Budget drama on TV shows mixed verdict

It is almost like a game in which the winner depends on who the umpire is. The budget day last week saw CNBC TV18 emerging as a leader according to TAM data, while overnight TV monitoring service aMap’s figures showed Bloomberg UTV at the top, reports Anita Sharan.

It is almost like a game in which the winner depends on who the umpire is. The budget day last week saw CNBC TV18 emerging as a leader according to TAM data, while overnight TV monitoring service aMap’s figures showed Bloomberg UTV at the top.

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The two results, arising out of different methodologies to measure viewerships.

“In comparison to the election counting day, where total news viewership had gone up by a whopping 85 per cent across the news channels. On budget day, it went up by only eight per cent,” said Joseph Eapen, CEO, aMap.

Among English business channels, aMap’s survey of the top two socio-economic categories for 25-year-plus viewers across India showed Bloomberg UTV with a share of 38.8 per cent; CNBC TV18 had 26.2 per cent, NDTV Profit 20.5 per cent and ET Now 14.5 per cent. The four channels totalled 2.54 million viewers who spent an average of 29.7 watching minutes.

However, TAM, the older agency, put CNBC TV 18 at 43.2 per cent.

CNBC TV18, notably, had a higher 52.8 per cent average share for the budget week from February 21 to 27. In contrast, Bloomberg UTV’s share surged from 10.4 to 20.6 per cent and ET Now from 14.7 per cent to 20.6 per cent.

General English news channels also saw strong budget-day jumps in viewership, with Times Now leading with a 23 per cent share.