Doordarshan highest-watched channel in India, says BARC
   Date :10-Apr-2020

Doordarshan _1  
 
MUMBAI :
 
GETTING back classic programmes like Ramayan to keep locked down people entertained has catapulted Doordarshan (DD) to be the highest watched channel in India for week ended April 3, Broadcast Audience ResearchCouncil (BARC) saidon Thursday. Thenationalbroadcastercould achieve the feat, which involves a nearly 40,000 per cent jump in viewership in the evening and morning bands, despite a surge reported by the private broadcasters who are also experiencing higher viewership, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) said.
 
Starting with the Hindu mythology series Ramayan, DD has got back other classics like Mahabharat, Shaktiman and Buniyaad to serve the audiences duringthethree-weeklockdown. Most of these were produced whenDDmonopolisedTVbroadcasting in the country. BARC attributedthetelecastof Ramayan and Mahabharat for DD’s emergence tothe top, while the other programmes also helped improve its position in select time slots. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal of switching off lights at 9 pm last Sunday led to the lowest ever viewing in that time segment since 2015.
 
His speech announcing the lighting of lamps had fewer viewers. Modi’s speech to appeal people to light lamps after shutting downofthelightshadfewerviewers as compared to his speech announcingthelockdown,itsaid, specifying the numbers at 119 million versus 197 million. South-based Sun TV’s strategy of broadcasting classics has also paid off and helped it jump on viewership,whileafewpaidHindi general entertainment channels (GEC)whohave introducedclassics have also seen jump in viewership. TheoverallTVviewershipgrew 4percentascomparedtotheprevious week and was 43 per cent higher than the pre-COVID-19 outbreakperiod,thecouncilsaid. Channels in the news and movies genre recorded an alltime high growth in viewership during the week, with Hindi moviessurpassingGECsegment, it said.