Television and the Internet are the only media that have consolidated their reach in India in the period between December 2000 and June 2001, according to the IRS 2001 R2 survey.

Television now reaches 50.6 per cent of the population, a growth of 1.3 per cent over figures for the six months from July 2000. The study, commissioned by the Media Research Users‘ Council (MRUC) says that the reach of the press on the other hand, has remained static at 33.3 per cent. Both radio and cinema have recorded dwindling figures over the first half year?s figures. The reach of TV has shown an increase both in urban as well as in rural India, the report says. TV now reaches 78.7 per cent of the urban population and 39.8 per cent of the rural population.

(Figures in %)

Doordarshan however can no longer afford to be complacent about its stranglehold on viewers. DD1‘s reach has slumped from 41 per cent in the first half of the year to 38.4 per cent. The satellite market too has continued to remain fluid with both Zee and Sony losing viewers between December 2000 and June 2001, while Star Plus gradually climbed the charts.

DD1 has remained the channel tuned in the most number of All India households, while Zee retains the top slot among the satellite channels in the urban and rural households, followed by Sony. Star Plus on the other hand has consolidated its position by moving up to the fifth place. Discovery Channel too has notched a few points and moved a rank upwards, displacing Star Movies from its position.

Television Viewership

(Figures in %)

The IRS survey represents fieldwork during the full year July‘ 00-June‘ 01 and information collected from 2,37,326 respondents from 741 towns and 2475 villages. The IRS is a continuous survey, and the reporting takes place every six months based on a moving annual total.

The latter half of the year, according to the study has noted a change in the demographic profile of the population, with a shift in population towards the higher SECs. Urban India shows an increase of those having an income of Rs.5000 and above from 21.1% to 21.9% since the past round of IRS. The education profile of the population shows an improvement - in urban India, the percentage of SSC or higher educated persons has increased from 46.0 to 47.2, while in rural India, the percentage of illiterates or those without any formal education has dropped from 43.7 to 42.1.

The percentage of joint families in urban India has dipped from 18.8 to 18.2 while there is a much more perceptible drop in rural India - from 23.4% to 21.8%, followed by a consequent increase in the number of nuclear families.

TV Channels Tuned

(Figures in %)

The top 10 channels received by All India (Urban + Rural) households are as follows:

TV Channels Received

The Internet continues to be the fastest growing media in the country, although the figures of its reach are still dismally low. The report states there are 5.66 million Internet users in the country, while users in the 5000+ population towns have shown an increase of about 35 per cent.

No. of Internet Users 

(Figures in ‘000)