210 million households in India own a TV set: BARC report

Broadcast Audience Research Council India, along with its technical committee (TechComm), has  released the ‘TV Universe Estimates 2020’ (TV UEs). 

 

The TV UEs have been developed by computing the linear growth of TV households and individuals from the past two Broadcast India studies of 2016 and 2018, at geographic and demographic levels. 

 

Below are some of the updated TV Universe Estimates for broadcasters, advertisers, agencies and other industry stakeholders:

 

Households and individuals: The estimate suggests a 6.9% increase in the number of Indian households owning a TV set, with 210 million, as compared to 197 million in 2018. TV viewing too, increased by 6.7%, reaching 892 million, from 836 million in 2018. The TV owning female population grew by 7%, while the male population grew by 6%. The kids category (2-14 years-of-age) witnessed highest growth at 9%.

 

Markets: The study finds that TV households in urban markets grew by 4% from 87.8 million in 2018 to 91 million, while rural markets grew by 9%, from 108.9 million to 119.2 million in 2020.  While TV households across India grew by 6.9%, Hindi speaking markets grew by 8%, whereas South states grew by 5%. The overall growth in HSM states is relatively higher compared to South states, with Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, the North East and Odisha seeing double-digit growth. Viewership of Bhojpuri, Assamese and Oriya channels have grown significantly higher than other genres. 

 

New consumer classification system (NCCS): The estimate observed that upper NCCS (NCCS A B) increased to 27% and 31% respectively, while lower NCCS profile (NCCS CDE) saw a drop of around 12% at an all India level.

 

Viewership of HD channels regional genres: According to the study, HD channel viewership has grown by 15% at an all-India level, with relatively higher growth observed in Bihar, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. 

 

When comparing the viewership with old UEs, genres operating at national and HSM level have shown a higher growth with few genres, such as Hindi news, sports, English movies and devotional/spiritual, showing a double-digit growth. 

 

Sunil Lulla, chief executive officer, BARC India, said, “As a body that is deeply rooted in data science, BARC India is committed to providing its stakeholders with a true representation of the television universe. We are happy we have been able to ascertain that television continues to be the screen of choice for Indians. With an additional 13 million TV households and an opportunity for another 90 Mn households that are yet to own a TV set, India’s broadcast ecosystem continues to have a significant potential for growth in the years to come.”

 

Derrick Gray, chief of measurement science and business analytics, BARC India said, “At BARC India, we are deeply invested in providing data that is statistically accurate by factoring in changes in the various 'control and weighting variables' that are shown to be highly associated with television viewing. The updated Universe Estimates, UE 2020 aptly sums up India’s linear TV ecosystem and highlights that TV owning households continue to grow. Given the global pandemic scenario, the updated estimate is robust and is developed with the help of data and findings based from various previously validated field studies. We are certain that these estimates will help the industry to a great extent. We will continue to provide the industry with a currency that is reliable and of global standards. I would like to thank the TechComm on behalf of all of us for all their support and contributions in formalising the UE 2020.”

 

BARC India will update the TV Universe Estimates and viewership data, based on the revised estimates, which is set to release on 16 April 2021.