What the 'not-so-clear' mandate in 2024 LS polls means for news channels

New Delhi: The 2024 Lok Sabha elections were presumed to be a done deal in favour of the Modi government which was seeking a third term.

The ‘400 paar’ slogan coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi generated a little bit of interest in the news channels. Had this happened on June 4, the vote counting day, news viewers would have almost disappeared.

Even as the electorates gave a comfortable mandate to the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he is likely to return to power for a third straight term, the BJP missed the halfway mark.

This has given an opportunity, even if remotely possible, to the INDIA bloc to give it a try to come to power by all means.

This 'not-so-clear' mandate to any single party will prove to be ‘aapda mein avsar’, a famous term coined by Modi himself, for the news channels as the current scenario has generated enough interest in viewers even after the government formation.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the interest would remain throughout Modi’s third five-year term and this offers the struggling news channels a great opportunity to revive and reinvent themselves.

Revenue potential

The 2024 general election gave a huge boost to the revenues of all the news channels on the back of audiences returning to the news channels.

BestMediaInfo.com estimates that the top news broadcasters added up to Rs 250 crore in their annual revenue during this election season.

On counting day alone, they earned advertising revenue of up to Rs 50 crore.

However, many broadcasters were looking at this election as one of opportunity and expecting a huge dip in their viewership and as a result revenues.

Now, the return of a coalition government at the centre has offered a huge fillip to their fortunes, i.e. more viewership and more revenues.

From government formation to picking up ministers to portfolio distribution to the functioning of the Parliament in the new scenario, viewers are expected to be glued to the TV news for a longer period of time.

Politics is all about uncertainty and any sort of possible disruption will generate massive interest for a longer period of time.

A large number of advertisers put their money on news channels from exit polls to counting day with a surety of heightened viewership during that period.

A prominent FMCG marketer told BestMediaInfo.com that they are planning to extend their presence on the news genre after this 'not-so-decisive' mandate to one party.

When asked if the advertisers would be willing to pay a premium or increased ad rates, the marketer said that the ad rates or premiums are a function of demand and supply linked to the share of viewership.