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Urban areas dominate DD viewership: Zapr
MUMBAI: Once the sole television provider in India, Doordarshan (DD) has survived the onslaught of television privatisation over decades. TV analytics conducted on DD channels provide insights into its diverse content across sports, Hindi entertainment and news and how the broadcaster is still relevant for India’s TV population. In 2003, DD radically changed its monetisation plan by paying private producers for prime-time shows to promote new content and open advertising avenues on its channels. With data-driven audience segmentation being an important prerequisite for media planners to set priority markets for their branded content, Zapr Media Labs (Zapr) has mapped out viewership trends of DD channels at the individual user level. From channel level analysis to geographic positioning of viewers, the study even traces migration patterns to see how DD viewers are switching channels across the Indian Television landscape. The company has analysed DD channels over three months—September, October and November 2017—and mapped out current trends in reach, viewership and audience migration. Over the considered period, there was a gradual rise (165.7 million) and fall (92.4 million) in audience reach and 4 per cent non-DD viewers (August) started watching DD in September. Deep-diving into DD’s viewership trends, the study found 59.20 per cent of urban viewership share for the pubcaster’s channels. These insights were derived from Zapr’s active user-base comprising over 40 million smartphones.
DD’s viewership over September, October and November
DD channels’ viewership ranged from 165.7 million to 117.1 million during week 36 and week 37. This viewership spike is before and during the India-Australia ODI series. The chart below shows the viewership of the broadcaster across weeks:
DD’s top-ten channels
DD channels are home to various genres, languages and television programmes. The top-ten list comprised channels from across DD’s categories. Irrespective of the fact that the channel caters only to Hindi audiences, DD National (previously DD1) topped the list with an audience share of 23.90 per cent. This high viewership could pertain to the varied shows—serials, bhajans, news, cookery shows and even news for the hearing impaired (15 minutes daily) that ensures DD National has something for everyone.
DD National is followed by DD News (15 per cent) and DD Bharati (13.20 per cent) in terms of viewership. Interestingly, the sole international DD channel, DD India did not make it into top three and was followed by six regional channels—DD Madhya Pradesh (13.10 per cent), DD Yadagiri (12.80 per cent), DD Oriya (12.5 per cent), DD Kashir (12 per cent), DD Sahyadri (11.90 per cent) and DD Podhigai (11.59 per cent). DD prevails in metros and cities with million plus population. The report also identified geographical locations that claimed a major share in DD channels viewership. Delhi (30 per cent) claimed the top position in the metro cities list, followed by Mumbai (25 per cent), Chennai (16 per cent), Bengaluru (11 per cent) and Kolkata (11 per cent). For brands and media planners, these insights reveal deterministic geo-segmentation by actual content consumption, something which large sample TV data cannot provide. The chart below also indicates viewership share across top five cities distributed across tier-2 populations. These stats show Pune with the highest viewership share (17.30 per cent). The top city is followed by Ahmedabad (9.40 per cent), Bhopal (6.20 per cent), Jaipur (6 per cent) and Lucknow (5 per cent) based on actual actual audience share for DD channels.
Urban folks flock towards DD
The urban segment claimed a substantial viewership share of 59.20 per cent over rural regions (40.70 per cent). With studies reporting higher socio-economic position among urban audiences, this urban skew among DD viewer suggests that their buying power is not lagging behind other TV segments across paid channels. For media planners, DD channels and their upward-mobile audiences constitute a trough of unexplored opportunities compared to largely cluttered spots on more commercialised channels.
DD caters to viewers across the TV spectrum
Cricket broadcasts such as Sri Lanka vs India T20I and Micromax Cup Sri Lanka vs India 2017 ODI Series and news telecasts such as News Night, Batmya and Samachar occupy top positions in the list of most-watched prime-time shows on DD channels. With significant overlaps between the viewers of cricket tours and sport leagues such as the IPL. Marketers can tap into high-value TV segments and reach them on cost-effective spots using surrogate targeting offerings, DD’s top five primetime shows based on viewership have been listed below.
