Getting back classic programmes like ‘Ramayan’ to keep locked down people entertained has catapulted Doordarshan (DD) to be the most watched channel in India for week that ended on 3 April, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) said on Thursday, 9 April.
Starting with the Hindu mythology series Ramayan, DD has got back other classics like ‘Mahabharat’, ‘Shaktiman’ and ‘Buniyaad’ to serve the audiences during the three-week lockdown. Most of these were produced when DD monopolised TV broadcasting in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal of switching off lights at 9 pm on Sunday, 5 April, led to the lowest ever viewing in that time segment since 2015. His speech announcing the lighting of lamps had fewer viewers.
South-based Sun TV's strategy of broadcasting classics has also paid off and helped it jump on viewership, while a few paid Hindi general entertainment channels (GEC) who have introduced classics have also seen jump in viewership.
The overall TV viewership grew 4 percent as compared to the previous week and was 43 percent higher than the pre-COVID-19 outbreak period, the council said.
Channels in the news and movies genre recorded an all-time high growth in viewership during the week, with Hindi movies surpassing GEC segment, it said.
Interestingly, despite the absence of any new sporting event, the viewership for sports channels grew 21 percent as they beamed India's cricket wins from the past and also WWE matches from the past, it said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)