Tag: NDTV 24×7

NDTV and CoinSwitch Kuber announce strategic content partnership

Mumbai: NDTV and CoinSwitch Kuber have announced a strategic partnership for content in the cryptocurrency space.

The partnership will see NDTV launch exclusive crypto destinations on gadgets360.com, ndtvprofit.com, and ndtvindia.in and a brand-new show every alternate weekend on the TV news channels NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India.

The cryptocurrencies trading market has gone mainstream. More people are evaluating this asset class and there is a demand for credible and accurate information, said the statement. “Through this partnership, CoinSwitch Kuber seeks to address this demand by combining its domain expertise with NDTV’s credibility,” it added.

“All of us at NDTV are excited about this terrific new partnership with CoinSwitch Kuber. Cryptocurrency is a big and complex space to explore – and we will report on it with the rigor and credibility that NDTV is known for,” said NDTV Convergence head, Suparna Singh. “Our digital and on-air teams will work together to bring the latest cryptocurrency news and trends to an Indian audience. Young Indians are so invested in this space – and we look forward to giving them all the information they’re looking for, as also to engaging a broader audience that may not know much about this area but wants simple explainers and a clear picture of what has become a whole new way of trading.”

“Crypto has seen exponential growth over the last decade, and the sentiment is only getting stronger,” said CoinSwitch Kuber co-founder and chief executive officer, Ashish Singhal. “Every day lakhs of users are becoming first-time crypto investors, both from metros as well as the remotest corners of the country. As India’s leading crypto investment platform, it is our responsibility to provide users access to relevant information regarding this asset class. NDTV being one of India’s leading media houses will help us get our message across to everyone – from beginners to seasoned investors.”

The content will be available across all NDTV platforms including its massive social media communities.

August 9, 2021
NDTV 24X7 returns to top 5 in BARC week 48

MUMBAI: NDTV 24X7 re-entered the top five of the English news genre in week 48 of BARC ratings. Aaj Tak yet again stood on top in all the three genres. Republic TV continued to dominate the English news genre. English business news genre saw no changes this week again.

English News

Republic TV maintained its lead in the first position in the English news genre with 978 impressions ‘000. Times Now at second and CNN News18 at third hold onto their respective positions with 777 impressions ‘000 and 377 impressions ‘000. India Today Television stood at fourth position with 367 impressions ‘000. NDTV 24X7 with 245 impressions ‘000 came back at the fifth position replacing Mirror Now which occupied the spot last week.

English business news

The English business news genre yet again saw no changes this week. CNBC TV18 continued to stay on the first place with 362 impressions '000. ET Now and BTVI stood at their second and third positions with 116 impressions '000 and 73 impressions '000. CNBC TV18 Prime HD also held on to its fourth position with 23 impressions '000.

Hindi News (U+R)

Aaj Tak once again stood on top in the Hindi news (U+R) genre with 139244 impressions ‘000. News18 India took the second place with 111857 impressions ‘000. ABP News is at the third position with 103568 impressions ‘000 followed by Zee News with 103432 impressions ‘000. India TV sits at fifth position with 99287 impressions ‘000.

Hindi news rural

Aaj Tak is positioned first in the Hindi news rural genre with 61284 impressions ‘000. ABP News, News18 India and Zee News are at second, third and fourth positions with 50356 impressions ‘000, 46842 impressions ‘000 and 43254 impressions ‘000, respectively. India TV with 39964 impressions ‘000 took the fifth place again this week.

Hindi news urban

Aaj Tak stood on top with 77960 impressions ‘000 followed by News18 India with 65015 impressions ‘000. Zee News and India TV were at third and fourth positions after interchanging their slots with 60178 impressions ‘000 and 59323 impressions ‘000. ABP News held on to the fifth place with 53212 impressions ‘000.

