News Broadcasting
Aaj Tak grabs 19% market share during election coverage
MUMBAI: Aaj Tak has acquired 19 per cent of Hindi News channel market share on counting day of Maharashtra and Haryana state assembly elections 2019. The channel was ahead with 27 million more impressions than the next channel.
The data released by BARC is evident in how the viewers continue to prefer the India Today Group when it comes to 360-degree election coverage.
The India Today Group’s Axis My India exit poll, accurately predicted the outcome of the State Assembly Elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, while most other media outlets faltered. On-the-ground reporting, accurate exit polls prediction and the use of state-of-the-art tools for election coverage on a large scale led the group to the No.1 position.
On the counting day, Aaj Tak’s share was 19 per cent of all 14 Hindi news channels, placing it on the topmost rung of the ladder when it comes to viewership. India’s most-watched Hindi news channel, Aaj Tak, was 27 million gross impressions ahead of ABP News that held the No.2 position. During the hours when the votes were being counted, Aaj Tak’s viewership surpassed that of other TV channels like Sony TV, Zee TV and Colors.
(Source – BARC, TG- 15+, Market – HSM, Time Band – 8:00 to 18:00 hrs). In the 15+ M AB TG, Aaj Tak was the No.1 TV Channel in HSM Market(Source – BARC, Market – HSM, Time Band – 8:00 to 18:00 hrs)
|
Channel |
WK43'19 |
|
Aaj Tak |
126137 |
|
ABP News |
98751 |
|
India TV |
95809 |
|
News18 India |
95468 |
|
Zee News |
89434 |
|
Republic Bharat |
84704 |
|
News Nation |
53842 |
|
News 24 |
41856 |
|
TV9 Bharatvarsh |
41572 |
|
Tez |
36388 |
|
India News |
26974 |
|
NDTV India |
19771 |
|
Zee Hindustan |
19629 |
|
DD News |
8552 |
*Source – BARC, 15+, HSM, G Imp’000
|
Channel |
Shr% |
|
Aaj Tak |
19.0 |
|
ABP News |
16.0 |
|
NDTV India |
2.0 |
|
News 24 |
6.0 |
|
News Nation |
5.0 |
|
Zee News |
10.0 |
|
India TV |
11.0 |
|
India News |
3.0 |
|
DD News |
1.0 |
|
Tez |
3.0 |
|
News18 India |
10.0 |
|
Zee Hindustan |
3.0 |
|
Republic Bharat |
9.0 |
|
TV9 Bharatvarsh |
4.0 |
*Source: BARC, TG: 15+ NCCS ALL, Mkt: HSM, Period: 24th Oct’19, TB:0800-2400Hrs, Market shr% based on 14 Hindi News Channels.
India Today TV was also on the No.1 position in the English news genre, surpassing channels like Times Now, Republic TV, NDTV 24×7 among others. On the polling day and the counting day combined, it recorded the highest number of gross impressions in all the megacities of India.
|
Channel |
Gross Imp'000s |
|
India Today Television |
109 |
|
Times Now |
101 |
|
Republic |
90 |
|
NDTV 24×7 |
34 |
|
CNN News 18 |
25 |
|
Mirror Now |
15 |
|
Wion |
4 |
|
India Ahead |
1 |
|
News X |
0 |
*Source : BARC, Market: Megacities, TG: Males 22+AB,Dates: 21st Oct'19 & 24th Oct'19,Gross imp'000s.
India Today TV increased its viewership by 149.6 per cent compared to the previous week.
|
Channel |
WK42'19 |
WK43'19 |
Growth Compare to last week |
|
India Today Television |
87 |
218 |
149.6% |
|
Times Now |
152 |
219 |
44.5% |
|
Republic TV |
158 |
227 |
43.9% |
|
CNN News18 |
43 |
60 |
40.0% |
|
NDTV 24×7 |
45 |
58 |
29.5% |
|
Mirror Now |
50 |
47 |
-5.8% |
|
Wion |
38 |
22 |
-42.6% |
|
India Ahead |
4 |
10 |
133.7% |
|
News X |
8 |
2 |
-74.5% |
*Source – BARC, 22+ M AB, Period as per below table, Gimp’000)
It may be recalled that during the General Elections in May 2019, the picture was not very different. Aaj Tak and the India Today TV ruled the poll viewership, with 13 crore viewers tuning into Aaj Tak on the counting day alone (Universe, All India, Counting Day) and being the most watched channel across genres. India Today TV had not only beaten the other English news channels but also recorded a viewership that was higher than other English infotainment and entertainment channels (NCCS A, Megacities, Counting Day).
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
