Viewing habits of marginalised communities in Bihar, as revealed by a survey conducted in February 2023 by IIMA’s Billion Readers Initiative (BIRD) in association with the Government of Bihar in public schools, indicate a deep connection and reliance on the television medium.
The survey was conducted across eight primary and secondary schools (Grade 1-8). Four administrative blocks of Motihari, Araria, Kishanganj, and Banka were surveyed. The sample size of students was a total of 994, with 58 pc girls and 42 pc boys.
The comprehensive data collection and baseline survey were conducted to ascertain media consumption habits and preferences among school children from the most marginalised communities.
Findings from the survey revealed that TV ownership was observed to be high, with 61.2 pc of children owning a TV in their homes. The viewership was much higher at 73.6 pc, where children watched TV either in their neighborhood or community.
As per the survey, Hindi GEC Dangal was most viewed channel, followed by Ishara, Sony Pal, and Zee TV.
36 pc of children said that their families paid for the transmission, while 64 pc watched the public broadcast channels, which are free of cost. While girls clearly watched more TV than boys, both boys and girls watched TV the most at night.
Cartoons are the preferred genre among children of all age groups, especially primary children, with 80 pc of children (both boys and girls) stating that they enjoy watching cartoons. Serials are more popular among girls, with 65 pc enjoying them, while for boys, the percentage is 39 pc. Films are also widely watched by both boys and girls, with 76 pc and 64 pc, respectively. Other genres such as news, sports, and religious programs are comparatively watched less.
According to the survey, the most-watched programs for boys were Vir the Robot with 13.7 pc viewership, Movies & Films at 11.8 pc, and Cricket & Cartoon equally popular at 11.6 pc. Among girls, Cartoons topped the preference list at 8.7 pc, followed by TV serials, particularly Man Sundar at 5.7 pc. Other programs that were liked and watched include Motu Patlu, Baal Veer, CID, Naagin, Mowgli, and Doremon.
