ITV

Tag: News

  • Zee Anmol claws to top place in Free Across Genres channels in week 29

    Zee Anmol claws to top place in Free Across Genres channels in week 29

    BENGALURU: Television viewership dipped slightly in week 29 of 2020 (Saturday, 18 July 2020 to Friday, 24 July 2020, week or period under review) according to Broadcast Audience Research Council Research on India (BARC) weekly data as compared to the previous week. BARC reported 17.3 billion impressions as Television viewership for week 29 of 2020 as compared to 17.4 billion weekly impressions during the immediate trailing week – week 28. BARC releases weekly data for the top two, three, four, five or 10 channels of a language, genre or sub-genre in the public domain. Besides, BARC also releases data for the Top 10 channels on all platforms across genres on all platform, on the pay platform and on the free platform. Similar data is also split up for the top Hindi GECs on these platforms along with further segmentation of the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking market or HSM (U+R), in HSM (U) and HSM (R). For regional and other genres such as news, languages, BARC publishes data for the top 5 or lesser channels.

    The analysis in this paper is limited to BARC data available in the public domain – the top two, three, four, five or 10 channels of the genre/sub-genre/language/platform/market.

    Despite the small dip in television ratings, GECs viewership in general seems to have continued climbing, while the News genre seems to have continued the trend of reduction in eyeballs. BARCs’ data for week 29 for the Top five channels in Assamese, Bangla, Bhojpuri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu channels shows that their combined ratings increased as compared to week 28. Only the combined weekly ratings of the top five Gujarati and Kannada channels fell as compared to the previous week. It must be noted that some of the channels in the above genres are movie channels, news channels, etc. However, BARC does publish data in the public domain of the Top five News channels in Hindi, English, Assamese, Bangla, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Telugu and Tamil languages. The combined weekly impressions of the top 5 News channels in all these languages declined except for Bangla and Oriya News channels, which increased by 1.8 percent and 2.2 percent respectively in week 29 of 2020 as compared to week 28. The combined weekly impressions of the other two major genres – Movies (almost flat growth – increased by 0.5 percent) and Kids (declined by 4.2 percent) in week 29 of 2020 did see some changes, but not enough to make a major impact to overall weekly television viewership. These four genres – GEC, Movies, News and Kids generally constitute 90 percent of the overall television ratings according to BARC reports.

    Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres

    Since its return to DD Free Dish, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s second Hindi GEC Zee Anmol has seen viewership climb. The channel was ranked fourth in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels om All Platforms Across Genres in week 29 of 2020. Long time numero uno on this list – Enterr 10 Television’s Dangal had lost its peak position when many of the Hindi GECs returned to DD Free Dish a few weeks ago. Dangal was now ranked 5 in week 29 of 2020. 

    Seven Hindi GECs, two Telugu channels and one channel made up BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres in week 29 of 2020. There were 3 Star India channels, two channels each from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, Sun TV Network (Sun TV) and Viacom18 in the list for Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres in week 29 of 2020.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres

    Two channels -ranked ninth and tenth in the previous week (week 28 of 2020) exited BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 29 of 2020 to be replaced by Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors and Star India’s Hindi Movies channel Star Gold. The other 8 channels in BARC’s weekly list in week 29 of 2020 were the same in the previous week, with a slight juggling of ranks. There were three channels each from the Hindi GEC and Telugu genres, two channels from the Hindi Movies and one channel each from the Kids and the Tamil genres in BARC weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in week 29 of 2020. There were three channels each from Star India and Viacom18 (or associated with Viacom18 through its parent Network 18), two channels each from SPN and Zeel and one channel from Sun Tv.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    Top 10 FreeChannels Across Genres

    Zee Anmol clawed its way to the top spot in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres in week 29 of 2020. All the channels in the weekly list for week 29 of 2020 were the same as in week 28 with some shuffling of ranks. There were 3 channels each from Viacom18 and Zeel, two channels from Enterr10 Television and one channel each from B4U Network and Star India in BARC’sweekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres in week 29 of 2020. There six Hindi GECs, three Hindi movies channels and one Bhojpuri channel in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres in week 29 of 2020.

