MUMBAI: Malayalam news channel Indiavision claims it has bettered its position in the last couple of months. Quoting TAM ratings for October and November, the channel asserts that it has reached as high as the third spot in the Kerala market.
Indiavision chief marketing officer Issac Jacob gives credit to the channel's unbiased reporting practice and also to its coverage of the controversies that shook Kerala in the recent past. While agreeing that the controversies turned out to be a shot in the arm for the channel, Jacob says the channel's success in maintaining the tempo is well reflected in the latest ratings.
"We did very well with our coverage of the Kochi by-elections last year, and again for the general assembly elections this year. Though Indiavision is mainly funded by people from the Muslim community, the management never made a move to influence our coverage of an issue involving Muslim League minister KP Kunjalikutty. This has boosted the morale of the channel. We have impressed our viewers with the kind of coverage we do," offers Jacob.
Indiavision had been in the eye of a controversy after it first aired a report (29 October) on the sexual harassment allegations made against Kerala industries minister PK Kunjalikutty. The channel's aggressive coverage of the issue enraged the supporters of the Muslim League minister following which the channel's offices were attacked. The attacks on reporters, cameramen and news photographers provoked the journalist community of Kerala to come out in the open against the minister on the issue of these attacks.
The TAM data on channel shares by daypart for CS AB Male 15+, 29 October, Kerala 1 Mn+, shows Indiavision recording a channel share of 7.36 against Asianet (21.1), Surya TV (21.04), Asianet News (4.8) and Kairali TV (6.27). The TAM data on channel share for total market shows Indiavision recording 4.9 against Asianet's 21.1, Surya TV's 21.21 and Kairali's 6.45.
The TAM data on TVRs by daypart for CS AB MAle 25+, 29 October, total market, has Indiavision collecting 0.52 TVR against Asianet's 2.02, Surya's 2.32, Kairali 0.54 and Asianet News 0.47. According to TAM, channel shares by daypart for CS AB MAle 15+, 31-10-04 TO 06-11-04, Kerala 1 Mn+ has Indiavision recording 6.26 against Asianet's 20.28, Surya's 21.67, Asianet News' 4.53, Kairali's 7.98 and Jeevan TV's 3.96. In the Kerala below 1 Mn market, Indiavision's score is 8.05, behind Asianet (19.04), Asianet News (6.64), Surya (16.74), Kairali Tv (5) and Jeevan TV (5.5). In the Kerala total market the scorecard is Indiavision (6.9), Asianet (19.84), Surya TV (19.91), Kairali (6.9), Asianet News (5.28) and Jeevan TV (4.51).
The TAM data on TVRs for 14-11-04 to 20-11-04 CS AB MALE 15+ has Indiavision in the third position behind Asianet and Surya. The score goes like Asianet (2.01), Surya TV (1.83), Indiavision (0.45) and Kairali TV (0.44). The channel share for the same shows the channel scoring 5.3 behind Asianet's 23.45 and Surya TV's 21.46.
The data for non-primetime (7 am to 6.30 pm), 01-11-04 to 20-11-04, for CS AB MALE 25+ total market for the weeks 45, 46 and 47, has Indiavision on the third position with an average TVR of 0.73. On an average, Surya TV has scored 1.62 and Asianet 1.42. The average channel share for the same property has Indiavision with an average 8.75 ahead of Kairali (7.97), Jeevan (4.36) and Asianet News (3.67). For the primetime also, Indiavision has retained its third position with an average TVR of 0.59 and channel share 6.46.
According to Jacob, the response from the advertising community has also been an encouraging one in the recent times. "It has been very positive," he says adding, "During this period, we grabbed some big national accounts including Asian Paints, Reliance India Mobile and Parry's Confectionery. Our marketing team put up a good show which helped us to record ad revenue of Rs 12.5 million collectively in October & November."
