Not too long ago, TVs were a rarity – and a luxury – in India’s villages. Turns out that while you were glued to your favourite sitcom, the world has quietly changed.
According to a nationwide survey done by the Broadcast Audience Research Council, rural areas have more homes with TV sets as compared to cities – although by a narrow margin.
The survey found that 99 million households in villages own TVs, which works out to 54% of all TV-owning homes in the country. In contrast, the number for urban India is pegged at 84 million households (46% of the total).
The survey also showed a a 16 percent jump in the total number of people who watch TV in India. The number now stands at 780 million people.
The study, titled the Broadcast India Survey, was carried out in 3,00,000 homes across 590 districts between November 2015 and February 2016.
It concluded that the total number of homes in the country with TVs have gone up from 154 million to 183 million, a 19 percent increase.
This surge has naturally spelled good news for broadcasters, as well as the the finding that total television viewership has risen by 18 per cent.
The report also points that India has more nuclear families without elders than ever before. And nuclear families now make up the bulk of TV-owning homes.
(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.)