NEW DELHI: The recent TRP manipulation scam has reopened old wounds that news channels and Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) had been mending. The genre had never been absolutely satisfied with how the authority is measuring ratings and the recent sequence of events has once again brought the matter to the fore. At the recently concluded News Television Summit hosted by Indiantelevision.com, several speakers from the news world pointed out the errors that they feel BARC is making in measuring news TRPs. Here is a comprehensive overview:

1.  Incorrect Sample Size

Zee News CEO and editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary pointed out, “I think the main problem with BARC ratings is that the sample size is so small. Statistically speaking, we are a 32,000 crore industry and BARC has its meter in just 44,000 homes. As we traditionally say that of the overall sample size only 10 per cent watch news, we are left with just 4,400 boxes, which is very less for a huge market like India.”

MUMBAI: Hollywood has always enjoyed a passionate fanbase in India which only grows by leaps and bounds with each passing year. Today, Hollywood movies aren’t just for the English-speaking audiences living in metros as we see movie enthusiasts in Bharat and India with the same level of passion and connectedness as the global fan following. The &flix study, ‘Hollywood is for everyone,’ explores how Hollywood enjoys a universal appeal in India, and gives an insight into the lifestyles and mindsets of movie buffs. 

ZEEL premium channels business head Kartik Mahadev said that the research has helped the channel to curate its offerings like &flix’s fastest to television premieres, which reduce the theatre-to-TV wait time by half, along with the multi-language block ‘Flix for all’.

English news channel CNN-News18, from News18 Network, is all set to launch News18 Star Talk’, an entertainment show, adding to the strong line-up of its weekend programming.

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News18 Star Talk will aim to be the one-stop destination for all the engaging and impactful stories from the world of showbiz. The show will be anchored and produced by Shilpa Rathnam, Entertainment Anchor, CNN-News18,  a journalist with over 10 years of experience in the field of entertainment.

ZEEL’s Zing channel is bringing back a new season of Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, which had a successful run for six years and 10 seasons. The show in the past has managed to portray love stories that are relatable and has found acceptance among the audience and is a favourite with Gen Z.    

November 10 - Entry deadline for BuzzInContent Awards 2020 

Since its inception, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya has covered many shades of love. The theme of this season is confusions in love. Love and confusion goes hand in hand especially for this young audience and backed with a strong consumer insight that Gen Z is always in a need to understand these confusions and thus look for ways that helps them navigate through these situations. The new season is about the myriad of situations which this young generation goes through in order to understand this simple word ‘love’ but with a complicated twist.  

A race like no other which is set to determine the course of the world politics, the battle for the White House between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, is heading into its final phase. Tracking and informing its Indian viewers about every key political development of the 59th US Presidential Election, Times Now and Mirror Now has announced a special programming line-up in partnership with leading American news network, CBS News.

November 10 - Entry deadline for BuzzInContent Awards 2020 

Election news headquarters, Times Now, on November 4, 2020, 5.30 am onwards, will broadcast the LIVE feed from CBS News’s Election Night coverage from Times Square. Keeping viewers informed with the most comprehensive US election day coverage, Times Now will showcase real-time data and video feeds from around the country and presents an depth analysis of the voting process. The broadcast will begin with results from the first six states - Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

A little over a week back CNN News18 changed its look as a part of their rebranding exercise. According to the English news broadcaster, the idea is to reiterate its editorial positioning of pure, balanced and fast news.

For the channel, rebranding was a conscious step taken towards channelling facts and staying away from controversial content. Getting rid of any sort of toxicity in content is a primary part of the revamping agenda for CNN News18.

The channel has also adopted a graphic design template in HD format. For the viewers’ experience, the screen in the new avatar is being divided into multiple columns, making it look bigger, bolder and better to understand.

NEW DELHI: On day one of the News Television Summit  2020, Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand had a few words of caution to offer: monetisation by ad sales is a huge steroid that the news business is running on and which it needs to get out of. Instead, he advocated subscription.

“When you go the subscription route, there is no need to be ratings-led. The current subscription numbers are 10x of what they were in 2014, when I joined Times. We have to benchmark ourselves on net distribution income (NDI). When it comes to NDI, a news channel should look at the top of the population pyramid more,” he said during a virtual fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

Mumbai: While 2020 has been a crazy rollercoaster ride for each one of us, Zee Bollywood, the 101% Shuddh Bollywood Channelensures that this year doesn’t dampen your festive spirit. Offering a zabardast and dhamakedar experience this Diwali season, the channel is all geared up to spread cheer and lighten up the mood with 101% Shuddh Pataka filmed from 1st November to 14th November, every night at 9 pm.

With a fire cracking movie line up curated basis the viewer’s favorite masala films, the two-week movie festival will showcase wholesome blockbuster entertainers like Laadla, Mohra, Ajooba, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Ram Lakhan, Judaai, and Chalbaaz amongst others. From 101% shuddh dhamaka action sequences to 101% shuddh pataka dialogues to 101% shuddh high voltage drama & comedy, the channel promises a mazedaar binge-worthy entertainment for the viewers this festive season. So, grab a bucket of popcorn and enjoy the 101% Shuddh Pataka filmen with your family this Diwali.

The 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is just getting bigger and better every week. As per the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India data, IPL 13 has registered 7.0 billion viewing minutes for the first 41 matches aired across 21 channels in the last five weeks (Week 38 -42), which is 28% higher as compared to IPL 12. IPL 12 had garnered 5.5 billion viewing minutes for 44 matches aired across 24 channels. 

As per the data, performance per match of IPL 13 is higher than the last season. The cume reach of IPL 13 for 41 matches was 108 million, 11% higher than IPL 12. The previous season registered 98 million of cume reach. 

As per media reports, in 2019, Star India made approximately Rs 2,200 crore in terms of ad revenue, including both digital and TV. This year, it is expected to set a new benchmark. 

Viacom18 has given independent charge of Colors Bangla, Colors Odia, Colors Tamil and Colors Gujarati to Rajesh Iyer who joined Network18 in March 2019 and was working closely with the leadership team to spearhead new initiatives.

Ravish Kumar, Head, Regional Entertainment, Viacom18, will now lead the network’s regional broadcast forays in Kannada and Marathi. Both Iyer and Kumar will work closely to grow the regional broadcast footprint of Viacom18.

Speaking about the appointment, Rahul Joshi, MD, Network18, said, “Regional broadcast entertainment is a key pillar in our endeavour to chart out a high-growth path for Viacom18. India is witnessing an unprecedented boom in the segment and agility is the need of the hour to get to leadership positions in our existing regional markets. With his years of leadership experience across TV and digital ecosystems, Rajesh is ably poised to take on the challenges presented by the genre and successfully grow the business.”