Sports dominated OOH viewership in April-May: BARC

Sports dominated OOH viewership in April-May: BARC

Partho Dasgupta

MUMBAI: Contributing more than half of the total TV viewership during the April-May period, the sports genre topped charts in Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India's Out of Home (OOH) measurement report. Sports accounted for 70 per cent of viewership, while movies and music enjoyed 10 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. 

The trend is in line with the fact that these were sports-heavy weeks and thus saw many restaurants, pubs and lounges showcasing channels that were airing the matches.

BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta said,“Our aim is to measure different screens and pipes and OOH is an extension of that commitment. There is a large population that consumes content on TV which is outside the bounds of home. We realised that it was important to capture those viewers as well. Before we launched rural viewership, there was blind targeting. But, inclusion of rural TV viewership helped advertisers uncover the potential of these areas. We are hoping that OOH viewership will help give better insights to advertisers and provide new opportunities.”

Data also shows that the sports viewership was driven by channels on which Indian Premiere League (IPL) was aired.  

A total of 44 million people, in 15+ TG, viewed TV in pubs, lounges and restaurants in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore during April-May. Of this, 33.3 million viewers watched live IPL matches. 

BARC’s OOH measurement tracks viewing of individual of the same TG across 900+ establishments in the three cities, using 1500+ meters.

Live telecast of the recently concluded IPL garnered 23.7 million impressions from OOH Viewing. An increment of 8 per cent over the viewership generated from TV homes in these markets, in the 15+ TG.  

BARC India leveraged its Audio Watermarking technology and proven measurement capabilities to expand TV viewership measurement to OOH. This pre-subscribed service is a game changer for the industry as it uncovers a significant share of TV viewership which wasn’t being measured until now. 

BARC India started its all-India measurement with a sample of 10,000 homes which is currently being raised to 40,000.

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