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Analysis: It takes Aaj Tak to deliver unprecedented viewership

During the first week of the lockdown, Hindi news channel Aaj Tak achieved an unprecedented milestone as it raced past top general entertainment channels such as Colors, Star Plus and Zee TV. How did Aaj Tak manage to achieve these record viewership numbers? BestMediaInfo analyses

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BestMediaInfo Bureau
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Analysis: It takes Aaj Tak to deliver unprecedented viewership

As television viewership data was released for Week 12 of 2020, which was also the first week of the nationwide lockdown, Aaj Tak — which became synonymous with television news ever since the channel wore the  tagline ‘Khabar matlab Aaj Tak’ many year years ago — proved once again what does strong brand recall means.

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The channel achieved an unprecedented milestone in racing past top general entertainment channels such as Colors, Star Plus and Zee TV. Among news channels, the channel recorded 56% more viewership than the nearest competitor ABP News (TG NCCS2+ HSM Impressions 000s). ABP News jumped to No. 2 in Week 12 from No. 6 in Week 9, a pre-Covid period.

Also read: Commentary: Does it take more than a pandemic for Indian TV news to behave sanely?

The channel was the only news channel among the top-10 channels across genres.

Avg Weekly Imp (MN)

NCCS 2+ | HSM

Channel

2020W 9

2020W10

2020W11

2020W12

Growth in WK 12 Over Wk 09

Dangal

1193

1178

1231

1149

-4%

Sony SAB

689

715

731

800

16%

Sony Max(v)

412

431

464

675

64%

Star Gold

313

368

366

666

113%

Aaj Tak

142

180

257

654

361%

Zee Cinema

350

367

383

573

63%

Colors

588

600

600

526

-11%

Sony Entertainment Television

481

502

484

501

4%

Star Plus

645

633

653

472

-27%

B4U Kadak

326

360

357

448

37%

ABP News

96

108

156

419

336%

Zee News

116

135

170

405

249%

Star Gold 2

233

257

272

377

62%

News18 India

116

130

155

374

222%

Zee TV

582

605

530

372

-36%

India TV

119

126

160

354

198%

Republic Bharat

98

116

138

340

246%

Also read: Will the ad rates on TV see a downward spiral despite surge in viewership during Covid-19 crisis?

In the TG of NCCS 15+ HSM, Aaj Tak garnered 56% more viewership than ABP News.

Gross Imp’000s/HSM /15+
 
Channel WK12'20
Aaj Tak 532102
ABP News 340659
Zee News 337359
News18 India 305732
India TV 296305
Republic Bharat 280257
News Nation 171658
News 24 104397
Tez 101741
India News 79536
NDTV India 48600
DD News 19840

The most-watched televised event ever was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second address to the nation to announce a countrywide lockdown, which was watched by 197mn people.

During the address, the channel surpassed its own record, which was the highest recorded viewership of the live visuals of the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman.

HSM/15+/2000-2030 Hrs

Date

Day

Time  From

Time  To

Aaj Tak

Event

24-03-2020

Tue

20:00

20:30

12565

PM Address to Nation

01-03-2019

Fri

21:00

21:30

11287

Visuals from Attari Wagah Border showing the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman

Among its peers, Aaj Tak was leading by about 50% margin over the second most-watched channel, ABP News.

Day

Tue (8to 8:30pm) HSM, 15+

Aaj Tak

12565

ABP News

8053

India TV

7416

Zee News

6600

R Bharat

4945

News18 India

2819

In the journey of this milestone, Aaj Tak beat its own records on several occasions.

India /2+,Weekly Impressions Aaj Tak

Event

Weekly cum reach in Cr.

Weekly Gross Imp in Cr.

Janta Curfew/Corona/lockdown

24.2

66.3

Surgical Strike/Abhinandan Return

21

55.5

General Elections Counting day

18.8

39.9

Ayodhya Verdict

13.5

21.2

Delhi Elections Counting/Polling day

10.9

17.4

Demonetisation

9.3

11.2

Among the age group of NCCS 15+ also, the channel had similar lead margin.

HSM /15+,Weekly Impressions - Aaj Tak

Event

Weekly cum reach in Cr.

Weekly Gross Imp in Cr.

Janta Curfew/Corona/lockdown

18.8

53.2

Surgical Strike/Abhinandan Return

16.4

46.3

General Elections Counting day

14.9

33.6

Ayodhya Verdict

10.8

17.8

Delhi Elections Counting/Polling day

8.7

14.6

Demonetisation

7.6

9.4

BestMediaInfo.com had reported yesterday how the top three positions in terms of reach were held by news channels for the first time. Aaj Tak topped the chart with a reach of 23.8 crore followed by ABP News at 21.2 crore and Republic Bharat at 19.9 crore.

Avg Weekly Reach (MN)

NCCS 2+ | HSM

Channel

2020W 9

2020W10

2020W11

2020W12

Growth in WK 12 Over Wk 09

Aaj Tak

111

120

154

238

115%

ABP News

96

104

132

212

121%

Republic Bharat

90

99

124

199

121%

B4U Movies

146

152

156

190

31%

Star Gold

157

161

166

189

21%

News18 India

89

96

120

189

111%

B4U Kadak

153

159

158

188

23%

Zee News

85

94

117

184

116%

India TV

90

94

116

183

104%

Star Gold 2

147

151

153

178

21%

Dangal

161

167

171

177

10%

Zee Cinema

144

145

150

170

18%

Sony MAX(v)

144

145

151

169

17%

News Nation

73

77

95

162

123%

&pictures

122

128

132

150

23%

TV9 Bharatvarsh

57

61

81

142

149%

Star Plus

132

131

133

137

4%

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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