By ANUSHREE BHATTACHARYYA
Indiantelevision.com Team

(16 April 2009 10:20 pm)

NEW DELHI: The Congress and the BJP will not be spending advertising bucks on the English news channels, an indication that even the national political parties are streamlining their resources at the time of a slump in the economy.

The two political parties, hoping to form a government at the Centre, will be maximising their campaign exposure on Hindi news channels. The genre has seen a spurt in mass viewership, suiting theme campaigns like Congress' 'Aam aadmi ke badte kadam, har kadam par Bharat buland' and BJP's 'Majboot neta, nirnayak sarkar.'

"We have decided not to be on English news channels as our focus is on 'Aam admi' (common man). We are advertising on channels which have mass viewership and Hindi news and general entertainment channels have a very high viewership," says Chirantan Chandran, partner-Client Leadership, Mindshare, the agency which is handling Congress' media planning and buying.

Hindi news channels will make up the bulk of Congress' advertising spend on TV. "They will account for 45 per cent of the pie while 30 per cent will go to Hindi general entertainment channels," says Chandran.

Congress will also be advertising on regional news and general entertainment channels. "They will take up 20 per cent of the spend while the remaining 5 per cent will be on other categories like radio," avers Chandran.

The BJP election ad campaigns will be running on a clutch of Hindi news, general entertainment and news channels. When contacted, Frank Simoes promoter Rama Luthra refused to provide further details. Frank Simoes handles the media buying for the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Indian Premier League's (IPL) decision of not allowing political ads has forced political parties to look at other platforms for carrying out their ads. The Congress, for instance, is sponsoring daily dramas like Zee TV's serial Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyaan.

The Congress has build a series of 10-12 campaigns to spread out the impact. Says Chandran, "There is a chronological logic behind the campaigns which have been launched. In total, there are 10-12 television commercials."