December 9, 2018
Hindi news channels continue strong run in 2018

BENGALURU:The combined total viewership of the top-five Hindi news channels shows that it has a huge audience when compared to the combined total viewership of the top-five news channels of each of the four South Indian languages individually. However, when audiences of the top-five news channels of the four South Indian languages are combined, their 15-week average viewership exceeds the 15-week average ofthe combined total of the top-five Hindi news channels’ viewership by about 13 percent. Though the audience demographics of Hindi and the four South Indian languages are different (13 years difference), they have been compared in the chart. English news has not been mentioned in the first graph because (1) of the wide variance in the audience demographics between the South Indian language news and Indian English news which is 20 years (2) the viewership of Indian English news is too small to be comparable.

This report is about Indian news channels—including Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and English—for which limited ratings data is available in the public domain. Business news channels or news channels in other languages have not been included in this report. The ratings data considered has limitations–it has been sourced from Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s (BARC) weekly lists of the top-five news channels in each language.

The first fifteen weeks of 2018 is the period starting Saturday, 30 December 2018 to Friday, 13 April 2018, the last week for which BARC data was available at the time of writing of this report.

BARC says that its data is based on the following viewer geographies and demographic parameters for news in Hindi, the four South Indian languages and English:

(a)     Hindi news: Hindi-speaking markets, both urban and rural or HSM (U+R): NCCS All: 15+ Individuals.

(b)     Telugu news: Andhra Pradesh or AP/Telangana (U+R): NCCS All: 2+ Individuals

(c)     Kannada news: Karnataka (U+R): NCCS All: 2+ Individuals

(d)     Tamil news: Tamil Nadu/Puducherry (U+R): NCCS All: 2+ Individuals

(e)     Malayalam news: Kerala (U+R): NCCS All: 2+ Individuals

(f)      English news: All India (U+R): NCCS AB: Males 22+ Individuals.

The unit of viewership measure in all cases in the charts below is thousand weekly impressions.

The overall status

Let us see how the top-five channels of five languages–Hindi and the four South Indian languages–have performed. Please refer to the chart below.

News viewership is event driven. The biggest event that occurred during the first 15 weeks of 2018 was the discussions and debates just before, during and after the elections results announcement of some Indian states in week 9 of 2018–ratings of all the channels peaked as is obvious from the figure. The only exception was Kannada news, the genre’s peak was in week 8 of 2018 based on the combined viewership of the top-five Kannada news channels.

The combined viewership of the top-five Hindi news channels in week 9 was a staggering 931.068 million impressions–almost at par with the most-watched channel across genre in the country–Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV. The lowest combined viewership of the top-five Hindi news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018 was in week 15–just 393.013 million impressions–this was the week that the eleventh season of the cricket Indian Premier League or IPL 11 commenced and was aired on a number of Star India network channels. The importance of the IPL on viewership and cannot be understated and must be underscored. In the very first week of the tourney, one of the many Star India Network channels that aired the event—Star Sports 1 Hindi, catapulted into BARC’s top 10 channels across genre weekly list to second place with 935.856 million impressions—more than the peak combined impressions of the top-five Hindi news channels in week 9 of 2018. Before IPL 11 in week 15 of 2018, Star Sports 1 Hindi had never made it to BARC’s list of top-10 channels across genres in 2018!

After Hindi news channels, Telugu news channels had the next largest audience during the first 15 weeks of 2018 going by the combined weekly totals of the top-five Telugu news channels. On a similar basis, at third place in terms of audience size was Kannada News, followed by Tamil news at fourth rank and Malayalam news at fifth place.

Top Hindi news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018

Only three channels consistently appeared in BARC’s weekly lists of top-five Hindi News channels in HSM (U+R) during the first 15 weeks of 2018. In order of viewership, they wereAajTak, Zee News and India TV.

Three more Hindi news channels made appearances in BARC’s weekly lists of top-five Hindi News channels during the first fifteen weeks of 2018. They were News 18 India (present in the lists for 14 of the first 15 weeks of 2018); ABP News (present in the lists for 11 of the first 15 weeks of 2018); and News Nation (present in the lists for 5 of the first 15 weeks of 2018). As is obvious from the figure below, all the top 3 channels reported a drop in ratings in week 15 as compared to week 14 of 2018. Please refer to the chart below for the Top Hindi News channels – Weeks 1 to 15 of 2018. As has been mentioned in this paper before, the unit on the Y-axis in the graph is thousand weekly impressions.

