Continues its leadership position for last 15 years
Continuing its undisputed leadership position in the English news segment for the last 15 years, Times Now, with a 30.7% share is the absolute Number 1 English TV news channel for more than a year (Week 16 2022-Week 33 2023) as per BARC ratings data. This is in the most relevant target group for English News, which is 10L+ markets amongst NCCS AB 22+ age group among males. Hence, Times Now, leaves Republic TV behind with its 29.1% share as well as CNN News18 with a 22% share.
Moreover, the viewership data of the last 8 weeks, which will be the correct representation of the current scenario, establishes Times Now as the #1 across multiple TGs (both NCCS AB 22+ as well as NCCS AB 22+ Males) in 10L+ markets (see chart). It is followed by Republic TV and CNN News18 in second and third position respectively.
With elections just months away, an advertising blitz is par for the course around this time. However, industry sources said that the claims being cited in recent advertising campaigns do not show the correct picture, and in some cases are deeply suspect and misleading. For instance, a recent advertisement by CNN News18 claiming to be #1 by taking ratings data for India | 2+ (2 years plus) as a Market Target Group combination –but industry sources asked which child between 2 -14years engages with news and can be seriously used in claims? Also, CNN News 18’s data set used in this advertisement included India’s rural markets. Industry sources pointed out that rural markets are not taken as the industry metric for the core English news target group. In fact, industry sources mentioned that this is an irrelevant target segment as far as English TV news is concerned. Hence, citing, 41% of All India, 2+ viewership for CNN News18 which is garnered from India Rural, is not typically used for an English News channel.
“News is serious business, an honest one at that. Seasoned professionals know that numbers mean nothing without relevance”, said an industry source who pointed out that for every category there is a natural viewership base and data cuts which do not stay true to that are misleading the consumer. “Otherwise, its staking claim to a standing means claiming status with zero relevance”, he added.
“With elections round the corner, some desperation for visibility is understandable –but twisting the truth and presenting it in the public domain is not the right way to play the challenger game”, pointed out an industry veteran. Hope the leaders of the 2+ generation are listening.