 "News genre loses eyeballs despite election fever")
All the hype and hoopla over election coverage by news channels and the resultant viewership have taken a hit in week 18 (April 27 to May 3, 2014) when compared to the previous week. News channels, collectively, saw a dip of 2.3 per cent in viewership week on week, and the genre's share in the television universe came down by 0.8 per cent.
The only good news is that English news channels saw a 4 per cent increase in viewership in week 18 when compared to week 17, and their share went up by 9.1 per cent. The Hindi news viewership dropped by 2.7 per cent and its share in the entire television universe dropped by 0.8 per cent. However, since it is the bigger contributor to the news genre, low ratings in Hindi news have pulled down the average.
A marketing executive from a Hindi news channel reveals that the lengthy duration of the election could be a reason in the drop in ratings. There was no major interview at prime-time in the week under consideration and people were probably tired of the election coverage. Being one of the longest elections ever, this was bound to happen. "But with the last leg of elections under way and with the approaching results declaration, the news genre will see a spike, for sure in week 19 and 20," he says, on the condition of anonymity.
The news channels' loss has not translated to an increase in viewership of other major genres such as Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) and movie channels. The two categories have faced a tough week, as well, with both together losing 126,133 GVTs (gross viewership in thousands). Star Plus, Sab and
Life OK were the only GECs to gain ratings, while in the movie genre, Movies OK gained a whopping 20,503 TVTs (television viewership in thousands), and Sahara Filmy and UTV Action saw marginal increase.
IPL continues to grow
While its ratings week on week show a slight dip (268 TVTs), the tournament's ratings have increased nearly 5 per cent over the 2013 edition and its reach has touched 156 million viewers for the first 23 games, as opposed to 149 million, last year. This dip is much less than what was expected by the industry. Traditionally, the third week of IPL shows a significant drop in viewership, but with the tournament returning to India with its knock-off round, it has managed to buck the trend.
The IPL's viewership stood at 8,291 TVTs in week 18, this year as compared to 7,913 TVTs in the corresponding period last year. In week 17, 2014, the event rated 8,559 TVT.
"The event continues to do well and we expect it to do better in the coming weeks. Our advertisers are very happy since the prime-time ratings are holding up and their target audience is watching the games religiously. The time-spent has gone up by 6 per cent from last year, which is a big consideration while investing in the IPL," says Rohit Gupta, vice-president, Multi Screen Media (MSM).
The IPL is aired on MSM's movie and special events channel Max and sports channels Sony Six and Sony Six HD.
However, a consistent performance by the IPL could not save the channel from losing 38,507 GVTs in the week.
The only good news is that English news channels saw a 4 per cent increase in viewership in week 18 when compared to week 17, and their share went up by 9.1 per cent. The Hindi news viewership dropped by 2.7 per cent and its share in the entire television universe dropped by 0.8 per cent. However, since it is the bigger contributor to the news genre, low ratings in Hindi news have pulled down the average.
A marketing executive from a Hindi news channel reveals that the lengthy duration of the election could be a reason in the drop in ratings. There was no major interview at prime-time in the week under consideration and people were probably tired of the election coverage. Being one of the longest elections ever, this was bound to happen. "But with the last leg of elections under way and with the approaching results declaration, the news genre will see a spike, for sure in week 19 and 20," he says, on the condition of anonymity.
The news channels' loss has not translated to an increase in viewership of other major genres such as Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) and movie channels. The two categories have faced a tough week, as well, with both together losing 126,133 GVTs (gross viewership in thousands). Star Plus, Sab and
Life OK were the only GECs to gain ratings, while in the movie genre, Movies OK gained a whopping 20,503 TVTs (television viewership in thousands), and Sahara Filmy and UTV Action saw marginal increase.
IPL continues to grow
While its ratings week on week show a slight dip (268 TVTs), the tournament's ratings have increased nearly 5 per cent over the 2013 edition and its reach has touched 156 million viewers for the first 23 games, as opposed to 149 million, last year. This dip is much less than what was expected by the industry. Traditionally, the third week of IPL shows a significant drop in viewership, but with the tournament returning to India with its knock-off round, it has managed to buck the trend.
The IPL's viewership stood at 8,291 TVTs in week 18, this year as compared to 7,913 TVTs in the corresponding period last year. In week 17, 2014, the event rated 8,559 TVT.
"The event continues to do well and we expect it to do better in the coming weeks. Our advertisers are very happy since the prime-time ratings are holding up and their target audience is watching the games religiously. The time-spent has gone up by 6 per cent from last year, which is a big consideration while investing in the IPL," says Rohit Gupta, vice-president, Multi Screen Media (MSM).
The IPL is aired on MSM's movie and special events channel Max and sports channels Sony Six and Sony Six HD.
However, a consistent performance by the IPL could not save the channel from losing 38,507 GVTs in the week.