Top Telugu news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018

Four channels consistently made it to BARC’s weekly lists of top-five Telugu News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018. They were TV9 Telugu; NTV Telugu; V6 News; and TV 5 News. The other three Telugu channels that made it to the lists include 10 TV (present in the lists for 8 of first 15 weeks of 2018); ABN Andhra Jyothi (present in the lists for 4 of the first 15 weeks of 2018); and T News (present in the lists for 3 of the first 15 weeks of 2018).

Please refer to the figure below. As is obvious, TV9 Telugu was in general the top Telugu News channel, but, for a few weeks, it had been overtaken by the second ranked NTV Telugu, which itself was overtaken by V6 News to second place for one week—week 13 of 2018.

Top Kannada news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018

In the case of Kannada News channels, four channels were consistently present in BARC’s list of top-five Kannada News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018. They were TV9 Kannada, Public TV, Suvarana News 24X7 and News18 Kannada. From the figure below, it is quite obvious that the demarcations in the ranks are simple. TV9 Kannada was consistently the most viewed Kannada News channel, followed by Public TV. It was only for one week (week 14) during the first 15 weeks of 2018 that there was a small blip when News18 Kannada replaced Suvarna News 24X7 at third place.

Two more news channels made it to BARC’s weekly lists of Top-five Kannada News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018. In order of the viewership size they attracted when they were present in BARC list, they were BTV News (present BARC’s weekly lists for 7 of the 15 weeks) and Dighvijay 24×7 News (present in BARC’s weekly lists for 8 of the 15 weeks). The former drew more eyeballs during the seven weeks it was present in BARC’s list than the latter did during the 8 weeks that it was present in BARC’s lists.

Top Tamil news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018

Four channels were consistently present in BARC’s list of top-five Tamil News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018. In order of ranking they were: Polimer News, Puthiya Thalaimurai, Thanti TV and News 7 Tamil. Clearly, Polimer News was the most watched Tamil News channel during the first 15 weeks of 2018. Puthiya Thalaimurai was ranked second for 9 of the first 15 weeks of 2018, and was ranked third for 6 of the weeks of 2018. Thanti TV was ranked second for 6 of first 15 weeks and ranked third for 9 of the first 15 weeks of 2018, while News 7 Tamil was ranked fourth consistently during the first 15 weeks of 2018.

Three more channels made it BARC’s list of top-five Tamil News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018. They were Sun TV (present in BARC’s weekly lists for 11 of the 15 weeks); News 18 Tamil Badu (present in BARC’s weekly lists for 3 of the 11 weeks); while Seithigal made its lone appearance in week 13 of 2018 in BARC’s weekly lists of top-five Tamil news channels during the period under review.

Please refer to the figure below:

Top Malayalam news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018

Three channels made it consistently to BARC’s weekly lists of top-five Malayalam News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018. They were Asianet News, Manorama News and Mathrubhumi News. The rank demarcations were quite clear.Asianet News was the leader of the genre by far during the period under review.

Four other news channels made it to BARC’s weekly lists of top-five Malayalam News channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018–they were News 18 Kerala (present in BARC’s weekly lists for 12 of the 15 weeks); Media One TV (also present in BARC’s weekly lists for 12 of the 15 weeks, but with lower viewership than News 18 Kerala when present in the lists); People TV (present in BARC’s weekly lists for 5 of the 15 weeks) and Janam TV which made its single appearance in week 3 of 2018.

Please refer to the figure below:

Top Indian English news channels during the first 15 weeks of 2018

The Indian English news channel genre is niche and special. Generally, five channels made it consistentlyto BARC’s weekly lists of top-five English News channels. However, the Times group’s civic issues focused News channel Mirror Now (the erstwhile MagicBricks Now that was earlier focused on real estate news and information) has grabbed viewers interest and was present in BARC’s lists of top-five English News channels twice during the first 15 weeks of 2018. Mirror Now made it to BARC’s weekly lists of top-fiveEnglish News channels in weeks 6 and 9 of 2018 during the first 15 weeks of 2018. In the past (before 2018) a few other English News channels including international news channels such as BBC World and Indian News channels such as NewsX and Wion have made it to BARC’s weekly lists of top-five English news channels.

