More viewers turn to TV news on Karnataka election verdict

News channels had their day in the sun, grabbing eyeballs across Hindi, English and Kannada languages, during the Karnataka election counting/result week.

May 15, a Tuesday, was counting day. According to data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India, combined viewership of news channels in these three languages on that day went up from 133.7 million impressions (average over the previous four Tuesdays) to 389.3 mn, up 191 per cent. 

Impressions refer to the total number watching an event or show at any given point during its telecast. The Karnataka election counting coverage’s reach was 172.8 mn viewers, a third more than the previous four Tuesdays, tuning to watch news channels. Reach refers to the number of separate individuals who saw an event/platform for at least one minute. 

Channels across English, Hindi and Kannada saw a significant increase in viewership. Kannada news channels led with growth of 486 per cent. English news channels saw a jump of 357 per cent. 

Additionally, the daily time spent on news jumped to 62 minutes a day for the week when the election results were covered (May 12-18), from an average of 40 minutes a day in a normal week. On counting day, the time spent on news was 255 per cent higher than the normal weeks, at two hours and 43 minutes. News viewership started picking up from the morning and peaked at 9 am. This sustained viewing continued till about 11 am without a drop. 

To understand the magnitude, one could compare the viewership that Tuesday to the viewership of the World Television Premiere of hit Kannada movie Raajakumara. A similar 3.5 hour event of high intensity in the morning time band of 9 am to 12.30 pm on news channels had more eyeballs glued than the same duration for premiere of the movie, which was aired during the prime time band (7 pm onwards). The evening prime time band is the most viewed one for entertainment and news channels, and the premiere of a hit Kannada film in the native market usually ranks among the most viewed events.