    Please refer to the chart below:


     

  • IPL, festive season expected to push up ad rev for GECs

    IPL, festive season expected to push up ad rev for GECs

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: After almost four months of hiatus, advertising spend is slowly inching up on TV, especially GECs, which saw shows resume some weeks ago. Experts suggest that whenever consumer behaviour sees a shift, advertising spends have also adjusted.

    Havas Media Group MD–India Mohit Joshi says that growth would have been much sharper if the unscheduled one-off lockdowns in several parts of the country had not happened. He is expecting an overall increase in TV ad revenues in the coming weeks since brands want to make the best use of the remaining five months. Not to mention that IPL is also expected to take place in the last quarter coinciding with festive season.

    DDB Mudra Group executive director and OMD Mudramax president Sathyamurthy Namakkal says that August and September will continue to be lower than the previous years, but October-December should witness some positive growth,( as compared to the previous six months), due  to optimism about a vaccine solution for Covid2019 and festival advertising needs. However, he feels that IPL is likely to impact the viewership of GECs across markets.

    They are of the opinion that while many GECs haven’t yet matched their viewership numbers pre-Covid2019, there is an improvement in viewership post the revival of original content, a few weeks ago.

    Namakkal says, “Many advertisers have moved from negative sentiment to a more neutral sentiment as manifested in the planning process that has been reactivated after a gap of three months.”

    As per TAM media research the tally of advertisers on both national and regional news channels increased by four per cent and three per cent respectively during week 29 (12 July to 18 July)  to week 30 (19 July to 25 July)  compared to week 27 (28 June to 4 July) to week 28 (5 July to 11 July).

    The data further reveals that ad volume on both national and regional news channels increased by 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively during week 29 to week 30 compared to week 27 to week 28.

    Channels began luring its viewers back to TV after some of them shifting off GECs due to lack of content. Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) chief consumer officer Pratyusha Agarwal says, “Our comeback strategy was planned meticulously with the objective of reinstating the habit of appointment viewing for our audience across our GECs. We harnessed the power of digital and social platforms, PR, outdoor, print and the biggest asset of all, our network strength.”

    Zee TV engaged audiences with a combination of artist interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from primetime shows, building curiosity around the return of fresh programming.

    “Given that we are a video-led medium, we have continued to use video-led media as a predominant vehicle and the others being fit-to-purpose added as complimentary media. But with people not stepping out much or being a lot more careful when they step out, we are looking at in-home media a lot more with TV being our primary tool,” shares Agarwal.

    Dangal was the first channel which started airing fresh content from 2 July. Enterr10 Television (Dangal TV) COO Deep Drona shares, “An interesting part was that during lockdown a lot of sampling has happened by fresh viewers. We need to see if they change habits or go back as pause and play viewers.”

    However, Zee TV launched a mega OOH campaign announcing the resumption of its shows. On the other hand, Dangal will not be taking up OOH anytime soon. But, Dangal has increased its digital footprint in order to communicate with its prime audience in tier I and tier II cities.

    According to the tenth edition of BARC-Nielsen data, since 11 April total television consumption increased by 40 per cent. The data also reveals that news and movies continue to grow. April onwards, news has registered 16 per cent growth while GEC from 52 per cent from pre-Covid2019 is now steady at 44 per cent.

    The major revelation is that re-run driven Hindi GECs obtained all-time viewership high post exit from DD Free Dish. In fact, April onwards, overall FCT observed seven per cent growth. There is a significant growth in FCT across news, movies and kids genre. Major FMCG companies continue to advertise on GECs along with some new players.

    Even though news channels became the viewers’ darling for the last few months, Namakkal feels that it will continue to get its regular loyal advertisers. To this, Joshi says, “Each genre has a role to play in the plan. News has seen a lot of surge in viewership. Even today, this continues to be at a higher than pre-Covid2019 levels. Given their performance, their role as a reach driver in the plan has further been consolidated.”

    As primetime viewership starts to return to normalcy, advertiser spends will follow suit.

  • Larger networks takeover free Across Genres list as Star Utsav tops All Platforms

    Larger networks takeover free Across Genres list as Star Utsav tops All Platforms

    BENGALURU: Among the bigger networks that have channels feature in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly lists of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms, on the Pay and Free Platforms are DD, Network18/TV18/Viacom18 (or simply Viacom18) Star India, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), The Sun TV Network (Sun Network), and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel).  Many of the channels from these networks, as well as other networks were now available on Pay and Free Platforms, on the latter mainly because of their presence on Prasar Bharati’s free DTH service DD Free Dish.