Coming back to the present, the four channels which were consistently present in BARC’s lists of top-five English News channels were: Republic TV, Times Now, India Today Television, and CNN News18 during the first 15 weeks of 2018. The other regular to the lists has been the Prannoy and Radhika Roy led NDTV 24×7 which was present in BARC’s weekly lists of top-five News channels for 13 of the first 15 weeks of 2018.

The rank demarcations in terms of viewership of the English News genre were quite clear during the first 15 weeks of 2018–the Arnab Goswami led Republic TV has been the pack leader right from the week Republic TV was launched–week 19 of 2017. However, viewership of the earlier numerouno and Goswami’s former employer, Times Now, has almost equalled Republc TV’s ratings twice in 2018–in weeks 8 and 12. Please refer to the figure below:

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Republic TV continues to lead as English news genre ratings drop

April 23, 2018
Republic TV continues to lead as English news genre ratings drop

BENGALURU: Arnab Goswami-headed Indian English news channel Republic TV has continued an uninterrupted lead of the genre since its launch in May 2017. Republic TV led the genre with 0.553 million weekly impressions in week 15 of 2018 (Saturday, 7 April 2018 to Friday, 13 April 2018) according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India’s weekly data for the top-five English news channels—All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : males 22+ individuals. BARC had reported 0.652 million weekly impressions for Republic TV for week 14 of 2018.

In the meanwhile, the ratings of the genre have recorded a new nadir–the lowest combined weekly ratings of the top-five English news channels for 2018 until week 15 were 1.678 million impressions, 19 per cent lower than the previous weeks combined ratings of the top-five English news channels of 2.071 million impressions in the previous week. The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 11) commenced in week 15 of 2018 and the ratings of news television channels were most likely affected. Most of the matches are played during the primetime of GECs, news channels as well as other genres.

All the five channels in BARC’s list remained the same with the same ranks in week 15 of 2018 as compared with week 14. As a matter of fact, the first three ranked channels have retained their places and order in BARC’s weekly list of the top-five English news channels through the first 15 weeks of 2018. All the channels, however, had lower ratings in week 15 as compared with week 14 of 2018.

Republic TV was followed by Goswami’s former channel–Times Now–for which BARC reported ratings of 0.488 million weekly impressions in week 15 of 2018. Times Now had ratings of 0.595 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Continuing on at its regular third rank was India Today Television with 0.265 million weekly impressions in the week under review as compared with 0.363 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

At fourth rank was CNN News18 with 0.219 million weekly impressions in week 15 of 2018 as against 0.293 million weekly impressions in week 14. At fifth rank was the Prannoy and Radhika Roy led NDTV 24×7 with 0.153 million weekly impressions in week 15 as compared with 0.168 million weekly impressions in week 14 of 2018

April 19, 2018
Debates continue to reap rewards for Eng news channels on prime time

MUMBAI: Prime-time shows on Indian English news channels have struggled to budge from their reliance on the debate format. In spite of access to new technologies, the content of the programming during the slot has largely remained the same. Even the allure of virtual reality (VR) and the latest production techniques have failed to wean viewers from the formulaic nature of debates.

It was NDTV that was the first to make use of VR videos online. In July 2017, Republic TV followed suit. The news broadcaster announced its intent to form a VR production studio to create a set of 10-series VR news stories for digital. Soon after, Times Network also began to take rapid strides in that direction with 3D 360-degree video-based VR and Google’s 180-degree VR format. Moreover, in December 2017, NDTV came up with a turnaround plan to improve profitability that involved reducing the workforce by up to 25 per cent and increasing its reliance on accessible technology such as mobile journalism.

