MAM
MRUC disputes NRS 2005 TV homes figures
MUMBAI: Media Research Users Council (MRUC) has raised questions over the recent findings brought out in the NRS 2005 survey, setting the ground for a divide in the industry on issues relating to the size of the television and cable and satellite (C&S) homes.
NRS ’05 has pegged the total C&S homes at 61 million, indicating an increase of 16.3 million homes during the last two years. “This is nearly the same as new total TV homes and seems very inexplicable,” MRUC says in a note to its clients. Interestingly, the total TV homes, according to NRS data, went up by 16.7 million homes during this period. NRS officials were not available for comment at the time of filing the report.
IRS, conducted by MRUC, estimates the total number of C&S homes to hover around 46-50 million by the end of 2005. “Surprisingly, the NRS ’05 estimate is a million more than the overall installed TV base in India four years ago as compared to Census 2001,” MRUC points out.
The C&S estimations have been impacted in NRS ’05 as a result of an exaggeration in the size of households and TV households in some of the States, MRUC says.
NRS ’05 has put the TV installed base at 108 million homes, indicating a 51 per cent penetration on a base of 213 million total estimated homes. MRUC and its research partner Hansa Research Group find this “a very large number to deal with” as it means 82 per cent more TV homes got added in the last four years (2001-2005).
The IRS ’05 figures are much lower, putting the TV homes at 83 million (as of June 2004) and a penetration of 41 per cent. Growth in the last three years (2001-2004) was at 39 per cent. “Our figures represent a growth of about nine per cent in penetration over Census 2001,” MRUC clarifies to its members. According to Census 2001 estimates, the TV households touched 59.4 million with a 32 per cent penetration.
Though NRS is yet to release recent figures, it estimates the total TV homes to reach 90-94 million by the end of 2005. NRS ’05 has overestimated TV homes by 14-15 million, asserts MRUC.
MRUC points out Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu and Uttranchal as states where projections are higher than expected in NRS ’05. These account for 61 per cent of the total TV households base in NRS ’05.
Brands
Apple bites back: the $599 MacBook Neo is the cheapest Mac ever made
The tech giant unveils a budget laptop that packs a punch — and a lot of cheek
CALIFORNIA: Apple has never been shy about charging a premium. So when Cupertino rolls out a MacBook at $599 (approx. Rs 55,000) , it’s worth sitting up straight.
The MacBook Neo, unveiled Tuesday, is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date — undercutting its own MacBook Air and taking a sharp swipe at the budget PC market in one fell swoop. It starts at $499 for students, which, for a machine with Apple silicon inside, is frankly a steal.
At the heart of the Neo is the A18 Pro chip — the same muscle that powers the latest iPhones. Apple claims it is up to 50 per cent faster for everyday tasks than a rival PC running Intel’s Core Ultra 5, and three times quicker on on-device AI workloads. Fanless and featherweight at 2.7 pounds, it runs silently and promises up to 16 hours of battery life. Try doing that on a Chromebook.
The 13-inch liquid retina display clocks in at 2408-by-1506 resolution with 500 nits of brightness and support for billion colours — sharper and brighter, Apple says, than most rivals in this price band. It comes dressed in four colours: blush, indigo, silver, and a zesty new citrus, with matching keyboard shades to boot.
Connectivity is modest — two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 6 — but this is a budget machine, not a pro workstation. The 1080p FaceTime camera, dual mics with directional beamforming, and Spatial Audio speakers round out a package that punches well above its weight class.
Apple senior vice-president of hardware engineering John Ternus alled it “a laptop only Apple could create.” That’s the kind of line that makes rivals wince — because, annoyingly, he might be right.
The Neo runs macOS Tahoe, with Apple Intelligence baked in for AI writing tools, live translation, and the sort of on-device smarts that keep user data away from the cloud. It also boasts 60 per cent recycled content — the highest of any Apple product — for those who like their bargains with a side of conscience.
For $599, Apple isn’t just selling a laptop. It’s selling an argument — that good design and real performance needn’t cost the earth. The PC industry had better have a decent comeback ready.
