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Aaj
Tak is making hay out of the conflict in Afghanistan. If
the ratings are to be believed, the Hindi news channel from
the India Today stable has soared way ahead of competitors
Star News and Zee News, as well as the BBC and CNN.
As per TAM figures for the week ended 20
October, Aaj Tak commanded a 50 per cent share as against
Zee News' 35 per cent share. BBC had a share of 5 per cent
while CNN boasted a 3 per cent share. As per INTAM figures
for the week ended 7 October, Aaj Tak had a channel share
of 42 per cent as against Zee News' 37 per cent. Aaj Tak
maintained the channel share among the premium audiences
(Sec A,B/25+) as well, while the channel share of Zee News
dropped by 5 per cent.
The channel claims that on 7 October, the day the news that
the hilly nation had been attacked by the coalition against
terrorism broke, Aaj Tak drew the highest audience, with
the channel witnessing a 156 per cent increase in its viewership.
Viewers, says a press release, tuned into Aaj Tak for national
as well as international news.
It had earlier witnessed an increase of four times in its
usual viewership immediately after the attacks on the World
Trade Centre in New York.
Says Aaj Tak CEO G Krishnan: "Aaj Tak's dynamic programming
wheel format coupled with the state-of-the-art technology
and uplink facility from India allows it to break news immediately."
The media group is hoping to further consolidate the gains
it has made in recent times by harping on this point in
a new ad campaign, which is planned to run across outdoor,
cinema, radio and print until March 2002. The campaign tries
to reinforce the message Aaj Tak is the first to deliver
news to viewers.
Communication for the outdoors is largely slated to be through
hoardings (billboards), kiosks and buses in Delhi and Mumbai.
The key line of the ad campaign: "Aaj Tak -Sabse Tez Channel".
Promos can also be watched in leading cinema halls nationally
and heard on select FM and Vivid Bharati radio stations
in all major cities.
The extensive media activity is to be complemented through
ad releases in group magazines such as India Today
and Business Today.
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