The new Hindi news channel on the block – India News has emerged the fastest growing news channel according to the latest BARC subscriber data of Week 3 – Week 10 of 2016. With 61,020 impressions and 11.1% share, the channel ranked third in its category according to the eight week average. » Radio advertisers and broadcasters welcome TRAI’s consultation paper on the need to restructure the radio audience measurement (RAM) and ratings in India. Read what industry veterans have to say about TRAI’s effort to resolve one of the most crucial issues of the radio industry. » The Government might revise guidelines for online media accreditation by the PIB. A PIB accredited journalist is allowed to attend and report on government events, among other things, and one of the questions being asked is whether news aggregators should also be given accreditation. Read the existing guidelines and MediaNama’s take on the proposed revision here. » I&B Minister Arun Jaitley became the champion of the community radio cause in the capital. “Community Radio provides a value addition to the narrative by addressing the information needs regionally,” he said. Often supporting causes ignored by the mainstream radio, community radio stations are usually not run for profit. The Ministry has given the green signal to 439 such stations across the country and 191 are already in operation.
BARC
The Noise Hour
“Fox News on steroids”, yes that’s how The Newshour on TImes Now with Arnab Goswami has been described by Vice. Oscar Rickett also likened Arnab to the loudest shouting head to rule the other shouting heads. “The Newshour provides the potent illusion of democracy”, he added. » Taking a cue from India’s appalling 117th position on UN’s Global Happiness Index, media specialists Pradyuman Maheshwari and Sorbojeet Chatterjee have launched HappPost. Aimed at fulfilling the readers’ unsaid need for positive news over screaming headlines and shouting reporters, Happ Post will look at daily news with a ‘sunshine’ lens. Download the curated news native app, available for both Android and iOS, for your daily dose of happy. » NDTV in collaboration with TCS began the Nobel Solutions Summit in the capital yesterday. The summit brings Nobel laurates from around the globe at a single platform to discuss major challenges facing India and the world today. The first of the panel discussions talked about ‘Internet: democratic or dangerous?’ Read what the celebrated few had to say. » The number of channels who have signed up for BARC India’s watermarking technology has crossed the 400 mark. Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India termed it an “achievement in the short span of time since their launch” and appreciated the India team’s efforts in meeting this target. 195 of the 429 subscriber base are ‘All India’ channels and HSM (Hindi Speaking Market) channels.
And The Winner Is…
The final winners of 2015 have been revealed as BARC Ratings week 51 data rolled in. Times Now, Aaj Tak and ET Now held the top spot in English News, Hindi News and Business News genres respectively. » Meanwhile another news channel from India – News18 India seems to be making waves overseas. In a poll conducted in UK by BizAsiaLive.com, News18 India took the biggest slice of the pie with 37% votes beating biggies like ARY News. » According to the recently updated list of towns to be covered by DAS phase III, MIB has reduced the number of towns & cities to be covered to 33,358,571 from 38,799,094. The most significant cut comes from West Bengal with 250 towns being dropped from the new list. » Veteran Marathi journalist Nikhil Wagle is at the helm of newly launched news channel – Maharastra1. The channel is determined to make a big impact from day one and reach every single Marathi speaking household, as Wagle understands the pulse of the Marathi viewer like no other. With Sanjay Sharma as CEO and highly experienced at top positions, Maharashtra1 seems to be a sure win for Sharp Advertising Pvt. Ltd. » Young reporter, Amit Dwivedi along with Akshay K. R. Singh has founded ‘farrata.com’ an automobile news portal in Hindi. Amit, previously associated with Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Hindustan and Network18, is credited for launching the Hindi edition of Network18’s English auto magazine – ‘Overdrive’ in Mumbai. Singh runs an IT firm called Webera. The news portal will have various sections like car and bike reviews, farrata news, and travelogue.
Sabse Tez
Popular Hindi news channel Aaj Tak continues its dominance over BARC viewership ratings for four weeks in a row, with over 100 million viewers. In terms of cumulative reach, Aaj Tak is followed by ABP News with a reach of 87 million. India TV holds the third position with 85 million while with a reach of 79 million; News Nation is in the fourth position above IBN7, which witnessed a reach of 62 million. » Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the launch of its specialist content agency The Story Lab (TSL) in India, with former Reliance Broadcast Network CSO Sunil Kumaran as country head. TSL currently operates in 15 countries and now will have a play in the Indian space of content partnerships, curation, original content and content investment. » Pushing the date of DAS III project, Madras High Court has given an interim extension to stake holders until the next date of hearing, which is 6th January. The order was passed by Justice MM Sundresh after Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV) filled petition in HC.
Hindu Vigilantism
The Quint decides to document the rise of Hindu vigilantism in Uttar Pradesh. In their documentary film – ‘THE WILD WEST OF UTTAR PRADESH’ they talk about the psyche, inspiration, and modus operandi of young recruits in the religious extremist ‘vigilante’ groups, driven by the fear of Islam. » No appearance exemption for Sonia & Rahul Gandhi as Delhi High Court found the Congress leaders’ conduct questionable in the National Herald ‘cheating and criminal breach of trust’ case. The court also confidently said that “the MO adopted by the petitioners evidences a criminal intent”. No mala fides can be alleged against Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who had filed the case in November 2012, the Judge ruled. » DD is changing its satellite. Doordarshan’s regional channels will be beamed from INSAT-4B instead of INSAT-3A with effect from 10th December. A downtime of 5 hours is planned to make the shift. » Assam journos demand a national legislation for their protection in a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi, citing rising violence, even killings, against the ‘fourth pillar’ of democracy. Read what else the Journalist Association of Assam asked for. » With BARC India moving to digital measurement, it has issued a global Request for Information (RFI) aimed at understanding capabilities of Online Video Advertising and Content measurement techniques. An RFP is to follow the information gathering phase. Interested parties can write to digitalrfi@barcindia.co.in before 24 December, 2015.
