ITV

Tag: viewership ratings

  • Is there a slow but steady decline in English news ratings?

    Is there a slow but steady decline in English news ratings?

    BENGALURU: Is viewership of the English news genre dipping? Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India recommenced publishing limited viewership data in the public domain on TRAI’s coercion in week 13 of 2019 after it had ostentatiously stopped doing so to allow ratings to stabilise after implementation of TRAI’s new tariff order from week 6 of 2019. Then in week 23 of 2019, BARC announced that it was reverting to an older method of treatment of the landing pages and outliers. The weeks following week 13 of 2019 have seen two major cricket tourneys being played – the twelfth season of the Indian Premier League in India and the ICC World Cup in England and Wales. Both the tourneys involved matches that overlapped primetime in India. Many parts of the country have been hit by bad weather over the past few weeks. Or is it just that there were a number of weeks that were just too hot before the torrential rains that inundated many parts of India? A BARC paper in the past suggested that weather affects television viewership. The implementation of the new regulatory framework and BARC’s treatment of outlier data are two other factors that also need to be kept in mind when analysing the scenario. One can also make a case for greater viewership interest in the run up to the elections, which now seems to be on the decline. It would be interesting to study if other genres have also been adversely affected.

    Please refer to the figure below for the combined weekly impressions of the top five English news channels between weeks 13 and the week under review – week 30 (Saturday, 20 July 2019 to Friday, 26 July 2019). The dotted yellow trendline indicates a slow but steady decline in viewership of the top 5 English news channels between weeks 13 and 30 of 2019. As is obvious, weeks 21 and 22 are the anomalies in the decline – news viewership peaked because of the announcement of the results of the national elections.

    It is interesting to note that since the entry of pubcaster Doordarshan’s English news channel DD India into BARC’s weekly list of top 5 English news channels, the channels appearing in the list have been the same, with a slight tweaking in the ranks sometimes. Over the past few weeks, there seems to have been some stabilisation in ranks one, two and three with the Arnab Goswami-led Republic at first place, Times Now at second place and DD India at third place. The jostle for ranks four and five is still on between CNN News India and India Today Television. Please refer to the figure below:

    Please refer to the figure below for ratings of the top 5 English news channels.

    Ratings of English news channels for week 30 of 2019

    The combined ratings of the top five English news channels increased 4.8 percent in week 30 of 2019 to 1.896 million weekly impressions from a low of 1.809 million weekly impressions in week 29. The list of channels and their ranks were the same in week 30 as week 29 of 2019.

    Republic TV led the English news genre with ratings of 0.574 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 0.564 million weekly impressions in the previous week. At second rank, Times Now scored 0.411 million weekly impressions during the week under review as compared to 0.404 million weekly impressions in week 29 of 2019. At third rank was DD India with 0.400 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 0.367 million weekly impressions in week 29. At fourth rank was CNN News18 with 0.283 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 0.264 million weekly impressions in week 29. Completing the quintet at fifth rank was India Today Television with 0.228 million weekly impressions in week 30 of 2019 as compared to 0.210 million weekly impressions in the previous week. 

  • BARC week 29: English news ratings plunge further

    BARC week 29: English news ratings plunge further

    BENGALURU: The combined ratings of the top 5 English news ratings as per Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) plunged to their lowest in week 23 of 2019 (Saturday, 13 July 2019 to Friday, 19 July 2019, week or period under review) since week 13. The combined weekly ratings of the top 5 English news channels at 1.809 million weekly impressions was far lower than the earlier lowest of 1.848 million weekly impressions in week 24 of 2019. BARC had recommenced publishing limited data in the public data in week 13 of 2019 after stopping in week 6, ostentatiously to allow ratings to stabilise after implementation of the new tariff order, hence week 13 of 2019 has been used as a reference point.

    The list of channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 English news channels for week 29 of 2019  were the same as in week 28, except for a small shuffling in ranks. Four of the channels had a drop in viewership, while ratings of one went up.

