MAM
Indians not avid TV watchers, instead hook to books: NOP World
MUMBAI: This is what could be termed a real opportunity for television programming honchos. Indians on an average spend a lowly 13.3 hours a week in front of the idiot box, well below the global average of 16.6 hours.
These and other findings form part of the “Culture Score Media Habits Index”, published by NOP World, a leading supplier of syndicated and custom research. The Media Habits Index offers a global perspective on the time consumers report watching television, listening to the radio, searching the Internet and reading. The survey ranked the world’s Top 30 media consuming nations.
Coming back to the television consumption, it is Thailand that takes the cake in this regard as people there spend a whopping 22.4 hours a week watching television. Interestingly, three Asian countries figure in the top five on the survey. The other countries that make it to the top rung are Philippines (2nd, 21 hours); Egypt (3rd, 20.9 hours), “almost Asian” country Turkey (4th, 20.2 hours) and Indonesia (5th, 19.7 hours).
Globally, individuals spend 8 hours listening to the radio, 6.5 hours reading and 8.9 hours on computers/the Internet (for non-work related reasons) on average each week.
It is interesting to note that consumers in the US and UK are below the global average (5.7 and 5.3 hours per week respectively) when it comes to reading, but significantly above the average on TV viewing (19 hours per week in the US and 18 in the UK), listening to the radio (10.2 hours per week in the US and 10.5 in the UK) and just slightly below the global average for computer/Internet usage (8.8 hours per week in both the US and UK).
India may not be a heavy TV watching country, but a book loving country it sure is! India surpasses every other country as far as time spent on reading is concerned. On an average, an Indian spends 10.7 hours reading in a week. Close behind India is Thailand, where people spend an average of 9.4 hours in a week in reading. At 3.1, 4.1 and 5 hours respectively, individuals in Korea, Japan and Taiwan fall to the bottom of the reading list.
Among the ones that can be called ‘Radio Nations’ are Argentina, where people spend the most time (20.8 hours per week) listening to the radio, followed by Brazil (17.2 hours) and South Africa (15 hours). Indians on an average spend 4.1 hours per week listening to the radio. Consumers in China spend the least amount of time listening to the radio at only 2.1 hours a week.
On the other hand, people in Taiwan spend most of their time on the computer / Internet (12.6 hours) in a week for non-work related purposes. Next in line are consumers in Thailand (11.7) and Spain (11.5) hours. Indians spend close to 7.9 hours on an average in a week in front of the computer. People in Mexico (6.3 hours), Italy (6.3 hours) and Germany (6.4 hours) spend the least amount of time on computers/Internet.
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
