Chennai: The BARC data for the week 32 for the period between Saturday, 4th August 2018 to Friday, 10th August 2018 reveals that the Special and exclusive coverage of the news related to the demise of Tamilnadu former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and live telecast of his last rites has spiked the viewership of the Tamil News channels by 156%in this week.
The final days of Dravidian Patriarch M. Karunanidhiin hospital with updates on his diteriorating health condition was an emotionally high temper days for the audience in TN. Followed by that the news of his demise andthe ceremony was covered extensively by all the Tamil News Channels through 4th to 10th August 2018.
A comparative analysis of the BARC data pertaining to week 32 for the period between Saturday, 4th August 2018 to Friday, 10th August 2018 versusthe previous 3 weeks that is 14th July to 3rd August 2018 shows that Tamil News genre has grown by 156%.
As a result of the coverage of Karunanidhi’s demise and last rites, the genre has witnessed a spike from 209 million impressions to 535 million impressions. The demise of the senior most leader of the state was officially declared on Tuesday evening which is the 7th of August 2018 and the last rites and the death ceremony was covered extensively by the news channels on Wednesday the 8th of August 2018. These two days recorded highest growth in viewership of the said genre.
Tamil News channels on Tue-Wed saw a spike in its viewership that recorded from 53.5 million Impressions to 366 million Impressions at a growth of 585%.Even the time spent per viewer on Tamil News channels on Tuesday and Wednesday grew by 298%.
The time spent of the viewers of Tamilnadu, on Tamil News channels has also grown significantly that resulted, close to 2 hours, on an average. In Chennai, viewers have spent 2 hours 43 minutes watching news on Television, as against 32 minutes registered for the previous 3 Tuesday and Wednesday. Thus registering a growth of 399%.
Source : BARC Week 32, TG: TN/Pondicherry,2+
