MUMBAI: Though the verdict of the 2009 general election was far from what the news channels expected or projected, the endgame drama on 16 May certainly drew in peak viewers.

The Hindi TV news genre jumped almost three-fold to 14.87 per cent on the counting day, up from the previous week's standing at 5.08 per cent. This, however, remained lower than what the genre enjoyed as a share percentage last time round, according to Tam data for C&S 15+ in the Hindi speaking market. In 2004, the counting day on 13 May saw the share of the genre surging to 24.25 per cent from its previous week’s draw of 5.06 per cent.

Aaj Tak led the pack with 27 per cent of channel share, followed by Star news with 19 per cent and India TV 13 per cent. IBN7 remained fourth in the viewership ladder with a 10 per cent share, while Zee News took a share of 9 per cent and NDTV India 7 per cent.

Source : Tam, HSM 15+

English news channels were also major gainers on a day that surprised pollsters with a clear and strong verdict for the Congress to continue their rule at the Centre. The genre got a lift to stand with a share of 1.2 per cent, up from the previous week’s 0.37 per cent. This was higher than the 13 May 2004 count which saw a news genre share of 1 per cent, according to Tam data (All India, C&S 25+). The increase in the genre is triggered by the fact that three new channels, CNN IBN, Times Now and News X, were launched after the 2004 general election.

Source : Tam, C&S 25+, All India

Among the English news channels, CNN IBN led the way with 38 per cent channel share, while Times Now clocked 27 per cent and NDTV 24X7 26 per cent relative share in the genre.