Budget 2009: Network18 dominates news genre

Rohit Mathur - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Network18, which has channels like CNBC-TV18, CNN-IBN and CNBC Awaaz, were the most watched news channels in the English business news segment, in the English generic news segment and in the Hindi business news segment, respectively on July 6, 2009, when the Finance Minister presented his Budget speech.

According to TAM data for C&S 25+ All India, on July 6, CNBC-TV18 had a channel share of 67 per cent. For the period July 5-11, the pre/post coverage period of the event, the channel fetched a market share of 72 per cent.

For the same period, NDTV Profit, recorded channel shares of 22 per cent and 14 per cent respectively. UTVi was placed third for its Budget day coverage and post-Budget coverage, with channel shares of 7 and 9 per cent respectively.

The battle for the business news has got sharper with ET Now joining the fray. Budget Day was a crucial test, and expectedly ET Now scored a poor 4 per cent. However, with the Times Group channel increasing its reach in coming weeks, this scenario might change.

Neel Chowdhury, vice-president, marketing, CNBC-TV18 & CNBC Awaaz, explains that CNBC-TV18 have been synonymous with the budget programming and analysis since inception. Over the years the channel has carved a niche in being the platform that covers the Union Budget most comprehensively, giving multiple perspectives using innovative and diverse approaches.

Chowdhury claims that CNBC-TV18 is a market leader in the business news genre and says that content and the way it was presented has to be the differentiator. For the Budget 2009, the channel had laid out a series of editorial shows, ground events, on air segments and specials with a strong emphasis on interactivity and audience involvement.

Chowdhury says, "Business news is a specialist format and also has a distinct viewer base, the way we presented the Union Budget, it attracted a larger viewership during that day. Besides that, the presentation of other important events in an innovative manner has helped grow the channel's popularity."

On the Budget day, besides telecasting the Finance Minister's budget speech live, CNBC-TV18 and CNN-IBN roped in over 100 guests to share their reactions to the Finance Minister's proposals. It had a line of bankers on the channel, which included names such as Deepak Parekh, KV Kamath and Vallabh Bhansali.

Punitha Arumugam, chief executive officer, Madison Media, says, "It is an accepted notion that in the television medium, a TV channel network is only as good as its content. The numbers for CNBC-TV18 has been quite good and it is definitely a channel where clients like to advertise. The channel has a clear domination."

R Venkatasubramanian, vice-president, Lintas Media Group, says, "A strong differentiator that worked in favour of CNBC-TV18 has been its news-centric strategy. The channel has always been the leader in the segment, followed by others. However, encouraging performance of the other players and its own numbers somehow failed to capture the change."

As for the coverage of the Budget by the English general interest news channels, as per the TAM C&S 15+ All India data, CNN-IBN led on B-Day, with a channel share of 32 per cent, followed by NDTV 24x7, whose channel share stood at 31 per cent.

Times Now's coverage of the day saw it grab a channel share of 19 per cent. Headlines Today and NewsX were next in line, with channel shares of 13 and 6 per cent, respectively.

The week-long debates and commentary, saw both CNN-IBN and NDTV 24x7 with identical channel shares of 28 per cent each (TAM figures for C&S 15+, All India Markets). For the same period, Times Now gathered a channel share of 25 per cent.

In the Hindi business news genre, CNBC Awaaz, proved its credibility, being the leader when it came to the coverage of the country's most important event after the General Elections 2009.

CNBC Awaaz's Budget day coverage fetched it a channel share of 69 per cent and its post-Budget analysis coverage (July 5-11), got it a channel share of 69 per cent. Another Hindi business news channel, Zee Business, had a channel share of 31 per cent for both its Budget day and post-Budget coverage.

Sanjay Pugalia, editor-in-chief, CNBC Awaaz, says, "CNBC Awaaz was the only channel that was providing a Hindi translation of the Budget speech as it was being delivered in English by the Finance Minister. We interpreted the Budget through our analysis of tax rebates, customs duty analyses and sectoral analysis."

In the general interest Hindi news channels, the leader was Aaj Tak. As per TAM data, 15+ HSM, the news channel topped the charts for its Budget coverage on July 6, with a channel share of 20 per cent. In the second and third spots were Star News and India TV respectively, with channel shares of 18 per cent and 14 per cent.

For the post coverage analysis, in the Hindi news genre, Aaj Tak scored over its rivals by being the leader in 15+ HSM (July 5-11), garnering a channel share of 17 per cent. However, the week-long in-depth analysis and debates on Budget announcements saw both Star News and India TV tied at the second spot, with identical channel shares of 16 per cent each.

As per the TAM data, 15+ HSM for July 6, Zee News and NDTV India scored identical channel shares of 10 per cent each, and were placed fourth. The sixth player, IBN7, had a market share of 8 per cent. Budget coverage on July 6 got Sahara Samay and News 24 channel shares of 5 and 4 per cent respectively.

The TAM findings highlight that Zee News led the pack, when it comes to average time spend on a channel per viewer, which was of 8 minutes. Barun Das, chief executive officer, Zee News, says, that the channel aims to bring to viewers the best programming and the most accurate news that carries a holistic view of the issue.

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