj Tak retained its numero uno rank that it has held on to almost forever with 17 percent increase in viewership in week 39 of 2019 at 127.463 million weekly impressions as compared to 114.016 million weekly impressions in week 38.

Zee News climbed up a place to second rank with an increase of 11 percent in week 39 of 2019 to 112.261 million weekly impressions as compared to third rank and 100.993 million weekly impressions in the previous week. India TV dropped a place to third rank despite an increase of 3 percent viewership to 104.248 million weekly impressions in week 39 of 2019 as compared to second rank and 101.656 million weekly impressions in week 38. News18 India retained fourth rank in the week under review with an increase of 3 percent in ratings to 103.011 million weekly impressions as compared to 99.971 million weekly impressions in week 38. ABP News also retained fifth rank in week 39 of 2019 with an increase of 4 percent in viewership to 98.820 million weekly impressions as compared to 95.261 million weekly impressions in week 38.

Please refer to the figure below:

Hindi news Viewership in HSM (U)

Viewership of the top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (U) increased 8 percent to 319.149 million weekly impressions in week 39 of 2019 from 294.229 million weekly impressions in week 38. Please refer to the figure below.

Aaj Tak saw its ratings increase by 13 percent in week 39 to 74.127 million weekly impressions in HSM (U) from 65.773 million weekly impressions in week 38. Zee News climbed up a rank to second place in week 39 of 2019 with an increase of 13 percent in viewership to 66.739 million weekly impressions from third place and 58.824 million weekly impressions in week 38. News18 India dropped a place to third rank – its ratings increased 3 percent in week 39 of 2019 to 63.055 million weekly impressions from second rank and 61.067 million weekly impressions in week 38. India TV retained rank four in week 39 of 2019 with an increase of 5 percent in viewership to 61.169 million weekly impressions from 58.101 million weekly impressions in the previous week. ABP News also retained fifth rank with a 7 percent increase in viewership in week 39 of 2019 to 54.059 million weekly impressions from 50.464 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

Hindi news viewership in HSM (R)

While the channels in BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R) were same in week 39 of 2019 and week 38, there was a small tweaking in ranks. Further, two of the five channels saw viewership decline, while three saw viewership growth. Combined ratings of top 5 Hindi news channels in HSM (R) in week 39 of 2019 increased just 4 percent to 229.035 million weekly impressions from 219.734 million weekly impressions in week 38.

In the case of HSM (R) also, Aaj Tak retained rank one with 11 percent increase in ratings to 53.336 million weekly impressions from 48.244 million weekly impressions in week 38. Zee News climbed two places to second rank with 8 percent increase in viewership to 45.522 million weekly impressions from fourth rank and 42.169 million weekly impressions in week 38. ABP News dropped a place to third rank with almost flat ratings (decline of 0.1 percent in viewership) to 44.761 million weekly impressions in week 38 of 2019 from second rank and 44.797 million weekly impressions in week 38. India TV also dropped a rank to fourth place with a decline of 1 percent in viewership to 43.078 million weekly impressions in week 39 of 2019 from third rank and 43.554 million weekly impressions in week 38. Republic Bharat retained fifth rank with an increase of 3 percent in viewership to 42.338 million weekly impressions from 40.970 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Please refer to the figure below:

October 9, 2019
India Today Group’s vice-chairperson, Kalli Purie, gets global recognition

MUMBAI: Ms. Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson of India Today Group, was conferred upon the ‘India’s Most Powerful Women in Media’ award at the famed Confluence Excellence awards at the British Parliament on September 27th. It is noteworthy, that only two weeks back, she was also honored with the ‘Outstanding Media & Entertainment Award’ at the annual 21st Century Icon Awards in London.

Accepting the global recognition, Ms. Kalli Purie said, "It is very satisfying to be recognized internationally for the work we are doing at the India Today Group. In many fields like creating content for mobile and social we are leaders in the world. Its exciting and daunting to create prototypes for media around the world to follow.

Handling a business with a golden legacy in an industry that is changing at an unprecedented pace can be very challenging. But I have followed a mantra by our chairman Mr. Aroon Purie in one of his letters from the editor – 'Men Age, Magazines don't', which I believe today is ever more relevant. This made us see what others saw as dark turmoil as a window of shining opportunity. We have taken the solid foundation and diversified in a way befitting the original DNA of our organization."

A graduate from Oxford University, the UK in Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Kalli Purie is armed with a clear vision about the future of news, she is leading one of the most-awarded and celebrated team of journalists in a futuristic newsroom that she helped build, apt for the multimedia, multi-device world we live in. A serial entrepreneur, she brings a rich experience in running a wide range of media properties- from 5 television channels Aaj Tak, Aaj Tak HD, India Today Television, Dilli Aaj Tak, Tez, apps, a digital newspaper, championing world-class events, to devising a social media strategy for the group. She is also the lead for all signature, thought leadership events of the group – The India Today Conclave, Agenda Aaj Tak, Safaigiri, Sahitya Aaj Tak, India Today Mind Rocks, Panchayat Aaj Tak, India Today Global Roundtable and many more. Her unified leadership in television, digital and events is the cornerstone for the successful synergy in the Group.

