MUMBAI: In the second week of COVID-19 pandemic period, GECs witnessed 32 per cent growth in non-primetime viewership while it witnessed negative growth in the primetime slot. The overall growth of viewership in non-primetime slots surged by more than 70 per cent in India. The Hindi speaking market (HSM) witnessed 83 per cent growth in non-primetime slots whereas the south market witnessed 54 per cent growth.

According to BARC India and  Nielsen’s second edition of ‘Crisis Consumption- An insights series into TV, smartphone and audiences’, Ramayan was all-time high among serials in Hindi GEC. The show was the highest-rated in urban and megacities which helped to garner the highest number in the evening slot on Sunday. Sunday’s evening slot garnered 51 million viewers with 6.6 per cent ratings

In the non-primetime slot of morning 6 am to evening 6 pm, GECs witnessed 32 per cent growth. GECs in the HSM grew by 35 per cent in non-primetime slots and the south market grew by 29 per cent. Movies genre witnessed 108 per cent growth in the non-primetime slot. In HSM, movie genre grew by 129 per cent while in the south, it grew by 66 per cent.

No doubt, news was the biggest gainer in the non-primetime slot as it grew by 344 per cent. In the HSM it grew by 385 per cent and in the south, it grew by 283 per cent. Kids witnessed 58 per cent growth in the non-primetime slot while HSM grew by 51 per cent and south by 70 per cent.

Apart from GEC, movies, news and kids genres also witnessed growth in primetime. GEC viewership fell by 15 per cent in the primetime slot. In HSM, it witnessed negative growth of 23 per cent and in south negative growth of five per cent. In the primetime slot, news grew by 253 per cent, with HSM showing a growth of 260 per cent and south of 232 per cent. Kids grew by one per cent in the primetime slot and it grew by two per cent in the south market.