MUMBAI: 72 per cent of television sets in urban Bihar are the black and white types. Close to 57 per cent of TV sets in the metropolitan city of Kolkata are also black and white, while Kerala is the most evolved market in terms of television. These are the ground realities a fresh TAM survey has brought to the fore in an attempt to understand the actual reach and availability of channels to the lay viewer.

The mapping of availability versus actual walk-ins for a channel, according to the survey, shows Zee Cinema close on the heels of the three ring leaders Star Plus, Sony and Zee. 
While better TV sets eventually ensure better receivability of channels, higher end sets are expectedly found more in Kerala and Mumbai, followed by Ludhiana, Delhi and Bangalore. Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh are the states which still are making do with lower end sets, consequently receiving only the prime band channels.

With increasing penetration of colour TV sets and commencement of conditional Access system in the country, the situation promises to get more and more simpler as availability of a channel would be less constrained by the limitations of TV sets, the study notes. Currently, however, the situation is complicated because the number of channels that can be received by television sets is limited. For instance, B&W TV sets cannot receive more than 12 frequencies clearly. Therefore, the frequency of channel signal ends up dictating the availability of the channel into cable homes, the study found.