Times Now with the Newshour Debate, hosted by Rahul Shivshankar, and Republic TV with The Debate at 9 pm, steered by Arnab Goswami, touch upon current, political and social issues that take place in the country with eminent personalities from diverse fields on the panel.

Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani says that the channel’s primetime format is giving them an edge over others. “Our primetime format is working beautifully for us and giving us a leadership against all of the channels. When Arnab is on air, we have 45-60 per cent market share between 9-11 pm. We have an overall market share of 35-45 per cent which is better than other channels’ primetime shows also. Republic is also working in building the second line at 8 and 8:30 pm shows with other big anchors like Parikshit Lutra and Shivani Gupta.”

Mirror Now has made an entry in the top-five list of Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) all India data in week 6 this year for the first time. The channel’s primetime shows include The Urban Debate at 9 pm and The Last Word at 10 pm. At every stage of the debate, viewers will poll on whether they agree with the panellists or not. The show zooms in on and discusses the problems faced by the citizens of the country, including topics ranging from civic apathy and crimes against women.

At the time of the launch of The Last Word in November last year, Mirror Now executive editor Faye D’souza said, “The idea behind our new 10 pm show is to raise issues that are pertinent to viewers and force the authorities to answer and act. We have cultivated a loyal viewership by showcasing subjects that affect day-to-day lives of urban Indians.”

CNN News18 has a different approach to its primetime show called Viewpoint hosted by anchor Bhupendra Chaubey. He explores the top-five news stories and interacts with a panel that provides its opinions. Furthermore, he also connects with viewers through social media to get their inputs. The other show Epicentre is hosted by Shreya Dhoundial and Marya Shakil where they present the latest issues and talk to experts and prominent individuals.

Chaubey said that the show will be driven by graphics and facts. “We are trying to bring the focus back to facts and we are hoping that, over a period of time, it will grow. Once people get used to the offerings that we have, the CNN News18 primetime will go a long way in just establishing the channel’s share. Right now, our market share for the primetime slot is 20-30 per cent.”

India Today TV at 9 pm has a show called News Today, wherein they compile the latest social, economic and political news of the day. The next show is Newsroom wherein Rahul Kanwal, the host, presents the latest social, economic and political news from across the world.

NDTV 24X7 has a show The 9 o’clock News where it shows news devoid of debate and covers all the top stories of the day, including politics, sports, cities, the world and business. The next show at 9:30 pm is Reality Check, which aims to bust myths.

It seems like the debate show at the prime-time slot works better than any other format. BARC data reflects that four channels in the top-five list have debate shows in their prime-time slot. It is quite unlikely that the Indian audience will move away from the debate format any time soon given the entertainment they generate.

Also Read:

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Mirror Now aims to be no. 2 Eng news channel in 2018: Faye D’Souza

BARC week 5: Aaj Tak and Republic TV lead in respective genres

February 16, 2018
English news genre ratings get a fillip from election results suspense

BENGALURU: The English news genre benefitted from the state elections results that were declared early this week. In the week leading to the Gujarat elections, the genre’s ratings climbed and that climb continued in week 50 of 2017 (Saturday, 9 December 2017 to Friday, 15 December 2017) as channels put forth their guesstimates about who would win one of the dirtiest fights during recent Indian elections. No abuse and misuse of emotions was spared by politicians who wanted to prove that the junta – the voter was still with them, or to attract that additional vote from the electorate.

In week 50 of 2017, as per data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the combined ratings of the top five English news channels (All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals) increased 22 percent to 2.889 million impressions as compared to the immediate trailing week. The top five channels retained their ranks from week 49.

As has become the norm since its launch in week 19 of 2017, the Arnab Goswami led Republic TV topped the genre with 20 percent higher ratings of 0.982 million weekly impressions in week 50 as compared to the 0.819 million weekly impressions in week 49. Goswami’s former employer, Times Now, was at second rank with 14 percent higher ratings during the week under review at 0.864 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.759 million weekly impressions in week 49 of 2017.