    Until recently, channels from these bigger networks found places mostly in BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms and on the Pay Platform. And until the advent of the Covid2019 Lockdown, there were generally one to four channels from two major networks/groups that were present in BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres. These two are pubcaster Doordarshan and channels from or associated with the Essel group’s Zeel. Initially, DD was represented by only one of its channels, DD Sports, and that too for only the first three weeks of 2020. Zeel was represented by four of its channels in BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres lists– Big Magic (Hindi GEC), Big Ganga (Bhojpuri GEC), Zee Biskope (Bhojpuri Cinema) and Zing (Youth). Only Big Magic was present during all the first 12 weeks of BARC’s Free Across Genres weekly lists. As a matter of fact, Big Magic was present during all the first 26 weeks of these BARC weekly lists of the Top Free Channels Across. Besides Big Magic, normally there were at least two other Zeel channels and sometimes even three that were present in the weekly Free Channels Across Genres lists during the first 12 weeks of 2020. But, at the same time, least six of the channels were from the smaller networks such as Enterr 10 Television and B4U Network. Enterr 10 had three to four of its channels in each of the first 12 weekly Free Platform lists, while B4U had two or three of its channels in the lists during the same period. Enterr 10’s channels included Bhojpuri Cinema, Dangal, Fakt Marathi and Enterr 10, while B4U’s channels were B4U Bhojpuri, B4U Kadak and B4U Movies.

    Week 13 of 2020, the first week of the Covid2019 Lockdown had four channels– one channel from DD and three channels from Zeel, with five channels from Enterr 10 (three channels) and B4U (two channels). The India Today group’s flagship Hindi News channel Aaj Tak entered BARC’s Across Genres weekly lists for the first time, in two Across Genres lists – Across Genres on All Platforms and Across Genres Free Platform.  In the absence of fresh programming, DD National started airing some of its library shows that had been very popular in the previous century, in Week 12 of 2020. These included Ramanad Sagar’s Ramayan and B R Chopra’s Mahabharat along with a number of other classics from its library. In Week 13, DD National became the most watched channel across genres on All Platforms and the Pay Platform and was also present in the Free Platform Across Genres list. DD National continued in the top 10 Across Genres lists until Week 18 2020. Week 14 saw DD Bharti enter BARC’s weekly list of Top Free Channels Across genres. The split was now five channels each between the bigger and other networks. And this split continued on till Week 22 of 2020. Weeks’ 23, 24, 25 and 26 of 2020 saw ratio of Bigger Networks: Other Networks at 7:3, 7:3, 8:2 and 7:3 respectively. Data for Week 26 of 2020 (Saturday, 27 June 2020 to Friday, 3 July 2020) is available at the time of writing of this paper. In Week 14 of 2020, the bigger networks were the same as in previous weeks – DD with two channels and Zeel with three channels. Similarly, the other networks mix was the same – Enterr 10 Television had three channels in the list while B4U Network had two channels. DD Bharti exited the Top 10 Free Across Genres list in Week 20, and DD National exited it in Week 24. For Weeks 20 and 21, there were 4 Zeel channels in the list, three channels from Enterr 10, 2 from B4U and one from DD. 

    In Week 23, two channels, one each from SPN and Star India and two Vaicom18 channels replaced two Zeel channels and one channel each from B4U Network and Enterr 10 Television in the list. Post Week 22 of 2020, channels from these major networks have continued their presence in BARC’s Weekly list of Top Free Channels Across Genres lists at the cost of B4U Networks and Enterr 10 Television. The bigger networks have taken over BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres. 

    Television consumption in terms of minutes, average time spent and reach has been declining from the highs of the lockdown weeks. Getting their second rung Hindi GEC and Movies channels on DD’s free DTH platform Free Dish is probably the best thing that the four major networks SPN, Star India, Viacom18 and Zeel could have done from viewership growth point of view is concerned. Analysis of BARC data in the public domain shows that 51.6 percent of Star Utsav’s viewership was on the Free Platform. In The case of Zee Anmol, Rishtey Cineplex and Sony Pay, viewership on the Free Platform was even higher. Channels such as Dangal which has seen viewership decline with the advent of Hindi GECs’ from the major networks in recent weeks had almost 70 percent of its viewership on the free platform in Week 26 of 2020.

