BARC: India Today TV is No. 1 English news channel

[THAKUR]

The English TV news genre has witnessed a big shake-up in the pecking order with the new look India Today TV pipping leader Times Now to become the number 1 general news channel, according to BARC data for the week ended 5 June.

Though Times Now has been relegated to the second spot in Week 22, it remains to be seen if this is a lasting trend.

NDTV 24×7 has returned to the top 3 slot while CNN-IBN has slumped to the fourth position

Read more at:

BARC: India Today TV is No. 1 English news channel | TelevisionPost.com

 

[DashMajor]

So Promotion worked for India Today and finally they beat Times Now

But I think Arnab will be bounce back since Sardesai, Thapar are trumpet blower of Congress - AAP.

 

[IndianMascot]

Everyone would have watched to check what new in India Today. It won't be same next week.

 

[DashMajor]

Problem with India Today is that its look like a well manage channel, rather Live reporting they believing on bulletins, they making promotional news in such a way that people sees it as a news, no wants to know what Priyanka Chopra doing we wants to know what Govt. doing in the matter of One Rank One Pension, At Border, regarding Maggi, regarding Call Drop, regarding Net Neutrality. What AAP Govt. doing regarding Electricity in Delhi, whats the truth of Tomar's degree ? Except these burning topics they believing bulletins and promotional news.

 

[NinadG]

It seems its also a distribution tactic that worked.....
India Today TV beats Times Now to be top English news channel

India Today Television just made it to the top of the English news television heap. Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data show that the channel that had been inching up on reach had already crossed leader Times Now two weeks ago. This week, it went ahead of Times Now in ratings, too.

Most media analysts pointed out that India Today TV owed its success more to distribution tactics than higher time spent on the channel. Sure, the re-branding and getting on board some names like Rajdeep Sardesai and Karan Thapar helped. But what tilted the scales in India Today's favour was the use of a dual frequency. This means the channel is at two places, instead of one, on a single cable network.

"Both Times Now and India Today Television are on dual frequency on some of our networks," said Jagdish Kumar, CEO, Hathway Cable.

Today TV was last week using dual frequency on 70 cable networks (the highest by any channel) and Times Now on 29. "Dual frequency increases the chances of sampling. It is like buying two or more tickets in a game to improve the chances of success," said Chrome founder Pankaj Krishna.

Dual feeds are used tactically. For example, a sports channel might choose to be in the general entertainment cluster to get people to sample it. According to Chrome data, 150 of the 800-odd channels in India are currently using two spots on some or the other cable network. These include Zee TV, Max and Discovery.

Eventually, though, "the market share jump will have to come from continuous engagement, which will have to be driven by programming", said L V Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research. Brand India Today's credibility, a strong line-up of experienced journalists as key programming drivers, and strong marketing and distribution, "all played an important role", emphasised Bagga.

For now, though, India Today is enjoying this week.

The sustainability question is critical because English news is a minuscule 0.04 per cent of all time spent before TV by Indians.


Read more at: India Today TV beats Times Now to be top English news channel | Business Standard News