MUMBAI: The topline figures of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2002 (round 10) were released today. The findings reveal that the Top 10 list for TV channels has undergone quite a few changes in terms of new entrants climbing up the ladder.
IRS 2002 is the largest continuous media survey ever conducted (sample size of 229,000 individuals) providing a single-source database for demographics, media habits and product / brand usage across 986 towns and 2858 villages in India. The survey was conducted over two rounds with the field work between November 2001 and November 2002.
This all-india survey conducted jointly with the Media Research Users' Council (MRUC) also provides product / brand penetration information for over 50 different products allowing one to link media habits and product usage data for adults and children from the age of 12 years.
IRS 2002 indicates that Doordarshan (DD) National channel continues to dominate and has recorded the maximum viewership in urban and rural India. Due to low penetration of the cable & satellite (C&S) channels in rural India, DD Metro is the second most watched channel in the country.
There are some surprises too - Living Media group's Aaj Tak is the only news channel to feature in the top 10 list and there are no sports channels in the list. ETV Eenadu seems to be doing well in urban+rural markets but lags behind Sun TV and Gemini in the urban market.
IRS 2002 Top 10 list for TV channels
| Ranking | All India (Urban and Rural) | Reach in per cent | Urban India | Reach in per cent |
| 1 | DD National | 31.4 | DD National | 31.4 |
| 2 | DD Metro | 13.9 | Star Plus | 25.1 |
| 3 | Star Plus | 7.8 | DD Metro | 19.5 |
| 4 | Sony TV | 5.5 | Sony TV | 17.4 |
| 5 | Zee TV | 4.7 | Zee TV | 14.8 |
| 6 | ETV Eenadu | 4.5 | Zee Cinema | 10.9 |
| 7 | Sun TV | 4.5 | Aaj Tak | 10.4 |
| 8 | Gemini TV | 4.4 | Sun TV | 9.1 |
| 9 | Zee Cinema | 3.5 | Gemini TV | 5.8 |
| 10 | Aaj Tak | 3.3 | ETV Eenadu | 5.6 |
The following channels feature in the "Top 10 list for channels tuned in": DD1, DD Metro, Star Plus, ETV Eenadu, Sony, Star Sports, Discovery, Sahara TV, Zee Cinema and Star Movies.
The following channels feature in the "Top 10 list for channels received": DD1, DD2, Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony TV, Star Sports, Discovery, Sahara TV, Zee Cinema, Star Movies.
The field research for IRS 2002 was conducted by research agency NFO-MBL. Recently, unconfirmed media reports indicated that NFO-MBL, the field research agency for the IRS will cease to be associated with the study after the release of the current round and Hansa Research, the research wing of RK Swamy BBDO, will take over from round 11.