    Besides, as stated above, GEC share of viewership has increased from the lows of the Covid2019 lockdown period. Please refer to the chart below:

    Hindi GECs have seen viewership growth on the Free Platform and in Rural Markets

    As mentioned above, these channels have re-joined Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) Top 10 channels weekly lists on All Platforms and on the Pay and Free Platforms or have jumped up ranks in in general in their respective genres in the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM), be it the combined urban and rural – HSM (U+R) or HSM (U) or HSM (R) over the past few weeks. After a slow and steady decline that started in Week 15 and continued in Weeks 17 to 22 of 2020 as compared to the immediate trailing week. Combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Hindi GEC’s on All Platforms in HSM (U+R) have now grown week on week. Weeks 23, 24, 25 and 26 of 2020 saw viewership of the Top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) grow by 4.9, 6.9, 4.4 and 2.5 percent respectively. 

    The BARC-Nielsen yardstick is the average data between Weeks 2 to 4 of 2020. Using this reference point, the combined weekly impressions of Top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) have been consistently increasing starting Week 13 of 2020, except for a small fall of 0.3 percent in Week 22. Until Week 26 of 2020, consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) in terms of weekly impressions has increased by 18.7 percent as compared to the Weeks two to four average and by 14 percent as compared to Week 1 of 2020. This growth has been led by the Free Hindi GECs and by the rural market or HSM (R) according to BARC data for the Top 10 Hindi GECs on the Free and Pay Platforms and in HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and HSM (R). 
    Exact comparison has not been done based BARC data because until Week 15 of 2020, BARC only listed the Top 9 Channels in HSM (R) and for the Free Platform in the public domain. But, considering the viewership growth of the Top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) of 18.7 percent in Week 26 of 2020, viewership of Top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U) has increased by just 1.8 percent with respect to the average of Weeks 2- 4 of 2020. In the same period viewership of Top 10 Hindi GECs on the Pay Platform has declined by 2.1 percent, as compared to the average of the Top 10 channels in Weeks 2 to 4 of 2020.

    The increase in viewership of GECs is also evident from the figure below based on BARC-Nielsen data for the top four most watched genres below. As is obvious the share of GEC viewership has started increasing and has come up to 48 percent in Week 26 of 2020 from the lows (40 percent) of the Covid2019 weeks, but has still to touch or exceed the pre-Covid2019 period’s 52 percent.

    Some other trends in Top 10 Channels Across Genres lists in Week 26 of 2020

    26 channels have appeared in BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres lists during the first 26 weeks of 2020. Of these 26, only three channels – Dangal, Sony Sab and Sun TV have appeared consistently in the lists during all the 26 weeks. Among the frontline channels – Star Plus was present in the list for 21 weeks, followed by its Telugu Sibling Star Maa, which was present for 20 of 26 weeks in the lists. Weeks 25 and 26 of BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Channels Across Genres saw Star India’s Hindi GEC Star Utsav at rank no 1.

    20 channels appeared in BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres lists during the first 26 weeks of 2020. Here also only three channels appeared in the lists for all the 26 weeks – they were Sony SAB, Star Maa and Sun TV. Sun TV has been consistently ranked 1 during all the 26 weeks to date in this list.

    22 channels appeared in BARC’s weekly lists of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres lists during the first 26 weeks of 2020. Here also only three channels appeared in the lists for all the 26 weeks – they were Dangal, Big Magic and B4U Kadak. Dangal has been consistently ranked 1 during all the 26 weeks to date in this list. Please refer to the figure below:


     

  • Sun TV back on top as Star Utsav becomes most-watched Hindi GEC across genres

    Sun TV back on top as Star Utsav becomes most-watched Hindi GEC across genres

    BENGALURU: In a week that saw news channels grab eyeballs with their coverage and debates and discussions post the Indo-China Gawlan Valley skirmish, the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV regained its numero uno position in Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) list of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres. BARC weekly data for Week 24 of 2020 (Saturday, 13 June 2020 to Friday, 19 June 2020, week or period under review)In calendar year 2020, Sun TV had last headed BARC’s Weekly lists of Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres in Week 2 of 2020. 

