MUMBAI: Total TV viewership has grown by 24 per cent in week 18 over pre- Covid2019 period and recorded 1.1 trillion viewing minutes. The highest viewership was recorded in week 13, post which there has seen a gradual drop, though it’s still significantly higher than Pre COVID levels. TV viewership is still higher than pre-Covid levels, according to the edition 8 of BARC India & Nielsen.  
Individuals watching TV all seven days a week was 239 million in pre-Covid2019 period. It peaked 363 million in week 15 and is at 332 million in week 18.

Prime-time viewing has come down in week 18, most prominent dip being in south.
 
For the Hindi GEC segment, the viewership share of top three channels has dropped vs peak levels attained in week 13, courtesy the lack of original programmes. However, viewership share is stable for Hindi news and Hindi movies.

Genre-wise, news and movies share started to stabilize but continues to operate at higher levels. The drop in viewership is more in markets with lower presence of red zones.

While non-primetime continues to grow, primetime viewership is 7 per cent lower than pre-Covid levels (an effect of no original programming). Decline in PT viewership is more pronounced in the South.

For Hindi GEC, the viewership share of top three channels has dropped vs. peak levels attained in week 13 (an effect of no original programming.)
In week 18 overall FCT dropped by 9 per cent and there has been a seven per cent decrease in advertiser count.

Smartphone consumption continues to be at 4 hours per day, 14 per cent higher versus pre-Covid.  

Optimism high 

Indian optimism has remained steady since April. People are showing confidence in India’s economic recovery. 
Individuals watching TV all seven days in a week was 239 mn in pre-Covid. During week 18, total TV consumption increased by 24 per cent, all India. 

Advertising trends

The dip in overall FCTs continued in week 18 as well, reveals the fresh batch of BARC-Nielsen data on media behavior during the COVID19 lockdown. As compared to week 17, a dip of 9 per cent was witnessed in overall FCTs, taking the number from 205 lakhs to 187 lakh. 

Ad volumes while remained consistent across GEC  for the last couple of weeks, News and Movies recorded a dip of seven-eight per cent as compared to the last week.

The drop in news has come mostly from Hindi language channels while regional languages and English channels remain stable. Kannada and Gujarati channels, in fact, witnessed a slight improvement in FCT. 

The previous week had seen a dip in the inventories by top 10 advertisers and an increase of 9 per cent by the next 40. This week witnessed a dip in FCT of next 40 as well, while the top 10 mostly remained consistent. 

After a spike in the number of new brands on TV in the past week, this week saw a massive slump. The numbers dropped from 395 to 274. A 7 per cent dip in advertiser count was also witnessed.