India Today Television was at third place with a 36.3 percent hike in ratings to 0.462 million weekly impressions in week 50 from 0.339 million weekly impressions in the previous week. CNN News 18 was at fourth rank with a 41.2 percent growth in viewership to 0.329 million weekly impressions from 0.233 million weekly impressions in week 49. At fifth place was the Prannoy and Radhika Roy-led NDTV 24×7, which saw its viewership grow by 15 percent to 0.252 million during the week under review from 0.219 million weekly impressions in week 49.

Dominance of Republic TV continues as genre ratings plunge

Republic TV, Times Now viewership moves up as genre ratings fall

Republic TV continues to lead English news genre despite bumps

Stunning victory for Republic TV, Republic watches Times Now

December 22, 2017
Gujarat elections boost news channel ratings as Republic continues to lead English News

BENGALURU: Rahul Gandhi’s shenanigans and Narendra Modi’s sudden and unexpected belligerence at rallies leading up to the Gujarat state assembly elections have resulted in bolstering sagging news viewership, especially for the English news genre. According to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for week 49 of 2017 (Saturday, 2 December 2017 to Friday, 8 December 2017), combined ratings of the top-five English news channels (All India (U+R): NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals) increased by 12 percent as compared with the previous week.

While the two politicians put on a spectacle for the viewers, it was the second-ranked Times Now that gained the most–both in terms of viewership as well as percentage of increase in viewership. The channel gained 0.138 million impressions and 22.2 percent increase in percentage of viewership growth during week 49 as compared to week 48 of 2019. However, this was not enough to beat its bête noire and displacer at the top spot–the Arnab Goswami-led Republic TV. Times Now was ranked second during the week under review (week 49 of 2017) with 0.759 million weekly impressions as compared to the genre leader Republic TV’s 0.819 million weekly impressions. Republic TV gained 0.11 million weekly impressions in week 49 and grew by 15.5 percent as against the previous week.

At third was India Today Television in week 49 of 2017 with 0.339 million weekly impressions–the channel witnessed growth of 0.045 million weekly impressions, or 15.3 percent. Following India Today Television was CNN News 18 at fourth place with 0.233 million weekly impressions. CNN News 18 jumped a rank from the previous week’s fifth place with a gain of 4,000 impressions or 1.7 percent as compared to the previous week. Slipping a rank from the previous week’s fourth to fifth and losing 0.044 million impressions (losing 16.7 percent) was the Prannoy and Radhika Roy-led NDTV 24×7.

Hindi News

Hindi news channels also witnessed growth in ratings–the combined ratings of the top-five Hindi news channels-HSM (U+R): NCCS All : 15+ Individuals-grew by 6.6 percent in week 49 of 2017 as compared with week 48. All the channels in week 49 retained their week 48 rankings during the latest week. As expected, the biggest gainer during the week under review in terms of number of impressions as well as growth percentage was the genre leader Aaj Tak with a gain of 12.045 million impressions and growth of 11.1 percent. Aaj Tak recorded 120.442 million weekly impressions during week 49.

At second place in the Hindi News genre in week 49 of 2017 was Zee News with 95.018 million weekly impressions. The Essel group’s premier Hindi News channel gained 5.110 million weekly impressions and viewership growth of 5.7 percent in week 49 as compared to week 48. India TV with 94.135 million weekly impressions was ranked third – the channel had gained 4.568 million weekly impressions and grown by 5.1 percent in week 49 as compared to week 48.

At fourth rank in week 49 of 2017 was ABP News with 91.065 million weekly impressions. ABP News which recorded a gain of 2.6 percent and 2.288 million weekly impressions Completing the top five Hindi News channels quintet was News 18 India with 86.576 million impressions. News 18 India gained 6.269 million weekly impressions and its viewership grew by 7.8 percent in week 49 of 2017 as compared to week 48.

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December 16, 2017
The rise and fall of English news’ TV viewership

NEW DELHI: Tongues have been wagging in the industry that the English news genre viewership levels and ratings have not only been yo-yoing but also declining. From a high of an average weekly viewership of 3788 (‘000) impressions in the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data from week 27-30, the figure has come down dramatically to 2514 (‘000) impressions in weeks 43-45.