    Week 24 of 2020 saw TV consumption increase by about 1.2 percent week-on-week to 16.5 billion weekly impressions from 16.3 billion weekly impressions in Week 23.The increase in television consumption in Week 24 of 2020 was 13.8 percent higher than the consumption of 14.5 billion weekly impressions in Week 4, which has been considered as the base Pre-COVID2019 week here. Though a lot of the increased viewership was garnered by news channels in Week 24 of 2020, Hindi GECs also saw viewership grow.

    Ratings agencies BARC and Nielsen have set the average viewership data between Weeks 2 and 4 of 2020 as the yardstick to measure television consumption trends during COVID-19 weeks. While the lockdown in India commenced on 25 March 2020, which was midweek of Week 12 of 2020, BARC-Nielsen Covid2019 reports are available for weeks between Weeks 11 and 18 of 2020 at the time of writing of this paper. As mentioned above, the author has considered Week 4 of 2020 as the reference week here. Please refer to the figure below for TV viewership trends over the past few weeks.

    The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Free channels Across Genres increased 19.6 percent in Week 24 of 2020 as compared to the previous week, while at the same time, the combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres was almost flat (increased by 0.5 percent). Combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Pay channels declined 2.5 percent in Week 24 of 2020 as compared to the previous week.

    The week under review also saw Star India’s Hindi GEC Star Utsav climb to second place in BARC’s Weekly lists of Top 10 channels on All Platforms and find a place in all the three BARC across genres lists. Dangal slipped a couple of ranks to third place in BARC’s across genres on all platforms list, but continued to head BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres.

    Please refer to the chart below:

    While the Top 10 Hindi GECs in the HSM (U+R) market saw consumption spike 6.9 percent in Week 24 of 2020 as compared to Week 23, the Top 5 Hindi movie channels saw consumption dip 2.6 percent in terms of weekly impressions. The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Hindi GEC in HSM (U+R) on All Platforms increased 6.9 percent and those of the Free Platform increased 27.3 percent in Week 24 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. The combined weekly impressions of the Top 10 Hindi GECs’ on the Pay Platform declined 3.5 percent during the same period. Growth was driven by the HSM (R) which saw the combined weekly impressions increase 12.4 percent as compared to flat growth in the combined weekly impressions in HSM (U).
     

  • 97% of internet users consumed entertainment content in April

    97% of internet users consumed entertainment content in April

    KOLKATA: The Covid2019 pandemic induced lockdown has made people take refuge in the virtual world more. Total time spent on the internet jumped immediately in April by 11 per cent reaching to1466 billion minutes. While all segments of the online ecosystem have witnessed a spike in consumption, entertainment was definitely not behind given the fewer options of social life. 

    According to a report from Comscore, 97 per cent of internet audience consumed entertainment content in April. Entertainment sites witnessed surge in engagement as total viewing minutes touched 329 billion minutes in April, up by 15 per cent compared to March.

    The market leader YouTube had the most unique visitors followed by MX Player and Hotstar. Among the video-on-demand platforms, Hotstar had the highest viewing minutes, 121 billion minutes. MX Player achieved 118 billion minutes. International OTT players Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Prime Video.com witnessed a high surge of 26 per cent, 21 per cent and 38 per cent respectively.

    Among other segments, news has seen a huge jump, going 15 per cent up from March. While Times Internet attracted the highest unique visitors among multi-platform new entities, Dailyhunt attracted the same among news apps. Moreover, India leads worldwide news on mobile.

    As online learning has seen adoption during the lockdown, the education segment saw 33 per cent growth in April. Younger audience, especially 15-24 age group has driven the growth. Udemy has acquired the place of top education app. While health has also seen a good spike, the official Covid2019 tracker Arogya Setu has seen significant adoption among health-conscious audiences. 

  • Viewership dynamics changing in Unlock 1.0? Hindi GEC viewership grows on DD Free Dish?

    Viewership dynamics changing in Unlock 1.0? Hindi GEC viewership grows on DD Free Dish?