September 30, 2019
BARC week 38: Hindi News ratings fall as AajTak continues dominance

BENGALURU: Hindi News ratings continued their decline in week 38 of 2019 (Week 38: Saturday, 14 September 2019 to Friday, 20 September 2019, period or week under review). After the big jump in ratings in week 21 0f 2019 when the opinion polls followed by results of the national elections, Hindi News ratings had witnessed a steep decline. The abrogation of Article 370 and the formation of the new union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on 5 August 2019 during week 32 of 2019 saw ratings peak a bit once again, only to gradually climb down. Weekly data of Top 5 Hindi News channels sourced from Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) reveals that the combined total of ratings of the top 5 Hindi News channels in the combined urban (U) and rural (R) Hindi speaking market (HSM) dipped 13 percent in week 38 of 2019 as compared to the previous week. Ratings of the Top 5 Hindi News channels in the urban market – HSM (U) declined 14 percent as compared to a 11 percent fall in the case of HSM (R) during the period under review. BARC data has more weightage for the urban markets as compared to the rural markets.

AajTak from the India Today Group continued its unimpeded and uninterrupted dominance of the Hindi News genre in HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and HSM (R). Please refer to the figures below for the combined ratings of the top 5 Hindi News channels in HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and HSM (R) respectively.

Top 5 channels of the Hindi News genre in week 38 of 2019 in HSM (U+R)

The combined weekly ratings of the Top 5 Hindi News channels in HSM (U+R) declined 13 percent to 511.897 million impressions in week 38 of 2019 as compared to 587.374 million weekly impressions in week 37. While the same channels were present in BARC’s weekly list in HSM (U+R), there was some shuffling in ranks between the two weeks. All the channels witnessed decline in ratings in week 38 of 2019 as compared to week 38.

AajTak at rank one, witnessed a 16 percent decline in ratings during the period under review in HSM (U+R) to 114.016 million weekly impressions from 134.965 million weekly impressions in week 37. India TV jumped up two places to second rank in week 38 of 2019 with 101.656 million weekly impressions despite a 7 percent decline in viewership from 109.803 million weekly impressions and fourth rank in week 37.

Zee News slipped a place to third rank in week 38 of 2019 with 100.993 million weekly impressions, a drop of 17 percent as compared to 121.535 million weekly impressions and second rank in the previous week. News18 India also dropped a place to fourth rank in week 38 of 2019 with 99.771 million weekly impressions, a 10 percent decline from the 111.695 million weekly impressions and third rank in week 37. ABP News retained its rank 5 in the list in week 38 of 2019 with 95.261 million weekly impressions which was 13 percent lower than the 109.376 million weekly impressions in week 38.

Top 5 channels of the Hindi News genre in week 38 of 2019 in HSM (U)

The combined weekly impressions of the top 5 Hindi News channels in HSM (U) declined 14 percent to 294.229 million weekly impressions in week 38 of 2019 from 340.308 million weekly impressions in the previous week. The five channels in the list for both the weeks – weeks 38 and 37 of 2019 were the same, however, with a shuffling in ranks.

Continuing on at rank 1 in week 38 of 2019, AajTak witnessed a 15 percent drop in ratings in HSM (U) to 65.773 million weekly impressions as compared to 77.704 million weekly impressions in week 37. Climbing up a place to second rank, News18 India saw its ratings decline 11 percent to 61.067 million weekly impressions in week 38 of 2019 from 68.636 million weekly impressions and third rank in the previous week. Zee News dropped a place to third rank and saw its ratings decline 19 percent in week 38 of 2019 to 58.824 million weekly impressions from second rank and 72.467 million weekly impressions in week 37. India TV retained rank 4 in week 38 of 2019 with a decline of 9 percent in viewership to 58.101 million weekly impressions from 64.100 million weekly impressions in week 37. ABP News retained fifth place in week 38 of 2019 with a 12 percent decline in ratings to 50.464 million weekly impressions from 57.401 million weekly impressions in week 37.

Top 5 channels of the Hindi News genre in week 38 of 2019 in HSM (R)

The combined weekly impressions of the Top 5 Hindi News channels in HSM (R) declined 11 percent to 219.734 million weekly impressions in week 38 of 2019 from 247.066 million weekly impressions in week 37. The first four channels in the week under review were the same as in the previous week, while the ArnabGoswami-associated Republic Bharat re-entered BARC’s weekly list of Top 5 Hindi News channels in HSM (R) as News18 India exited it. There was a shuffling of places between ranks three and four in week 38 of 2019.

