Network18 channels reached 19 crore people daily on an average in week 2 of Covid-19 disruption hitting the country, according to data released by audience measurement agency BARC.
Network18 channels dominated viewership-metrics as over 42 crore people tuned in during the week from March 21 to March 27, reaffirming the group’s position as India’s biggest news destination.
The average daily reach of 19 crore in the week is nearly a 90 per cent increase over the previous week, which had already recorded a 50 per cent growth in average daily reach from the week prior to it.
The overall TV viewership has also increased as Indians watched 1.2 trillion minutes of television, the highest ever recorded. There was a 37 per cent growth in TV viewing across the country in week 2 of Covid-19 disruption, BARC said.
The day of the ‘Janata Curfew’ on March 22 garnered the highest daily reach for Network18 as 22.12 crore viewers watched the English, Hindi and regional language channels of the group.
Almost 2 crore people watched 100 cities 100 reporters segment during the ‘corona warriors appreciation’ around 5pm on the day as the network tapped its vast resources to bring viewers live visuals of people coming out to their doors and balconies to honour healthcare heroes.
In all, 42 crore people watched Network18 channels during the entire week.
While 62 crore people watched TV on an average daily during the week from March 21-27, 47.3 crore watched any news channels. Of this, 19 crore watched the coverage on Network18.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on March 24 of a 21-day nationwide lockdown also saw a huge viewership spike, as the 30-minute televised address garnered 19.46 crore viewers on news channels of Network18.
Demand for content on both TV and digital has spiked during Covid-19 disruption period and advertisers remain upbeat about the two mediums. According to BARC-Nielsen data, total TV consumption grew by eight per cent across India during the disruption period.
This data further revealed that Indians are spending more time on TV to watch news, GECs (general entertainment channels) and movies. These three genres have contributed the most in the spike in viewership on TV during COVID-19 week 1, which is the week starting March 14.
In terms of viewership, TV news saw 57 per cent growth in viewership across India and the growth was witnessed across all major languages.
The daily average reach of the news genre on TV grew by 34 per cent, highest amid all categories.
“Television is the screen of the households and under these circumstances, household is glued to TV,” says Sunil Lulla, CEO, BARC India. “The audience, they don’t have anywhere else to go. What do you have surprisingly is even kids are watching news. So there is big growth in news. The consumers trust the news which is on TV. They know it is credible. Hence, they are watching it continuously,” he adds.
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