News channels hit big on election result day, huge jump in viewership

Albeit with smaller base, English news channels saw bigger jump compared to Hindi news channels

Thanks to the hype around the recently held Uttar Pradesh elections, viewership of Hindi news channels in the country tripled on the day of the results. Results of elections in five states — UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab — were announced on March 11.

Hindi news channels, which command the lion's share of viewership within the news segment, registered a combined impressions — the total number of viewers — of 368.59 million on the day of the results, as compared to 112.02 million impressions registered as an average of the previous three Saturdays. According to data provided by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC), the top five Hindi news channels on election result day were ABP News, Aaj Tak, India TV, India News and News 24, in the respective order.

ABP News was not only the most viewed but also the biggest gainer, on a lower base than its peers, jumping from 12.9 million impressions to 65.6 million on the results day. Aaj Tak followed with viewership jumping from 17.4 million to 56.9 million and in the third place, India TV saw growth from 14.7 million to 46.5 million.

The BARC data interestingly shows that the viewership of both the rural as well as urban areas not only remained same on the results day but also saw similar growth on Hindi news channels by approximately 3.3 times. However, Zee News is fourth in urban data with 20.1 million impressions and News 24 is third in rural data, replacing Zee News, with 21.6 million impressions. Positions of other four channels remained the same with the top two maintaining the pecking order, while India TV and India News juggled between number three, four and five.

English news channels saw even bigger jump in viewership — base is very small compared to Hindi news channels — as impressions jumped from 331,000 (average of three Saturdays before the results day) to 1.9 million on day of the election results, a spurt of almost six times. The top five channels in the English news segment were Times Now, CNN News18, NDTV 24x7, India Today Television and BBC World News. Interestingly, election results helped CNN News18 climb to number two in terms of viewership on the day as it figured at the fourth spot in the preceding weeks. Pecking order of the top five channels for the week remained same on the results day.

English News: TG: All India, Male 22+, AB				Hindi News: TG: HSM, 15+
India (impressions in thousands)				India (impressions in thousands)
Channel	Avg of last 3 Sat	March 11	Increase (times)	Channel	Avg of last 3 Sat	March 11	Increase (times)
ENG NEWS	331	1,944	5.87	HINDI NEWS	112,022	368,586	3.29
Times Now	99	859	8.68	ABP News	12,921	65,555	5.07
CNN News18	46	470	10.22	Aaj Tak	17,486	56,985	3.26
NDTV 24x7	63	328	5.21	India TV	14,675	46,504	3.17
India Today Television	71	187	2.63	India News	11,408	35,771	3.14
BBC World News	23	36	1.57	News 24	9,609	35,734	3.72
TG: HSM (Urban), 15+				TG: HSM (Rural), 15+
HSM URBAN (impressions in thousands)				HSM Rural (impressions in thousands)
Channel	Avg of last 3 Sat	March 11	Increase (times)	Channel	Avg of last 3 Sat	March 11	Increase (times)
HINDI NEWS	59,492	194,330	3.27	HINDI NEWS	52,530	174,256	3.32
ABP News	6,761	33,036	4.89	ABP News	6,159	32,519	5.28
Aaj Tak	9,146	31,161	3.41	Aaj Tak	8,340	25,824	3.10
India TV	8,066	25,191	3.12	News 24	5,164	21,679	4.20
Zee News	6,783	20,195	2.98	India TV	6,609	21,314	3.22
India News	5,265	18,864	3.58	India News	6,142	16,908	2.75
Source: BARC India; HSM: Hindi Speaking Market; TG: Target Group; 15+: Viewers aged 15 years and above