    BENGALURU: Television consumption decreased slightly (reduced 0.6 percent) in Week 23 of 2020 (Saturday, 6 June 2020 to Friday, 12 June 2020) to 16.3 billion weekly impressions as compared to the previous week which had scored 16.4 billion weekly impressions according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data. BARC had reported viewership of 16.3 billion impressions for week 21 of 2020. This number is still 12.4 percent higher than the viewership of 14.5 billion impressions reported for week four of 2020.

    BARC and Nielsen have set the average viewership data between weeks two and four of 2020 as the yardstick to measure television consumption trends during Covid2019 weeks. While the lockdown in India commenced on 25 March 2020, which was midweek of week 12 of 2020, BARC-Nielsen Covid2019 reports are available for weeks between weeks 11 and 18 of 2020 at the time of writing of this paper. The author has considered week four of 2020 as the reference week here.

    GECs have shown growth in viewership. Is it because a number of them, more so Hindi GECs and movies channels, have returned to DD Free Dish’s fold? Quite likely.

    This paper must be read with caveats. The conclusions are based on BARC weekly data in the public domain which comprises of the combined weekly impressions of the top two, three, five or 10 channels of each genre/sub-genre/platform or across genres.  The author has used the combined weekly impressions of the Top ten, five, three or two channels of the genre sub/genre during different weeks for comparison and the conclusions in this paper are limited to that extent. Further, the channels listed in BARC’s weekly lists needn’t be the same week-on-week. The comparison of combined weekly for all the weeks mentioned in this paper is meant for genre/sub-genre/platform comparison, not any individual channel (if named anywhere in this paper). In some cases, viewership in terms of combined weekly impressions of the week under review and week four is not comparable because the number of channels in BARC’s weekly lists of the respective genres/sub-genres/platforms during the two periods were not same. Probably BARC watermarks were provided for some of the channels after week four of 2020.

    For Hindi GECs, BARC provides data for the Top 10 Hindi GECs in a combination  of the urban and rural Hindi speaking markets or HSM (U+R) on all platforms; HSM (U+R) on the pay platform; HSM (U+R) on the free platform; HSM (R) on all platforms; and on HSM (U) on all platforms. It also provides data for Hindi movies in these five segmentations. It must be noted that as per BARC, HSM includes the All India market minus the south Indian markets of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. 

    In the case of regional channels, BARC provides data for the top five Assamese, Bangla, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi channels as also for the four south Indian languages – Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Many of the channels included in the respective lists of top five regional channels are from mixed genres – these could be news, music, movies, infotainment and spiritual channels. In many of the cases, it is often the news segment/programme of the GEC that is amongst BARC’s weekly list of top five programmes which is probably one of the reasons why a channel landed up in BARC’s top five channels list for that language in the first place. However, BARC’s top five lists of languages such as Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Bangla and Marathi have a channel mix that consists mainly of GECs and movies that run mainly GEC and/or movies content. 

    In the pre-Covid2019 weeks, four genres had 89 percent of television viewership share – in terms of size, they are GEC, movies, news and the kids genres.  The viewership share of these genres grew to 93 percent in week 18 of 2020 as per the 8th edition of the BARC-Nielsen report for week 18 of 2020. Please refer to the figure below:

    Overall, GEC had 52 percent viewership share in the pre-Covid2019 lockdown weeks. In the absence of fresh content, as well as stiff competition from news and movies channels, GEC viewership share declined to about 40 percent of total television consumption in week 13 of 2020 when there was huge growth in overall television consumption due to the various phases of the lockdowns in India. Considering the larger television consumption, more people preferred watching the news and movies genres, as well as the kids genre. Many GECs run movies on a regular schedule. Post the first few weeks of the Covid2019 lockdown, when the movies genre showed viewership growth, many GECs, more so in south India, started airing movies, and most still continue to do so. This helped perk up the viewership of GECs to grow.

    The Hindi GEC genre has a large combined viewership as compared to the all the other languages. BARC’s weekly lists of the top 10 Hindi GECs' growth was led by the HSM (R) market and the free platform in week 23 of 2020 as compared to week 21. Also, a number of second rung Hindi GECs and movie channels returned to DD Free Dish in June 2020. The reach and television consumption on the government’s free DTH service has brought back channels such as Sony Pal, Star Utsav, Colors Rishtey an Rishtey Cineplus back into BARC’s weekly lists of top five or 10 channels in their respective genres and across genres lists.

