Lok Sabha Election results was the biggest political TV News event: BARC data
New Delhi: The much-awaited Parliament election results were declared on 23 rd May and the media platforms have seen one of their highest peaks in recent times. While all eyes were on TV/Digital media, the curiosity of the audience clearly built viewership across platforms.
Out of a total of 258.5mn TV viewing individuals between the 4 states in the south, 65% (167.3mn) audience have watched any news channel on 23rd May, an increase of 67% compared to a regular day. The total news viewership during the day increased by 416 % to 721 Mn Impressions, compared to the previous 8 weeks, according to the data released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), one of the largest television measurement companies of the world.
Out of the total walk ins to the news genre on Thursday, close to 30% were non-regular viewers who haven’t tuned into news in the previous four weeks. The viewership for each state includes all the regional and English News channels.
According to the data the average time spent on News Channels on May 23 at the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM) level was 1 hr 22 mins 36 seconds, while in south, the average time spent on TV News was as high as 2 hours 5 mins 34 seconds.
Even though the counting started at 8.00 am, the news genre had started picking up from 6.30 am in the morning. All four markets saw the highest viewership for the day from 8.00 am to 12.00 pm, following which the viewership dropped across markets but continued to remain throughout the day compared to previous 8 weeks average.
Though growth can be seen across all age groups, the Youth (15-21 Years) have grown the most with 451% increase compared to the previous 8 weeks, recording 101 Mn impressions. The highest contributors to viewership were the age groups 41-50 and 31-40 with 125Mn and 124 Mn impressions respectively. While NCCS CDE saw a 70% growth in the number of news viewers, NCCS A saw a 201% increase in the average time spent on TV.
The highest polling percentage of 80% was noted in the state of Andhra Pradesh. TV viewership similarly reflects the highest coverage across the south states for AP/Telangana at 73%.
Hence, the audience behaviour suggests that the election results was clearly one of the biggest news events across markets, and the biggest political news event till date.
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We received request; will decide soon whether to support TVK: Thirumavalavan
Chennai (PTI): VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Thursday said that his party received a request from TVK for support and the high-level committee of his party will decide whether to support the Vijay-led party to form the government.
The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly and emerged as the single largest party. Vijay will have to resign from one of the two constituencies he has won.
Though the Congress party, which has five MLAs, has extended support to TVK, the actor-politician-led party was still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark in the 234-member House.
"We received the request letter from TVK. We are thankful for that. We have not ignored his (Vijay's) request. We have a procedure. Therefore, our party's high-level committee will decide soon. We are going to discuss the merits and demerits of our position," the VCK leader told reporters here.
With regard to the delay in the governor's call to the TVK, which is the single largest party, to form the government, Thirumavalavan requested the governor to invite Vijay to form the government. "It is a constitutional right and people's verdict," he added.
Asserting that the governor cannot say that Vijay should hold 118 MLAs' support now itself to form the government, he said that after taking over power, Vijay has to prove an absolute majority only on the floor of the Assembly.
