MUMBAI: TV18 business channels – CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz - have maintained leadership positions in their respective genres on the Budget day.

As per Tam data for 26 February, when finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was reading out the union Budget in the Parliament, the English business viewers preferred CNBC TV18 over competition.

The channel commanded 43.2 per cent viewership (Tam, CS 25+, All India), followed by Bloomberg UTV and ET Now (20.6 per cent each). Surprisingly, NDTV Profit, the second in command for the week, could manage only 15.5 per cent viewership.

Meanwhile, in the Hindi business news terrain, CNBC Awaaz maintained its dominance on 26 February with 71.3 per cent genre share as compared to 28.8 per cent of Zee Business (Tam, 25+, HSM Market).

Among the English general news channels (Tam, CS 25+, All India), Times Now led the pack not only on Budget day but also throughout the week. On 26 February, the channel dominated the genre with 31.4 per cent viewership, followed by NDTV 24X7 (30.9 per cent) and CNN IBN (29.1 per cent). Headlines Today got 7.3 per cent while NewsX managed to hold 1.4 per cent of the viewership pie.

CNN IBN said it occupied the top position on Budget day in the C&S audience segment aged 15+ (0600-2400 hours). In its defined demographic, CNN IBN garnered a ratio of 0.12 per cent over Times Now (0.11 per cent) and NDTV 24X7 (0.11 per cent).

The Hindi general news space was led by Aaj Tak with 21 per cent share, followed by Star News (16 per cent), Zee News (15 per cent) and India TV (13 per cent) on the day.