AajTak, at rank one, saw its viewership decline by 16 percent to 48.244 million weekly impressions in week 38 of 2019 from 57.261 million weekly impressions in week 37. ABP News at second rank saw its ratings drop 15 percent to 44.797 million weekly impressions from 51.975 million weekly impressions and second rank in week 37. India TV climbed a place to third rank in week 38 of 2019 despite a decline of 5 percent to 43.554 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth rank and 45.703 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Zee News dropped a place to fourth rank in week 38 of 2019 with a 14 percent reduction in viewership to 42.169 million weekly impressions from third rank and 49.068 million weekly impressions in week 37. Republic Bharat re-entered BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi News channels in HSM (R) with 40.970 million weekly impressions.

September 27, 2019
BARC week 36: English news ratings stay steady

BENGALURU: The combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English news channels in week 36 of 2019 rose just 2.2 per cent as compared to week 35 – the combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English news channels in week 36 and 35 of 2019 were 2.038 million weekly impressions as compared to 1.994 million weekly impressions respectively. Three of the five channels in week 36 of 2019 saw their ratings increase, two saw them decline. While the five channels in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly list were same, there was a slight tweaking in the ranks – channels with ranks one, two and three in week 36 of 2019 were same as in week 35, while ranks four and five swapped ranks. Please refer to the chart below:

Please refer to the figure below for ranks of the Top 5 English news channels between weeks 13 and 36 of 2019.

As in the previous week, Republic TV, Times Now and DD India were ranked first, second and third in week 36 of 2019. India Today Television moved one place up to rank 4 while CNN News18 dropped a place to rank 5 during the week under review.

Republic TV scored 0.664 million weekly impressions in week 36 of 2019 as compared to 0.610 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Times Now scored 0.480 million weekly impressions in week 36 of 2019 as compared to 0.460 million weekly impressions in week 35. DD India while retaining rank third, saw ratings declined to 0.333 million weekly impressions in week 36 of 2019 from 0.372 million weekly impressions in week 35. India Today Television at fourth rank in week 36 of 2019 scored 0.298 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.266 million weekly impressions in week 35. CNN News18 saw ratings decline to 0.263 million weekly impressions in week 36 of 2019 from 0.286 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

September 16, 2019
BARC week 32: Kashmir, Article 370 abrogation pushes English news ratings up

BENGALURU: Abrogation of Article 370 and the presentation and passage of The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 in the parliament on 5 August and 6 August 2019 respectively was a big booster for news across all media. Reactions from within and without the country, the incessant debates and arguments for and against the act attracted eyeballs to news television channels. The English news genre on television was also a big beneficiary in terms of increase in viewership during the week (Week 32: Saturday, 3 August 2019 to Friday, 9 August 2019, week or period under consideration). Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data for week 32 of top 5 English news channels showed that the combined viewership of the top channels increased by 1.074 million impressions or went up by 59.3 percent as compared to week 31 of 2019.

The combined weekly impressions of the top 5 English news channels were 2.885 million and 1.811 million during weeks 32 and 31 respectively. The top 5 English channels in week 32 of 2019 were the same as in week 31 with a shuffling in ranks four and five. In terms of absolute weekly impressions, the Arnab Goswami-led Republic TV was the biggest gainer in viewership, while pubcaster Doordarshan’s English news channels DD India gained the least among the top 5 English news channels in week 32 as compared to week 31. The India Today Group’s India Today Television gained the most in terms of percentage at 87.6 percent while DD India had the lowest gains of 32 percent in terms of growth of weekly viewership. India Today Television climbed up one rank to fourth place replacing Network18’s CNN News18 which descended to rank 5. Please refer to the figure below:

Let us see how the top 5 English news channels performed.

As mentioned above, channels ranked one (Republic TV), two (Times Now) and three (DD India) in week 32 of 2019 had the same ranks in the previous week. Please refer to the figure below for ranks, with rank 1 being the most watched.

Republic TV was ranked one in week 32 of 2019 with 0.871 million weekly impressions, which was 51.7 percent or 0.297 million impression more as compared to 0.569 million weekly impressions in week 31.

With 0.630 million weekly impressions in week 32 of 2019, Times Now retained its previous week’s second rank. Times Now viewership in week 32 of 2019 was 53.3 percent or 0.219 million impressions more than the 0.425 million weekly impressions in week 31.

DD India retained its third rank in week 32 of 2019 with 0.528 million weekly impression which was 0.128 million impressions or 32 percent more than the 0.337 million weekly impressions in week 31.

As mentioned above, India Today Television climbed up a place to fourth rank in week 32 of 2019 with 0.439 million weekly impressions which was 0.211 million impressions or 87.6 percent more than the 0.234 million weekly impressions in week 31.

Completing the quintet at rank 5 was CNN News18 with 0.417 million weekly impressions in week 32 of 2019 which was 0.134 million impressions or 69.5 percent more than the 0.246 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Please refer to the figure below:

August 20, 2019