MUMBAI: Election time translates into boon time for the electronic medium. Touted as the make or break point for news channels, this time on, the election coverage is quite interesting, complete with live feeds, public and political debates from around the country (at times conducted in the open like Aaj Tak did recently from a set created near India Gate) and more number crunching.

A viewers' forum, Centre for Advocacy and Research (Cfar), has decided to monitor the news channels' coverage of the election campaign.

The Viewers' Forum is an audience collective and community-centred initiative. Objective is to create a forum where consumers, media advocates, policy makers, media planners, sponsors and broadcasters and TV producers can meet and exchange viewpoints; to inform and improve the quality of consumer participation in the on-going public discourse on media, especially television and to empower viewers so that they can play a role in helping to shape the media products they consume.

According to the study, overall DD News' coverage had highest variation, while NDTV 24X7 showed lowest in coverage of main election related stories across channels.

The study compared the issue tackled by the channel based on following parameters: number of times the issue featured in the stories and percentages of individual channel coverage of election issues.

The study was based on nine parameters:
Comparison of main stories by channel (Top 10)
Comparison of issue by channel
Coverage of main stories and issues across two weeks
Representation of public voices across two weeks
Coverage of development issues by channel
Coverage of main stories related to development across the two weeks
Comparison of development issues across the two weeks
Representation of spokesperson across the two weeks
Coverage of main stories party-wise across the two weeks