    The combined viewership of the top 10 Hindi GECs on All Platforms grew 4.1 percent in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs in the urban Hindi Speaking Market or HSM (U) in week 23 of 2020 was almost flat as compared to the previous week. Consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U) grew just 0.8 percent as against the 10.9 percent growth in the rural hindi speaking market or HSM (R) in the period under review as compared to the previous week. Consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs on the free platform grew 21.1 percent in Week 23 of 2020 as compared to the Week 22. TV consumption of the top 10 Hindi GECs on the pay platform grew 1.5 percent in week under review as compared to the previous week. 

    Viewership growth was witnessed by the top five Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Bangla channels. Except for Tamil, the other three witnessed viewership growth in at lest three of the top 5 channels. In the case of Tamil, the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV had major growth in Week 23 of 2020, with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd's Tamil flagship channel Zee Tamil showing a small amount of growth as compared to week 22. The other three channels in BARC’s weekly list of top five Tamil channels showed decline in viewership in terms of weekly impressions in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week.

    Another indicator that Hindi GECs could have grown is BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 channels across genres – BARC has segmented across genres to the top 10 channels across genres on all platforms, on the pay platform and the free platform. Though the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 23 of 2020 were almost the same (grew 0.3 percent) as compared to the previous week, a Hindi GEC replaced a Telugu channel in the weekly list during the week under review. Though the combined weekly impressions of BARC's weekly list of top 10 channels on the free platform in week 23 of 2020 declined 1.4 percent as compared to the previous week, two Hindi GECs entered the list at the cost of a Hindi movies and Bhojpuri channels. One more Hindi GEC that entered the free platform across genres list replaced another Hindi GEC. 

    The Hindi movies genre showed flat growth (combined weekly impressions of top 5 movies channels on all platforms de-grew by 0.7 percent) in week 23 of 2020 as compared to week 21. Combined weekly impressions of top 5 Hindi movies channels in HSM (U) was flat, while those in HSM (R) saw a growth of 1.9 percent in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Combined weekly impressions of the top 5 Hindi movies on the free platform grew 6.3 percent, while on the pay platform they grew by 0.2 percent (almost flat growth).

    Further, unlike the previous weeks, news channels lost viewership if BARC’s weekly data for Top 5 Assamese, Bangla, Hindi, English, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil and Telugu News channels for week 23 of 2020 is considered. The Top 5 Kannada news channels seems to be the only news genre that has bucked the trend, combined viewership of the Top 5 Kannada channels grew by a phenomenal 48.7 percent in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. In is worth noting that three of the Top 5 Tamil programmes in week 23 of 2020 were Tamil films on Sun TV, the other two were non-film GEC shows.

    Another major genre-the kids genre has shown growth, going by BARC data of the top 5 kids channels for weeks 23 and 22 of 2020 – week 23 of 2020 saw weekly impressions of top 5 kids channels grow by four percent as compared to the previous week. The combine weekly impressions of top five channels of the other genres which saw growth during the week under review as compared to the previous week were music (7.7 percent growth); English entertainment (21.2 percent growth); sports (5.7 percent growth) and infotainment (1.2 percent growth). The overall viewership share of these genres is in single digits percentage.

  • ZMCL appoints Amitabh Kumar as additional director

    ZMCL appoints Amitabh Kumar as additional director

    MUMBAI: Zee Media Corporation Ltd's (ZMCL) board of directors has approved the appointment of Amitabh Kumar as an additional director in the category of non-executive non-independent director with effect from 26 March 2020 until the conclusion of the ensuing annual general meeting of the company to be held in the calendar year 2020.

    Kumar's appointment has been done on the basis of recommendations of the nomination and remuneration committee, confirming that he is not debarred from holding the office of director pursuant to any SEBI order or any other authority, the company said in a stock-exchange filing. 

    Kumar is a technology leader in the media and telecom industry. He is an Electronics Engineering Graduate (Gold Medalist) from BITS Pilani. He also holds PG Diploma in Telecommunications Management from TEMIC Canada and Certification in Electronics Data Interchange from DEAKIN University, Australia.