However, a quick analysis of viewership data reveals that there doesn’t seem to be any sinister reason or rocket science involved. Viewing, as experts say, is largely a seasonal affair for various genres. For example, during summer school holidays viewership of movie channels and general entertainment channels – and to some extent even factual entertainment or infotainment channels – see a spike in viewership only because kids and moms possibly get to do more TV watching.

As far as English news genre is concerned, which forms a miniscule of the total viewership pie, questioning the fan following is not correct. In fact, the English news genre has seen a gradual growth in the period between BARC weeks 8-45; especially since the time the ratings agency rolled out the new TV universe estimate.

The genre hit a high of 5.3 million impressions in week 11, but that was because of the crucial assembly poll results week. In a country where everyone has a political view, high viewership is understandable as most people would be searching for more political and election-related news and information, said an industry expert who has been tracking TV news channels in general.

BARC India data available with Indiantelevision.com highlights that after the launch of Republic TV and the emergence of Arnab Goswami in a new avatar, the English news genre had hit levels of 4.6 million impressions, but has now settled at an average 2.3 millions impressions – levels English news genre was perched at prior to launch of Republic TV.

Source: BARC India. NB: Republic TV launched in week 19. Data: All India, Male 22+ AB; Average Weekly Impressions (in ‘000); period of consideration: Week 8-45

Though competitors and critics of Arnab may not like to admit, data shows that after the launch of Republic TV the entire English news genre (including most existing players) saw a significant growth in viewership. As another industry observer pointed out, the reasons for this new-found love for English news could be for the following reasons:

-When a much anticipated and promoted event occurs (launch of Republic and return of Arnab notably) inevitably viewer interest spikes that gets funnelled into the genre.

– Also, the new channel launched with special content (stings, etc) led to the competition simultaneously airing special shows that were planned and canned earlier. All these again contributed to drive up viewership.

– Such viewership spikes (led by events like elections, results or cricket matches featuring India) are inevitable and settle down to organic levels over the long term; even Republic TV ratings have fallen from dizzying heights at the time of its debut.

That’s exactly what’s happening now with English news genre, the industry observer explained, driving home the point that TV channels should not jump to conclusions based on week-to-week swings. Earlier, there was one leader in the genre (notably Times Now), but now the category has two strong players. This too impacts viewership and rankings within the genre in the way as being witnessed now.

“English news as a genre has always been a story of new challengers introducing disruptions and dethroning the existing leader. From NDTV 24×7 to CNN New18 to Times Now to Republic TV, the story has repeated itself reflecting also the swing in viewer preference as newer products are introduced in the market,” a TV critic said, adding that for niche genres like English news it’s always advisable to look at long-term trends, larger period clusters, rather than week on week insights.

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November 21, 2017
Indian English News genre facing festival blues?

BENGALURU: Is the Indian English News genre facing pre and post festival blues? For that certainly seems to be case when one looks at Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data for weeks 1 to 43 of 2017. Ratings of the genre dipped in the week leading to, during and the week after India’s biggest festival season – Diwali. The main Diwali days were in during week 42 of 2017. It may be noted that ratings for week 21 of 2017 have not been considered in this paper because in that week English News channels with the support of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) excluding Republic TV had withdrawn from BARC ratings measurement in protest against what they claimed were unfair practices by Republic TV.

BARC weekly data for the top 5 English News genre (All India (U+R) : NCCS AB: Males 22+ Individuals) shows that the lowest combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels in 2017 until week 43 was in week 2 of 2017 (Saturday, 7 January 2017 to Friday 13 January 2017) at 1.179 million weekly impressions. Week 1 of 2017, with 1.218 million weekly impressions, had the second lowest ratings in 2017 until week 43.

The highest combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels in 2017 until week 43 of 2017 were in week 11 (Saturday, 11 March 2017 to Friday 17 March 2017) at 4.897 million weekly impressions– this was the week during which the election results of five states in India were announced. The second highest combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels were in the week that Republic TV was launched – week 19 of 2017 (Saturday, 6 May 2017 to Friday 12 May 2017) and the combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English News channels were 4.282 million, with Republic TV garnering about half the ratings of the genre – 2.115 million weekly impressions.