Alpha Club
Based on subscribers’ feedback BARC has introduced Alpha Club, a monthly bulletin for insights and analysis of Indian audience measurement data for the preceding four weeks. The communique’s first edition, rolled out on November 17th, contained two sets of analyses for Week 37-40 and 41-44. » DD National was bumped off the TV ratings leaderboard for Hindi General Entertainment Channels. According to BARC data for Week 44, the top spot was bagged by Star Plus, followed by highest gainers Zee TV and Colors jointly at the 3rd position. » After issuing a joint statement, leading newspaper editors in Nagaland published blank editorial pages as a sign of protest against an army diktat. Read what the editors told the BBC about accusations they face. » Only AAP HoDs allowed to speak to the media. A recently issued circular by the Delhi Government clearly prohibits all other bureaucrats from talking to the media without prior approval from the concerned minister. The directive from Deputy CM Manish Sisodia might have been called for by several HoDs seeking proper guidelines for media interaction. » The search for Indian innovators begins. Mint, in collaboration with MIT Technology Review, has launched the India chapter of ‘EmTech’. The top 10 under-35 innovators in business and technology will present at the high profile event in New Delhi in March 2016.
Viewership Game Changer
With the release of the much-awaited data including rural areas, BARC India has expanded its reach to 153.5 million TV households. The survey brings to front many interesting findings, such as lesser time is spent on TV in rural areas. Read full details here. » Health Ministry gives a point-by-point rebuttal to Lancet editor, Richard Horton’s comments about the ‘health’ sector being absent from the PM’s agenda. The ministry’s letter completely rubbished the leading medical journal’s editor’s recent interview to TOI, stating new schemes to be rolled out as part of its health agenda. » After BARC released all India viewership data, Doordarshan seems to be topping the charts as the most watched Hindi channel. Besides this “monumental development”, DD National also saw a significant rise in ratings according to the data. » HuffPost journos are the latest amongst many others to join the union bandwagon. As new media organizations mature, journalists are demanding better pay and working conditions, and greater transparency from their management. Editorial independence also is one of the reasons for unionizing.
In A First
NDTV sweeps the top spot in the first set of numbers released by TeleWeb Audience Measurement. The channel scored highest in combined reach of TV and Internet in both Mumbai and Delhi, the two largest markets for the English news genre. Check out the points tally here. » After a thorough bidding process, Dentsu Aegis’s digital agency, Isobar has been empaneled with the National e-Governance Plan for the Digital India Program. The mandate is specific to GoI’s Digital Media services. “It’s really an honour for us to partner NeGP on this prestigious project,” said Gopa Kumar, VP Isobar India. » Read the details on India’s ranking in Committee to Protect Journalists’ latest Impunity Index Report. » ‘SketchtoStore’, a fashion designer hunt, is TimesGroup’s first such initiative. Jointly conceptualized by BCCL and Globosport, the eight-part series will air on Bindass on October 17th. Hosted by Kalki Koechlin, the show will feature renowned designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee as the coach and mentor. » Print players are hoping to rake in massive moolah from ads this festive season, especially from the e-commerce, automobile, real estate and jewellery sectors. With TOI having garnered over Rs. 12 Cr in just four multi-jacket ads on October 13th, the festive season saw a bullish start.
Adverts Through The AIR
Now advertisers can book advertisements on AIR, online via ‘releaseMyAd’. The virtual ad agency has been granted exclusive authorization to accept and process ad bookings for AIR’s network of stations, including Akashvani, Vividh Bharati, FM Rainbow and FM Gold. » Read BARC India’s detailed mandate for usage of their weekly data for all TV channels here. The rationale is to prevent misleading data interpretations and false ratings leadership claims. » Trilogic Digital Media Ltd. announced at the exchange4media conclave that it’s partnering with the iTV network to produce ‘Insight’. » Bloomberg TV and Philippines’ Cignal TV joined hands for Bloomberg TV’s debut in Philippines. » Gujarat State Information Commissioner, V S Gadhvi, reiterated the role of the media in creating public awareness about RTI. “The number of RTI applications received from citizens has gone up tremendously” and “it had led to positive changes among government officers”, he said.
Press Club’s NY Gala
The Indo-American Press Club (IAPC) is organizing an International Media Conference from 9th to 12th October at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, New York. A high-profile public meeting and gala banquet is scheduled on Oct 11, Sunday at 6 pm, during which the IAPC will confer several awards. » NDTV Convergence has signed a three-year partnership deal worth Rs. 90-100 crores with ‘Taboola’, a leading content discovery platform, to power content recommendations across their entire network of desktop and mobile sites. » Recent killing of journalists like Hemant Yadav, Sanjay Pathak and Jagendra Singh has drawn contempt from a US-based media watch body, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). CPJ has called on the authorities and police to step up their investigation and bring the killers to justice. » BARC’s continuous procrastinating approach in releasing the viewership data of rural households has irked Prasar Bharti. Upset with BARC’s present “urban centric” TV ratings, which is hurting their revenue prospects, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar has written a strongly-worded letter to BARC India CEO Partho Dasgupta demanding immediate release of the rural data.
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