January 22 marked a historic day in India, witnessing the much-anticipated inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. India’s leading news channel, Aaj Tak, rose to the occasion, shattering all existing records for news viewership during the consecration ceremony.
BARC India’s Thursday Television ratings for January 22 confirmed Aaj Tak’s position as the most-watched news channel that day, further consolidating the decisive dominance beyond earlier released YouTube digital live-streaming connected devices data to linear TV viewership for Aaj Tak on the historic day.
On YouTube, Aaj Tak garnered a staggering peak concurrence of over 1.8 million – three times higher than the closest competitor.
BARC’s Customised Event Report (CER), reveals Aaj Tak’s supremacy in linear TV viewership as well.
While direct comparison of specific event data for news channels remains unavailable due to data limitations, it is easy to establish leadership given Aaj Tak’s significant viewership in the crucial Hindi-speaking market. During the consecration ceremony (12:00 PM – 1:30 PM), Aaj Tak amassed 4,266 AMA (000s) among viewers aged 15+, surpassing even the leading Hindi entertainment channel, Star Plus, by 1.5 times (2,718 AMA (000s)
The channel’s total viewership for the day significantly exceeded its previous peak, achieved on March 10, 2022, during the vote counting for five state legislative assemblies.
CER data highlights Aaj Tak’s remarkable performance. To give an idea of the viewership lift experienced by AajTak, Its GRP on single day January 22 exceeded the 5 day gross viewership of several news channels in a typical week. An internal prediction algorithm developed by the group even suggests that this was the largest single-day GRP ever recorded by any news channel ever since data release resumed for news channels.