MUMBAI:Crime, law and order stories rule the roost on news channels. At least for the period 14 September to 24 October 2008 when news channels dedicated 29 per cent of their coverage time on such kind of content, according to News Content Track (NCT), a monitoring service recently launched by Tam.
The study conducted by Tam covers Hindi channels Aaj Tak and Star News and English channels Times Now and NDTV 24X7.
During the period, news channels have spent 513.22 hours of programming on crime, law and order stories. Next in the rung is sports coverage which occupies 13.48 per cent (234.09 hours).
Top content type
CONTENT TYPE Duration in Hour:Min:Secs % contribution
CRIME/LAW & ORDER
513:22:25
29.54
SPORTS NEWS
234:09:29
13.48
POLITICAL NEWS/GOVERNMENT NEWS
217:51:04
12.54
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
199:30:19
11.48
FINANCIAL NEWS
121:29:59
6.99
BUSINESS NEWS
66:46:40
3.84
SOCIAL
58:49:14
3.39
SPIRITUAL/RELIGION
57:27:32
3.31
ASTROLOGY
57:05:23
3.29
MISHAPS/FAILURE OF MACHINERY
44:38:12
2.57
source : News Content Track, Tam
period : 14 Sept- 24 Oct
News on politics is still not the favourite with news channels. Political news covers only 12.54 per cent (217.51 hours), followed by entertainment news which is 11.48 per cent (199.30 hours) of the entire programming.
News channels spent 6.99 per cent on financial news and 3.84 per cent on business news. Humour covers 2.17 per cent of the time while news on sting and scandals contributes 0.02 per cent. News channels spend the minimum time on spoofs (0.01 per cent, 0.08 minutes).
Top stories
Story
Total %
DELHI BOMB BLASTS
115:13:26
6.63
BORDER GAVASKAR SERIES 08
74:03:48
4.26
BOLLYWOOD UPDATES
57:21:48
3.30
ZODIAC FORECAST
57:05:13
3.29
SHOOT OUT IN DELHI
51:34:40
2.97
AUSTRALIA TOUR OF INDIA(2008)
49:41:01
2.86
INDIAN MARKET UPDATES
40:39:20
2.34
COMEDY PROGRAM
37:24:24
2.15
MNS WORKERS BEAT UP OUTSTATION CANDIDATES (MUMBAI)
36:26:22
2.10
REPORT ON BLASTS IN INDIA
34:41:58
2.00
source : News Content Track, Tam
period : 14 Sept- 24 Oct
The Delhi bomb blast became the top story (6.63 per cent) that was shown repeatedly by the news channels during this period, followed by the India-Australia cricket series (4.26 per cent). In the top story ranking, Bollywood updates covered 3.30 per cent while zodiac forecast was 3.29 per cent.
