BENGALURU: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) free to air (FTA) Hindi GEC Zee Anmol was the most watched Hindi GEC during the first 31 weeks of 2018 according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) weekly data for weeks 1 to 31 of 2018 (Saturday 29 December 2017 to Friday 3 August 2018) of the top 10 Hindi GEC channels. Its older sibling and Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV was the most watched Pay TV Hindi GEC during the same period.

The only parameter for ranking considered in this report is limited (Refer Note 1 below) to BARC ratings. Reach, viewership share, have not been considered here. BARC weekly data for the top 10 Hindi GEC channels available in the public data is for viewership in the combined urban and rural Hindi Speaking market or HSM (U+R); Rural Hindi Speaking market or HSM (R); and Urban Hindi Speaking market or HSM (U).

According to BARC sources, the HSM market comprises of all the states and Union Territories in India EXCLUDING the states and Union Territories in which the four South Indian languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are spoken – these are Tamil Nadu/ Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Further this report tries to bring down publically available data to the lowest denominator – viewership per individual in the Hindi speaking urban and rural markets. It does not mean that each individual or household in that market watched only so much of a channel. Some people may have watched a lot of television, some none at all.

Based on BARC data for the first 31 weeks of 2018, rural audiences watch more Hindi GECs’ on television that urban audiences. Rural HSM prefers FTA channels, while urban HSM prefers pay TV.  Also, rural markets tend to watch more of the first three ranked channels - the difference in viewership between the first three channels and channels of other ranks is bigger than in the case of HSM (U) as is obvious from the brown line in the figure below. HSM (U+R) – is the ratings of the overall market.

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HSM (U+R) Trends during the first 31 weeks of 2018

There are ten channels that appeared in BARC’s lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (U+R) during all the first 31 weeks of 2018. Zee Anmol has been mentioned above as the most watched Hindi GEC in the combined urban and rural Hindi speaking markets or HSM (U+R) during the period under review. Two FTA channels followed Zee Anmol before Zee TV, the first pay TV Hindi GEC, entered our list of top Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) at fourth rank.

Zee Anmol’s average weekly impressions in HSM (U+R) household were 6.2312 and 1.3853 per individual during the period under review. Of the 31 weeks of 2018 until the writing of this paper, Zee Anmol was ranked first for 23 weeks, second for six weeks and third for two weeks in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U+R).

The second most watched Hindi GEC channel in HSM (U+R) during the first 31 weeks of 2018 was Star India’s Hindi GEC Star Bharat. HSM (U+R) households each contributed an average of 5.4350 impressions each a week and each HSM (U+R) Individual contributed an average of 1.2083 impressions per week to Star Bharat’s ratings. During the first 31 weeks of 2018, Star Bharat was ranked first for six weeks, ranked second nine times, ranked third for five weeks, ranked fourth for eight weeks and ranked fifth for three weeks.

The third most watched Hindi GEC in HSM (U+R) was Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) women focused FTA Hindi GEC Sony Pal. Each HSM (U+R) household contributed a weekly average of 5.2100 impressions while each HSM (U+R) individual contributed a weekly average of 1.1583 impressions to Sony Pal’s viewership. The channel was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) for one week, was ranked second for four weeks, was ranked third for 15 weeks, was ranked fourth for five weeks, was ranked fifth for four weeks, and ranked sixth and seventh for one week each. Please refer to the list of the top 10 Hindi GECs HSM (U+R) during weeks 1 to 31 of 2018.

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HSM – Rural preferences of Hindi GECs’ during the first 31 weeks of 2018

Eleven channels were present, each at least once, in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (R) during the first 31 weeks of 2018. Of these, 9 were present during all the 31 weeks of 2018, one was present for 30 of the first 31 weeks of 2018 and one Hindi GEC was present in the list for one week. The most watched pay TV flagship Hindi GEC, Zee TV was ranked seven and another pay TV channel – Vaicom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors ranked nine in HSM (R).  Only the nine channels that appeared in all the first 31 weeks of 2018 in HSM (R) have been given ranks in the chart below. The numbers mentioned in the chart for channels after rank 9 are just an indication of their performance when they were present in BARC’s Top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (R) lists and DON’T indicate their overall performance during the period under consideration here.