    As has become a norm, the Arnab Goswami led Republic TV headed BARC’s weekly list of top 5 English news channels in week 29 of 2019 with 0.564 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.593 million weekly impressions in week 28. At second rank in week 29 of 2019 was Times Now with 0.404 million weekly impressions as compared to second rank and 0.424 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

    Also continuing on at its previous week’s third rank was pubcaster Doordarshan’s English news channel DD India in week 29 of 2019 with 0.367 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.345 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Climbing up a place to fourth rank in week 29 of 2019 was CNN News18 with 0.264 million weekly impressions as compared to 0.279 million weekly impressions in week 28. India Today Television dropped a place to fifth rank with 0.210 million weekly impressions as compared to fourth rank and 0.288 million weekly impressions in week 28.

  • Whether BARC action can stop unethical practices?

    Whether BARC action can stop unethical practices?

    MUMBAI: Can businesses and industries practise their art of selling fairly although they have ‘Fair Practices’ training during academic courses, workshops and several ISO and other certifications? There seems to be the fear of the lawman, and not the law in India. If the traffic cop is watching, nobody would jump a signal on the highway, if the competition or the monopolies regulator is watching closely, none would dare to contravene rules. The case in point is of two television broadcast channels which had been caught trying to influence the sample of a rating agency in order to get higher viewership numbers, which in turn would help them get higher advertising revenue.

    Close on the heels of Tamil Nadu-based Raj TV having been issued a legal notice by audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, another similar contravention of law has been caught by it.

    The Tamil Nadu-based satellite television network Raj TV was, in March 2016, issued a legal notice by BARC which, as reported by indiantelevision.com, alleged that certain ‘sample’ homes with viewership meters “have been approached and have been asked to watch your channel ‘Raj TV’ in exchange for some financial consideration.”

    And now, BARC India and Kerala TV Federation (KTF) have filed a police complaint with the director-general of Kerala police after the former’s vigilance team received complaints regarding attempts to retrieve addresses of BARC India panel homes and influencing them.

    KTF is a trade body representing Malayalam channels in Kerala. Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Asianet MD and KTF president K Madhavan said that it had facilitated BARC’s police complaint against certain unidentified individuals who are trying to influence sample homes. “More the number of panels, more is the likelihood of such problems,” Madhavan said.

    Thiruvananthapuram-based Federation secretary and Kairali TV MD John Brittas could not be reached for comment on the possible way forward, and concrete action on the ground. But, the fact remains how effective will a mere complaint be, or how efficiently will the local police in the distant state of Kerala act against local unlawful persons on the basis of a complaint from a ratings body based in Mumbai or Delhi.

    The complaint was filed after the BARC India vigilance team’s gathered conclusive evidence of more than one effort to tamper with its TV viewership measurement system in favour of a couple of channels. Preliminary scrutiny by the on-ground vigilance team has confirmed that attempts had been made by some individuals to not only find out addresses of the TV panel homes, but also to incentivise them and influence their viewership.

    These acts of the suspects are a cause for concern for BARC India and the broadcasting community in Kerala, and are allegedly causing financial losses to other channels. Kerala Police are reportedly investigating the matter further.

    As per its established standard operating procedure, BARC India immediately quarantined the impacted panel homes from its TV viewership measurement system to ensure efforts at infiltration don’t impact the ratings of channels operating in the region.

    In the case of Raj TV too, it seemed like a one-off case. “The network, in order to garner higher ratings, was perusing households with the meter boxes to tune in to its channels. BARC found this as a criminal offense and hence have issued a legal notice to the broadcaster,” a source close to the development had said.

    However M Ragunathan, director of marketing at Raj Television Network, had termed the allegations as ‘baseless.’

    It seems BARC is trying its best to send out a strong message to channels and broadcasters that such unethical means of influencing their respective ratings are not going to be taken lightly. BARC is attempting to project that it is not a toothless body. It is the first time that it has filed an FIR after meeting the Kerala director-general of police against these “criminal activities.”

    In the fresh case, Dasgupta, in a statement earlier, said, “TV industry trades on the currency released by BARC India and we understand how important every rating point is to the broadcaster. We have evidence of a couple of broadcasters trying to tamper with our panel homes to improve ratings. We have taken steps to quarantine the affected panel homes. While we have filed a complaint this time, we want the industry to be aware that, going forward, BARC India will stop publishing ratings for those channels found involved in such activities,” he said.

