BENGALURU: After the previous week’s uptick, due to the Ayodhya and other Supreme Court of India verdicts, English News viewership plunged to a new nadir in 2019 in week 47. The combined weekly impressions of the Top 5 English News channels in week 47 of 2019 (Saturday, 16 November 2019 to Friday, 22 November 2019, period or week under review) were just 1.780 million weekly impressions according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data. Combined ratings of Top 5 English News channels viewership declined 28 percent during the week under review from the 2.509 million weekly impressions recorded in the previous week (week 46).

BARC weekly data in this paper is being considered from week 13 of 2019 to week 47. Calendar year 2019 has been an eventual year as far as publication in the public domain of Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly viewership data is concerned. First,the ratings  agency stopped publishing data in the public domain from week 6 of 2019 onward after the implementation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India  (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO), ostentatiously to give time for viewership to stabilize and hence prevent ‘misuse’ of data. On coercion from TRAI, BARC started putting up data in the public domain from week 13 of 2019 onward, only to revert to an older version of treating data on the landing pages and outliers from week 23 of 2019. Hence the combined viewership of the Top 5 English News channels has been the lowest yet during the 35 weeks since week 13 of 2019.

There was no change in the channels in BARC’s weekly list of top 5 channels in week 47 of 2019 as compared to weeks 45 and 46 of 2019. Even the ranks of the 5 channels were in the same order. Please refer to the figure below:

Top 5 English News channels in week 47 of 2019

As mentioned above, there was no change in list of channels in terms of rank and file during week 47 of 2019 as compared to week 46. Though the Arnab Goswami led Republic TV headed the pack at first rank during the period under review, it witnessed the largest fall in viewership among the top 5 English News channels in week 47 of 2019. Republic TV’s viewership declined 0.301 million weekly impressions or 35 percent in week 47 of 2019 to 0.558 million weekly impressions  from 0.859 million weekly impressions in week 46.

Ranked second, Times Now witnessed the third steepest fall in percentage terms and the second in terms of absolute numbers among the top 5 channels of its genre with a decline of 0.150 million weekly impressions or 26.5 percent at 0.415 million weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 as compared to 0.565 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

PubcasterDoordarshan’s DD India witnessed the second steepest decline in percentage terms at 28 percent or a decline of 0.120 million weekly impressions (third most in absolute numbers) to 0.308 million weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 as compared to 0.428 million weekly impressions in week 46.

With a decline of 22.4 percent or 0.08 million weekly impressions, the India Today group’s India Today Television saw the least decline in percentage terms and the fourth lowest in absolute numbers with a fall of 0.080 million weekly impressions in week 47 of 2019 as compared to week 46. India Today Television scored 0.281 million weekly impressions during the period under review as compared to 0.361 million weekly impressions in week 46 of 2019.

Mukesh Ambani’s Network18 associated CNN News18 saw ratings decline by 0.077 million weekly impressions or a fall of 26.1 percent in week 47 of 2019 to 0.218 million weekly impressions from 0.295 million weekly impressions in the previous week.

Please refer to the figure below: