News Broadcasting
BBC scores with Indian viewers during Iraq conflict
MUMBAI: With the ongoing Iraq conflict gaining momentum viewership for news channels have received a boost. While the long term viewership impact remains to be seen BBC World claims to be making significant strides in the country.
TAM research indicates that BBC World’s audience reach went up to 10 million viewers in one three-day period (20-22 March 2003) more than double the usual number. During this period, the channel’s market-share equalled that of CNN and CNBC put together among up-market people and all individuals in terms of number of viewers who tuned-in to the channel since the outbreak of the Iraq crisis.
The Peoplemeter data showed an overall increase in news viewing and BBC World in particular showed a jump of 108 per cent in reach and 85 per cent increase in time-spent on the channel among upmarket people. Additional viewers turned to BBC World with the data showing that among upmarket people 56 per cent of CNN viewers watched BBC World and 31 per cent of BBC World viewers watched CNN.
BBC World’s ad sales head Seema Mohapatra said,” These research figures reflect that a vast number of discerning viewers are watching BBC World for a broader perspective of global issues. It is heartening to know that it is not just our core audiences, but additional viewers who turn to the channel time and again for its factual and unbiased reporting.”
The channel has been doing well in other countries also like Australia. BBC World is now available in 1.5 million homes across all platforms (Austar, Optus and FOXTEL). The latest research by AC Neilsen (23-29 March) shows that audience share has increased by 750 per cent in just two weeks. Audience reach is also at record levels with research showing it is 44 per cent higher than the previous record (week of 9/11) and represents the fastest growth rate for any channel reported by AC Neilsen.
Singapore-based deputy director Airtime Sales for BBC World Sunita Rajan said, “BBC World already does very well in attracting audiences with an AB profile from a large part of pay-tv viewership but this latest data demonstrates that substantially more viewers are turning to BBC World for its balanced and impartial reporting of unfolding events in the Gulf.”
Audience research from the Asia-Pacific region over the past six months supports this upward trend. The latest International Air Travellers Survey (IATS) Asia-Pacific 2002 confirmed that BBC World is the fastest growing international news channel in the region (the study measures the viewership of international television channels and readership of international publications among international air travellers). The sixth Pan Asia Cross Media Survey (PAX) also found that unlike other news channels, BBC World held onto the audience it gained in 2001 as well as showing annual growth in some of Asia’s biggest urban centres. BBC World’s monthly audience grew by fourteen percent (14 per cent) year-on-year to 993,000 – the fastest growth for any of the top ten international channels.
Terrestrial broadcasters around the world, including NHK (Japan), ATV (Hong Kong) and SABC (South Africa) have signed agreements to broadcast BBC World’s breaking news thereby extending the channel’s reach even further. A potential 68 million free-to-air terrestrial households now have access to the channel’s additional continuous news output, on top of the channel’s ordinary distribution of 254 million households globally. Global peoplemeter data for the same period indicates enormous growth in audiences elsewhere with India, South Africa and the USA all reporting three and four times more BBC World viewers than usual.
In the US, PBS stations carrying BBC World News bulletins reach over 80 per cent of homes and in Dallas viewing to Channel 2, which has been showing BBC World coverage virtually full-time, is recording four times the usual station level of viewers.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to air live counting day coverage for five state election results on May 4
The channel is rolling out its biggest election coverage machinery yet for results day on 4th May
NOIDA: The votes have been cast. Now comes the reckoning. CNN-News18 is pulling out all the stops for results day on 4th May, when counting begins across five battleground states — West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry — in what promises to be one of the most closely watched electoral verdicts in recent memory.
The channel’s coverage, titled Battle for the States: The Verdict, kicks off at 7am and runs through the day across linear TV, connected television and YouTube. It is the culmination of CNN-News18’s multi-format editorial initiative, Battle for the States, which has tracked the polls from the beginning under the theme Road to Power.
At the operational heart of the coverage will be the Live Results Hub, the channel’s central command centre built to collate, verify and process real-time data flowing in from reporters stationed at counting centres across constituencies. The hub combines newsroom intelligence, analytics and on-the-ground reporting to deliver what the channel promises will be the fastest and most accurate results coverage in English news.
Leading the on-air charge will be primetime anchors Rahul Shivshankar, Anand Narasimhan, Aman Sharma, Nabila Jamal and Shivani Gupta. They will be joined by a wide panel of commentators including author Chetan Bhagat; GVL Narasimha Rao, senior leader of the BJP; Smita Prakash, editor of ANI; activist Saira Shah Halim; political analyst Sumanth C Raman; Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at IPCS; Amitabh Tiwari, founder of VoteVibe; columnist Abhijit Majumdar; Nalin Mehta, managing editor of MoneyControl; political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla; senior journalist Subir Bhaumik; and political analyst Manojit Mandal.
Shivshankar, who serves as editorial affairs director at CNN-News18, set out the stakes plainly. “Counting day is one of the most watched events in the electoral cycle, where speed and credibility are tested in real time,” he said. “Battle for the States: The Verdict is built on that promise, combining ground reporting, sharp analysis and cutting-edge election technology to give viewers the clearest and fastest route to the verdict. On May 4, CNN-News18 will once again be the nation’s most trusted channel to witness democracy in action.”
Smriti Mehra, chief executive of English and Business News at Network18, framed the coverage in broader terms. “Elections are defining national events, and audiences turn to brands they trust in moments that matter,” she said. “CNN-News18 has consistently led from the front in every election coverage, and this special programming reflects the scale of our ambition and editorial strength.”
The channel has form here. It claims to have been India’s most preferred English news destination for election results for the past 20 years, covering everything from the 2024 general elections to the Delhi, Maharashtra, Bihar and BMC polls on the back of what it calls an “Always First, Always Right” record. Five states, one day, and a nation waiting for answers. The clock starts at 7am on 4th May.
