MUMBAI: With conditional access (Cas) coming into effect in certain areas of Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi, the net reach as well as market share of all key genres has come down with the exception of Hindi News and cable channels.

This is not surprising as Hindi news channels are free to air.

Audience Measurement and Analytics has done a study on how Cas has afected television viewing. Total usage (Usage per viewer) of television shows a drop of 14 minutes in the first week of January 2007 versus the last week of December 2006.

In Delhi the drop at the peak of prime time (for cable homes) is close to 12 per cent in the first week of the Cas rollout. Similarly Hindi movie channels too lost viewership all across the day. Mass channels and the mass genre retained reach but lost out on market share and time spent. Cable channels were the biggest gainers in this situation notes aMap.
Mumbai presented a picture similar to Delhi with mass genre (Cable Homes) losing in terms of viewership in evening prime time and movie channels losing viewership in afternoon and evening prime time. Hindi News and Cable channels gained in market share as well asusage per viewer.

In Kolkata the drop in ratings of mass genre across various day parts is the most. The drop is as steep as 25 per cent and 39 per cent during the afternoon prime time and the evening prime time respectively. There is a similar drop in ratings of Hindi movies and the drop during the peak day parts both in the morning and evening prime time is to the tune of 23 per cent. Cable and Hindi News channels gained market shares as well as registered an increase in the usage per viewer.