News contribution to TV viewership rose to 16% during Operation Sindoor

Television news genre contributed 16% of total viewership during the key days of Operation Sindoor, up from its usual 6%, with Hindi news channels witnessing record GRPs

The news genre contributed 16 per cent of television (TV) viewership during the three critical days of Operation Sindoor (May 7 to May 8) compared with its usual contribution of 6 per cent.

 

According to the weekly data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), 507 million viewers watched news between May 3 and May 9 (week 18). This follows the Indian government launching Operation Sindoor on May 7, hitting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir after the Pahalgam terrorist attack.   

 

Hindi-language news in week 18 reached the highest gross rating point (GRP) of 254. In comparison, Hindi news GRP on week 17 during the Pahalgam terrorist attack was at 178. 

 

“TV news viewership across week 18, during which Operation Sindoor was carried out by the Indian armed forces, scaled a new high even as the nation was transfixed by events that rapidly unfolded during Operation Sindoor,” BARC said in its release.

 

Hindi news’ average time spent (ATS) rose by 67 per cent to 60 minutes from May 3 to May 9, compared with the ATS of pre-Pahalgam attack weeks. 

 

Additionally, Hindi news share increased to 13 per cent from 3 per cent during week 18 from Wednesday to Friday against pre-Pahalgam weeks, BARC said in its release. 

 

Similarly, on critical days (between Wednesday and Friday), daily tune-ins for Hindi news channels jumped to 142 million from 73 million.

“Hindi News share at over 15 HSM (Hindi-speaking market) increased from 4 per cent to 15 per cent in the same period, which is above the share it garnered during the surgical strikes in 2016,” BARC stated.