How India’s Lockdown has Changed TV Consumption Habits?
With the sudden announcement and extension of lockdown due to COVID-19, the market has seen a significant drop in newspaper readership and circulation. While it is true that newspapers are being printed, some vendors have refused to distribute the publications while some households are refusing to accept newspapers. Owing to such actions, most of the publications are suffering from low readership and circulation.
One the other hand, television has seen a boom in viewership backed by radio to some extent. With everyone staying back at home, most of the people are spending time watching TV shows in various languages. What’s more? Most of the channels and Doordarshan, in particular, are gaining unmatched viewership and reach while other channels might see a significant drop. Hence, what is the current scenario of the TV landscape in India? Let’s delve into the details to understand the current trend.

Statistical Data Signifying the Current TV Trend
As per a survey done by ZAPR, 12 of 2020, there has been a spike in the viewership of regional channels by 97% and kid’s channel by 21% with a fall in viewership of sports channels by 28%. The growth has been seen across all the metro cities (especially Ahmedabad), 1M, 1L.
In week 13, there has been a marginal increase in the reach of TV in a day which is by 2.5%, the TSV seems to be increasing by 7.3% per day. Also, the viewership of entertainment and news channels are plateauing compared to week 12 by 13% and 30% respectively.
However, with the airing of the old TV shows by hitting the nostalgia, Doordarshan is winning the jackpot backed by indulging content from Zee and Discovery Tamil. On the other hand, South India still continues to grow strong in terms of TV viewership.
State Wise Viewership Status
1L+ towns continue to grow in TV viewership by 3% during the afternoon followed by 1M towns by 2.4% and metro cities by 1%. Here’s the list of metro cities and the viewership status in each city during the afternoon time band.
● 1.9% Ahmedabad
● 3.7% Delhi
● 1.6% Chennai
● 2.8% Bangalore
● 1.4% Greater Mumbai
● 1.9% Pune
● 0.8% Kolkata
Analysis at Genre Level- Week 13
When it comes to genre level analysis, Hindi Genre has seen a massive spike with Doordarshan standing out as the king. There is a 28% increase in reach of entertainment channels, a 4% increase in reach of music channels and a 7% increase in reach of movies with 32% drop in reach of business news.
DDI has alone achieved 135% reach during weekday morning slots with metros cities driving the highest reach increase for DD which is over 3000% increase followed by 1M and 1L towns.
Analysis at Genre Level- News
Compared to week 12, week 13 has seen a drop in reach of news channels, especially business news. Hindi news channels have experienced a drop in reach by 7%, English news channels by 30% and regional news by channels by 8%.
Analysis at Genre Level- English Genre
English Genre is a mixed bag of rise and fall in reach of channels. English entertainment channels together have seen a fall in reach by 7% and 21% fall in reach has been seen for business news channels. On the other hand, the reach of English music channels has increased by 3% along with movie channels by 5%. This flip-flop change in English channels has left the advertisers confused as to whether to release a television advertisement or not on the channels.
The reach of English sports channels has also improved owing to the smart content being played by the channels. The reach of English channels has increased by 21% backed by an increase in TSV by 26%.
The Verdict
With the passing of each week, it is getting more complicated for the brands and businesses to figure out which TV channel or genre will help them earn a healthy ROI in this lockdown period. Hence, brands and businesses have to be on their toes to stay updated about the current trend of the Indian TV landscape. While some brands might find them in a pool of confusion while releasing an ad, with the help of TV advertising agencies, they will be supervised as to which channel will get them the maximum ROI.