    “Well done, BARC, for taking strong action against those tampering with the system. Must name and shame offenders,” Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia Chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin has tweeted.

    It remains to be seen whether BARC is going to name or shame the broadcasters in question. It’s over to team BARC.

  • Whether BARC action can stop unethical practices?

    Whether BARC action can stop unethical practices?

    MUMBAI: Can businesses and industries practise their art of selling fairly although they have ‘Fair Practices’ training during academic courses, workshops and several ISO and other certifications? There seems to be the fear of the lawman, and not the law in India. If the traffic cop is watching, nobody would jump a signal on the highway, if the competition or the monopolies regulator is watching closely, none would dare to contravene rules. The case in point is of two television broadcast channels which had been caught trying to influence the sample of a rating agency in order to get higher viewership numbers, which in turn would help them get higher advertising revenue.

    Close on the heels of Tamil Nadu-based Raj TV having been issued a legal notice by audience measurement body Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, another similar contravention of law has been caught by it.

    The Tamil Nadu-based satellite television network Raj TV was, in March 2016, issued a legal notice by BARC which, as reported by indiantelevision.com, alleged that certain ‘sample’ homes with viewership meters “have been approached and have been asked to watch your channel ‘Raj TV’ in exchange for some financial consideration.”

    And now, BARC India and Kerala TV Federation (KTF) have filed a police complaint with the director-general of Kerala police after the former’s vigilance team received complaints regarding attempts to retrieve addresses of BARC India panel homes and influencing them.

    KTF is a trade body representing Malayalam channels in Kerala. Speaking to indiantelevision.com, Asianet MD and KTF president K Madhavan said that it had facilitated BARC’s police complaint against certain unidentified individuals who are trying to influence sample homes. “More the number of panels, more is the likelihood of such problems,” Madhavan said.

    Thiruvananthapuram-based Federation secretary and Kairali TV MD John Brittas could not be reached for comment on the possible way forward, and concrete action on the ground. But, the fact remains how effective will a mere complaint be, or how efficiently will the local police in the distant state of Kerala act against local unlawful persons on the basis of a complaint from a ratings body based in Mumbai or Delhi.

    The complaint was filed after the BARC India vigilance team’s gathered conclusive evidence of more than one effort to tamper with its TV viewership measurement system in favour of a couple of channels. Preliminary scrutiny by the on-ground vigilance team has confirmed that attempts had been made by some individuals to not only find out addresses of the TV panel homes, but also to incentivise them and influence their viewership.

    These acts of the suspects are a cause for concern for BARC India and the broadcasting community in Kerala, and are allegedly causing financial losses to other channels. Kerala Police are reportedly investigating the matter further.

    As per its established standard operating procedure, BARC India immediately quarantined the impacted panel homes from its TV viewership measurement system to ensure efforts at infiltration don’t impact the ratings of channels operating in the region.

    In the case of Raj TV too, it seemed like a one-off case. “The network, in order to garner higher ratings, was perusing households with the meter boxes to tune in to its channels. BARC found this as a criminal offense and hence have issued a legal notice to the broadcaster,” a source close to the development had said.

    However M Ragunathan, director of marketing at Raj Television Network, had termed the allegations as ‘baseless.’

    It seems BARC is trying its best to send out a strong message to channels and broadcasters that such unethical means of influencing their respective ratings are not going to be taken lightly. BARC is attempting to project that it is not a toothless body. It is the first time that it has filed an FIR after meeting the Kerala director-general of police against these “criminal activities.”

    In the fresh case, Dasgupta, in a statement earlier, said, “TV industry trades on the currency released by BARC India and we understand how important every rating point is to the broadcaster. We have evidence of a couple of broadcasters trying to tamper with our panel homes to improve ratings. We have taken steps to quarantine the affected panel homes. While we have filed a complaint this time, we want the industry to be aware that, going forward, BARC India will stop publishing ratings for those channels found involved in such activities,” he said.

    “Well done, BARC, for taking strong action against those tampering with the system. Must name and shame offenders,” Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia Chairman and CEO Ashish Bhasin has tweeted.

    It remains to be seen whether BARC is going to name or shame the broadcasters in question. It’s over to team BARC.