PrimeMinister Narendra Modi was the most-watched personality on television in Indialast year, according to the annual TV viewership report for 2019-2020 byBroadcast Audience Research Council (BARC). PM Modi's public addressesregarding the ongoing Covid pandemic, and his also his speeches focussing on arange of issues -- from India being at the forefront of exporting Covid-19vaccines to the ongoing farmer protests.
Broadly,here are the top three trends that one can spot in the report:
THEMODI WAVE
"Whetherthey are his interviews, speeches at global events, addresses to the nation oreven a wildlife adventure show, channels that broadcast the content see theirviewership leapfrog and set new levels," the report stated, explaining theimpact PM Modi had.
Notably,PM Modi's speech at Red Fort, which was over two hours long, with 133 millionviewers, saw a rise by 40 per cent, compared to his Independence Day speech in2019.
ThePrime Minister's speech on March 24, 2020, where he announced the firstlockdown, saw more viewing minutes than any of his previous addresses.
Hisaddress to nation in April 2020, where he announced a relief package of RS 20lakh crores, became the most watched address with over 203 million viewerstuning in.
"Eachtime PM Modi's coronavirus-related addresses were aired, there was a noticeabledrop in the viewership of major genres like General Entertainment Channels(GEC), Movies and Kids," the report said.
Hiscall for solidarity by switching off lights for nine-long minutes, reflected in60 per cent decline in TV viewership during those nine minutes.
Thereport also notes that due to the pandemic, and following an increasingcuriosity about government measures and announcements, the share of news intotal TV viewership tripled as compared to the yearly growth of seven per centpreviously.
MYTHOLOGY,DOORDARSHAN REIGNED
Lastyear, "the viewership contribution of mythological shows to Hindi GECgenre spiked from a mere 14 per cent to 43 per cent by week 15, 2020". Thefact that no new content was being created because of Covid guidelines,archived content made a huge comeback and Doordarshan (DD) was probably thebiggest benefactor.
Thechannel's decision to re-telecast "Ramayan" and"Mahabharat", and other popular TV shows of the eighties and thenineties, saw the total viewership of the channel grow by 68 per cent last year.
LOVEFOR FILMS STAYED INTACT
Unlikethe GECs, which suffered an initial loss due to lack of original content, BARCnotes that the Movies as a channel genre didn't face any hiccups, and these sawa growth by 10 per cent over the viewership of 2019.
"Regionalmovies genre posted a higher growth than their Hindi counterpart, althoughHindi language genre accounted for close to 60 per cent of total movie genresviewership. Apart from Hindi, the other major markets for the genre wereTelugu, Tamil and Kannada," the report stated.
However,the report also suggests that lack of original content meant a reduced sharefor GEC content in the first half the year. It became a normal, post July, oncethe lockdown restrictions were eased.