BARC India unveils third edition of its yearbook 'The Year After Two Thousand and Nineteen'

Television measurement company Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India has launched the third edition of its yearbook titled The Year After Two Thousand and Nineteen. 

The yearbook offers exclusive insights and extensive data on ‘What India Watched’ in 2020 along with trends across the pandemic-affected months with a special focus on four distinct phases, viz., Pre-Covid, Covid: During Lockdown, Covid: Unlock, and Year Ender.

Covid-19 forced people to stay confined to their homes from March 25, 2020. The lockdown made viewers turn to their favourite mode of entertainment and news – television. 

TV played a significant role in keeping people connected with the outside world during the lockdown. Consequently, TV viewership witnessed a growth of 23% during mid-March to June (Week 11-26) as compared to the January to early March period (Week 1-10). 

Sunil Lulla, Chief Executive Officer, BARC India, said, “The year was a consolidation and reaffirmation year for television in India. It was marked by a substantial increase in TV viewership with total TV growing by 9% and ad volumes experiencing a staggering growth of 34% in the second half. 2020 reaffirmed the strength of television as a medium in India among both viewers and advertisers, proving TV is indeed the screen of choice for the household. TV continues to grow with regional markets gaining prominence. BARC India will continue to work towards our vision, to always be the trusted source of authentic measurement and reporting of ‘What India Watches’.”

Following are a few highlights from What India Watched in “The Year After Two Thousand & Nineteen”:

*Non-prime time (NPT) viewership for general entertainment channels (gec), news and kids, grew by 16%, 26% and 31%, respectively, in 2020 compared to 2019.

*Ad volumes grew by 34% in second half of 2020 compared to the first half of 2020.

*The top 10 advertising sectors contributed 80% to total ad volumes in 2020

*Communication by the Government was on an upsurge during the lockdown. Ad volumes for Govt. messaging grew by 184% (2.7 times) during Apr-June 2020 compared to same period in 2019.  

*Mythological classics such as Ramayan and Mahabharat made a comeback on our TV screens from Week 13, 2020. Ramayana holds the record of the most-watched TV programme in the world.   *Driven by the classics, advertisers placed their bets on DD’s GECs during lockdown. Ad volumes for DD’s GECs grew by 62% in the April-June quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

*IPL-13 viewership grew by 23% compared to IPL-12 with 400 Bn total viewing minutes.

*The opening match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at Abu Dhabi was the most viewed with 11.2 billion viewing minutes.

Click Here to view Yearbook

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