For three days, hostage drama in Mumbai was perhaps the most watched event in the Indian television history. As per the latest TAM Media Research numbers quoted by exchange4media, Mumbai terror attacks coverage was "the single most viewed telecast of the year".
Given the scale of the tragedy, however, the ratings don't really come as a surprise, the exchange4media report said. And what also did not come as a surprise was that most people turned to NDTV 24x7. "For the target C&S 15+ in the one million plus markets, NDTV 24x7 was the most viewed channel in the Mumbai terror attacks week, followed by Times Now. CNN-IBN was the third watched," said the report.
The report further said: "The trends are slightly different in the C&S Male 25+ audience for the one million plus markets. Though very marginally, Times Now leads in this TG in the week 48."
The English news genre has seen a very intense battle between NDTV 24x7 and Times Now in 2008.
In a conversation with exchange4media, Harish Shriyan, Joint MD, OMD India, said that the numbers of news channels were in any case very small for the absolute channel shares to make any significant difference. "The perception of the channel, and the cost per ratings points (CPRPs), were the ultimate deciding factors," he added.
On various platforms, industry veterans like Lintas Media Group's CEO and Chairperson Lynn de Souza and Lodestar CEO Shashi Sinha have been quoted on the same point. This, however, has never played a role in dousing the ratings war that news channels prefer to be engaged in.