DD National penetrates Urban India with purely Hindi content
To understand how language influences viewership at a national level, Zapr looked at DD’s popular all-India channels—DD National and DD Sports. Interestingly, DD National with its single-language content in Hindi had higher viewership skew towards urban audiences (63 per cent) compared to its rural counterpart (37 per cent). DD Sports with its bilingual telecasts in Hindi and English witnessed smaller difference between its urban (55 per cent) and rural (45 per cent) markets. Our analysis indicates that DD’s all-india content in Hindi which began as instructive and informative content for India’s largely rural masses has now majorly penetrated much of urban India. Are marketers keeping up with DD’s evolution from Bharat to India?
Non-FTA to FTA
To further understand purchase power of DD viewers, Zapr mapped out DD audience overlaps with free-to-air (FTA) channels exclusive of DD content and non-FTA channels. As the name suggests, FTA channels are accessible without subscription charges and according to Zapr data, 55.6 per cent of DD viewers tune into these channels regularly. Interestingly, the data reveals larger skew towards with non-FTAs or pay channels with an overlap of 58.4 per cent, suggesting that DD audiences have high propensity to spend on premium content.
Migration to DD channels post agency accreditation
The growing commercialisation of television indicates more focused marketing efforts across TV segments. Zapr wanted to understand the impact of DD’s agency accreditation in September 2017 when the network opened commercial ad-spots and a round of new TV content on 30+ DD channels. “TV analytics at Zapr reveal that there has been a 4 per cent rise in DD viewership from August to September suggesting a shift towards DD channels which could be an early positive result of the broadcaster’s agency accreditation plan. The 58.4 per cent overlap of DD viewers with Non-FTA channel viewers is also an incredible result,” Zapr VP (data insights) Aditya Kulkarni said.
DD has revamped its content and advertising avenues, and clearly succeeded in staying relevant to India’s dynamic media landscape. Armed with data-backed insights, broadcasters can optimise their content inventories and expand their TV audiences. Marketers can avoid clutter by targeting these growing segments, and ultimately stand strong in the minds of their priority markets.
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NEW DELHI: Hamdard Laboratories gathered a cross-section of India’s achievers in New Delhi on Friday, handing out the Hakeem Abdul Hameed Excellence Awards to figures who have left their mark across healthcare, education, sport, public service and the arts.
The ceremony, attended by minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth and senior officials from the ministry of Ayush, celebrated individuals whose work blends professional success with a sense of public purpose. It was as much a roll call of achievement as it was a reminder that influence is not measured only in profits or podiums, but in people reached and lives improved.
Among the headline awardees was Alakh Pandey, founder and chief executive of PhysicsWallah, recognised for turning affordable digital learning into a mass movement. On the sporting front, Arjuna Awardee and kabaddi player Sakshi Puniya was honoured for her contribution to the game and for pushing women’s participation onto bigger stages.
The cultural spotlight fell on veteran lyricist and poet Santosh Anand, whose songs have echoed across generations of Hindi cinema. At 97, Anand accepted the honour with characteristic humility, reflecting on a life shaped by perseverance and hope.
Healthcare honours spanned both modern and traditional systems. Manoj N. Nesari was recognised for strengthening Ayurveda’s place in national and global health frameworks. Padma shri Mohammed Abdul Waheed was honoured for his research-backed work in Unani medicine, while padma shri Mohsin Wali received recognition for his long-standing contribution to patient-centred care.
Education and social development also featured prominently. Padma shri Zahir Ishaq Kazi was honoured for decades of work in education, while former Meghalaya superintendent of Police T. C. Chacko was recognised for public service. Goonj founder Anshu Gupta received an award for his dignity-centred rural development initiatives, and the Hunar Shakti Foundation was honoured for empowering women and young girls through skill development.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to former IAS officer Shailaja Chandra for her long career in public healthcare and governance, particularly in the traditional systems under Ayush.
Speaking at the event, Hamdard chairman Abdul Majeed said the awards were a tribute to those who combine excellence with empathy. “These awardees reflect Hakeem Sahib’s belief that healthcare, education and public service must ultimately serve humanity,” he said.
Minister Seth struck a forward-looking note, saying India’s young population gives the country a unique opportunity to become a global destination for learning, health and wellness by 2047.
The ceremony also featured the trailer launch of Unani Ki Kahaani, an upcoming documentary starring actor Jim Sarbh, set to premiere on Discovery on 11 February.
Instituted in memory of Unani scholar and educationist Hakeem Abdul Hameed, the awards have grown into a national platform that celebrates those building a more inclusive and resilient India. For one evening at least, the spotlight was not just on success, but on service with substance.