    He has served as director operations in VSNL from 1995 to 2001 and was also acting chairman and managing director in year 1998- 99, where he had a key role in setting up India's first internet services. He has also served on the board of governors of Intelsat and was council member of Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization {CTO). 

    He has been the president -technology in the Zee Network from 2001 till 2004, being responsible for global broadcast operations spanning to 150 channels and in Dish TV India from 2004 till 2013, where he played a major role in setting up operations for India's first DTH operator. 

  • NBCUniversal India gets Sangeetha Aiyer as marketing head

    NBCUniversal India gets Sangeetha Aiyer as marketing head

    MUMBAI: Former head of marketing: Network18 Digital, Sangeetha Aiyer, has been appointed as the head of marketing, NBCUniversal India. She will be responsible for the marketing, digital and promotional strategy of Universal Pictures theatrical products in India. In her new role, she will develop the cohesive strategy for the studio’s IPs and premium products in India working in tandem with the international marketing team and other functional heads in India to ensure the strategic direction of the studio’s releases is successfully implemented.
    With a career spanning over 19 years, Aiyer is an experienced marketing and content professional with comprehensive experience across industries. She has been instrumental in building media brands on both linear and non-linear platforms, ranging from FM radio, Youth, News, Factual and Lifestyle channels.

    Prior to Network18 Digital, Aiyer has had a long and fruitful association with AETN18 (JV between A+E Networks and TV18) for over 8 years. As one of the founding team leads, she has played a significant role in spearheading the growth strategy for the JV, specifically the brands History TV18 and FYI TV18 on linear and social platforms. 

    She has also worked with Times Network, Star Network, Reliance Big FM, Arvind Brands and Ambience Publicis.

  • iTV Network gives additional charge to Varun Kohli, strengthens senior management team

    iTV Network gives additional charge to Varun Kohli, strengthens senior management team

    MUMBAI: iTV Network on Friday announced strengthening its senior management team with CEO Varun Kohli being handed additional responsibility for print companies.

    Kohli is currently handling India News, NewsX, digital assets and is providing strategic direction, leading teams and strengthening revenues for the organisations. With a professional experience spanning over 25 years, he is a seasoned sales specialist and is credited with creating sustainable business development and management strategies that have increased top and bottom lines and enhanced efficiency in organisations.

    In addition to his existing role, he will be handling The Sunday Guardian and Aaj Samaj, fastest growing and most selling daily newspaper in north India.

    In this endeavor, he will be supported by Rakesh Gopal, National Sales Head – Regional Channels. Gopal is a seasoned media professional with rich experience in media sales. He is presently consolidating the company’s regional channels and now he will be supporting Mr. Kohli in the sales function of the print companies for the efficient growth of the network.   

    Speaking on the new roles and responsibilities, Kartikeya Sharma, Founder and Promoter of iTV Network, said, “We are excited to have Mr. Varun Kohli and Mr. Rakesh Gopal holding their additional responsibilities, each brings extensive and highly relevant industry experience to the table. We are looking forward to leveraging their knowledge and leadership in this expanded role.”

    Kohli on his new role said “it is an opportunity than a challenge and I look forward to achieve growth oriented results. Our print assets, The Sunday Guardian and Aaj Samaj delivers credible, innovative and informative content for our readers.”

    Prior to joining iTV network, Varun was the head of sales for IBN7. His distinguished career includes leadership stints at Amar Ujala, Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd., Deccan Chronicle, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan times and Indian express.

    Varun is a management graduate from SIMS, Ghaziabad and post graduate from YMCA besides being a certified coach from Results Coaching Systems.

  • Govt orders private TV channels to strictly follow terror attack coverage guidelines

    Govt orders private TV channels to strictly follow terror attack coverage guidelines

    MUMBAI: In the wake of the recent terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir, the government has issued an advisory to private TV channels to adhere to the guidelines that are issued for the coverage of terror attacks.

    A release from the Press Information Bureau asks channels to broadcast content that strictly adheres to the Programme and Advertising Code as prescribed in the Cable Television Networks (Regulations) Act, 1995 and its rules.

    TV Channels are advised to be particularly cautious with regard to any content which:

    (i)     is likely to encourage or incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order or which promotes anti national attitudes: and /or

    (ii)    contains anything affecting the integrity of the nation: and ensure that no such content is telecast which is violative of these Codes.