After that second peak, the combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels have been on the decline, with a nadir of 1.986 million weekly impressions in the pre Diwali week 41 of 2017 (Saturday, 7 October 2017 to Friday, 13 October 2017). Ratings for week 41 of 2017 were the fifteenth lowest ratings of the genre during the first 43 weeks of 2017 and the lowest ratings after the launch of Republic TV. In week 42 or Diwali week, the genre experienced the seventeenth lowest ratings in 2017 to date, and the second lowest ratings after the launch of Republic TV – 2.050 million weekly impressions. In week 43 (Saturday, 21 October 2017 to Friday, 27 October 2017), the combined ratings of the top 5 channels experienced a slight dip again at 2.206 million weekly impressions.

Now, for slight digression. The Arnab Goswami led Republic TV is a major force to reckon with in the English News genre. Right from its launch, the channel has been garnering a huge chunk of the genres combined ratings. It has usurped the previous leader Times Now numero uno position in the English News genre from the very first week of its launch to date in 2017.

Republic TV’s average contribution to the combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels is about 36 percent – more than a third. In its launch week, the channel had contributed 49.44 percent to the combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels. Its lowest contribution to the genre’s ratings has been 30.56 percent in week 35 of 2017 (Saturday 26 August 2017 to Friday, 1 September 2017) – the channel had scored 0.899 million weekly impressions of the genre top 5 channels ratings combined total of 2.942 million weekly impressions. Hence the figure below shows two curved lines – one that includes the ratings of the top 5 English News channels including Republic TV and another that shows the combined ratings of the second, third, fourth and fifth ranked channels, or ratings without Republic TV ratings (w/o Republic TV).

November 6, 2017
Dominance of Republic TV continues as genre ratings plunge

BENGALURU: The Arnab Goswami-led Republic TV continued to lead the English News genre as the combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English News channels for week 41 (Saturday, 7th October 2017 to Friday, 13th October 2017) reached a new nadir – the lowest ratings in the second half year of 2017 to date.

The combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English News channels (All India (U+R) : NCCS AB : Males 22+ Individuals) in week 41 of 2017 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) were a measly 1.986 million impressions, lower than the peak viewerships of the top two channels in some weeks of 2017. The combined ratings of the top 5 English News channels in week 41 were the fifteenth lowest in 2017 to date. It may be noted that ratings for week 21 have not been considered in this paper.

Despite topping the genre, Republic TV reported its lowest ratings since it launched on 6 May 2017 (Week 19 of 2017) – the channel scored just 0.685 million weekly impressions. Another regular in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 English News channels – CNN News 18, also garnered its lowest weekly ratings for the year to date in week 41 of 2017. The channel was ranked 5 in week 41 with 0.173 million weekly impressions.

Goswami’s previous employer – Times Now was ranked second in week 41 of 2017 – its usual rank after the launch of Republic TV, scoring its eighth lowest viewership in 2017 to date with 0.59 million weekly impressions. India Today Television scored its fourth lowest ratings in 2017 to date with 0.286 million weekly impressions in week 41 of 2017. India Today TV was ranked fourth in week 41 of 2017, after NDTV 24×7 that scored 0.252 million weekly impressions at third place. It may be noted that NDTV 24×7 has not found a place in the weekly top 5 English News channels during all the 41 weeks of 2017 till date, hence its ratings relative to other weeks in 2017 have not been mentioned in this paper.

In the meantime, just post 1100am when detailed BARC data is released to paid subscribers, both the leading English News genres channels – Republic TV and Times Now continued their online tirade, each claiming numero uno status in the genre after slicing and dicing BARC data in a manner than showed each in good light. It may be noted that BARC data is generally released on Thursday for the previous Saturday to Friday period at 1100 hours to paid subscribers. Data for top 5 or top 10 channels or programmes or advertisers is also released on Thursday to the public at 1300 hours on its website.

October 23, 2017