The average ratings for each channel have been calculated by adding the ratings of each week for each channel that is was present in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels in Hindi GECs, dividing the sum by the number of weeks the channel was present in BARC’s weekly list and further dividing the result by the number of HSM (R) households/individuals to arrive at the viewership per household or individual respectively.

Zee Anmol was also the most watched Hindi GEC in HSM(R) during the first 31 weeks of 2018. Zee Anmol’s average viewership per household per week in HSM (R) was 8.9823 impressions, while weekly average viewership per individual was 1.9891 impressions. Zee Anmol was ranked first during all the first 31 weeks of 2018.

After Zee Anmol, HSM (R) preferred SPN’s Sony Pal – the channel scored a weekly average of 6.6119 impressions per household and 1.4642 impressions per individual during the period under review. The channel was ranked second for eighteen weeks and was ranked third for thirteen of the first 31 weeks of 2018 in HSM (R).

Star India’s Star Utsav was the third most watched Hindi GEC by HSM (R). Star Utsav’s average weekly impressions per household were 5.9685 per household and 1.3217 per individual in HSM (R). The channel was ranked second for six weeks, third for fourteen weeks and fourth for eleven weeks during the first 31 weeks of 2018.

Channels such as Dangal TV and Big Magic found a place in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (R).They were not present in HSM (U+R) or HSM (U) weekly lists during the first 31 weeks of 2018. Please refer to the figure below for the Trends of the Hindi GEC channels when they were present in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs’ in HSM (R).

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HSM – Urban preferences of Hindi GECs’ during the first 31 weeks of 2018

Urban HSM audiences seem to prefer pay TV channels. Eleven channels found a place in BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U) during the period under review.  There were three channels each from Star India, SPN and Zeel and two channels from Viacom 18. Only nine of the eleven consistently appeared in BARC’s HSM (U) lists during the first 31 weeks of 2018 and hence the author had ranked only these 9. Rishtey (24 weeks) and Zeel’s &TV (7) weeks have not been ranked. The same method has been used for obtaining the average ratings per person or household for HSM (U) as was for HSM (R). Average ratings for Rishtey and &TV have been obtained by adding their respective weekly ratings and dividing them by the number of weeks they were present in BARC’s HSM (U) lists and by the number of HSM (U) households or individuals.

Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors was the most watched Hindi GEC in HSM (U) during the first 31 weeks of 2018, followed by Zee TV and Star Plus at second and third rank respectively. Star Bharat, has been ranked fourth, while the overall first channel in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R), Zee Anmol has been ranked eighth in HSM (U) in the list below.

Colors had average weekly viewership of 6.7908 impressions per household and 1.5166 per individual during the first 31 weeks of 2018 in HSM (U). The channel was ranked first for 22 weeks, second for 2 weeks, third for four weeks and fourth for three weeks in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U) during the period under review.

Zee TV was ranked second in HSM (U) during the first 31 weeks of 2018 with average weekly impressions of 6.2203 per household and 1.3892 per individual. Zee TV was ranked first for six weeks, second for seven weeks, third for eleven weeks, fourth for six weeks and fifth for one week during the first 31 weeks of 2018.

At third place in HSM (U) was Star Plus with weekly average impressions of 6.0673 per household and 1.3550 per individual. Star Plus was ranked first for one week, was ranked second for 13 weeks, was ranked third for nine week, was ranked fourth for six weeks and was ranked fifth and sixth for one week each during the first 31 weeks of 2018.

Please refer to the figure below for Hindi GEC Trends in HSM (U) for weeks 1 to 31 of 2018.

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Note (1) The conclusions in this report are limited to the extent that only publically available BARC data has been referred to – BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U+R); urban HSM or HSM (U); rural or HSM (R).

(2) The household and population numbers used in this report have been obtained/ calculated from BARC India Universe Estimate 2017. HSM (U+R), HSM (R) and HSM (U) household and population numbers have been calculated by deducting the like numbers for the four South Indian languages from the all India numbers, rural numbers and urban numbers.

(3) The average time spent per person per week is just an indicative number of the popularity of the channel in the respective market. It does not mean that each and every household or individual in that market perforce watched the channel or programme.