Barc 13-week historical data shows Aaj Tak in the lead

Mumbai: The past 13 weeks historic data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India indicates that news channel Aaj Tak was leading the Hindi-speaking market (HSM) (U+R) from week 49’2021 till week 10’2022 in terms of market share. Aaj Tak garnered 25.5 per cent of the market share amongst eight opt-in news channels that include TV9 Bharatvarsh, Republic Bharat, Zee News, News Nation, Zee Hindustan, DD News and India News.

In the HSM Urban market, Aaj Tak’s lead was stronger as it garnered a market share of 27 per cent versus its nearest competitor TV9 at 20.7 per cent. The competition for eyeballs in the HSM Rural market was more intense with Aaj Tak at top with 23.2 per cent but with TV9 Bharatvarsh following closely at 22 per cent.

Republic Bharat (20.8 per cent) and Zee News (15.6 per cent) were the only other channels whose market share was in double digits. The top four channels had 82.3 per cent share in the HSM market. However, it should be noted that historical Barc data does not include prominent news channels including India TV, News18 India, ABP News, Good News Today, News 24 and NDTV India who have opted out of past ratings. NDTV India has pulled out of ratings completely.

Barc India has released data for individual news channels after a 17-month hiatus. The TV audience measurement agency had also agreed to release past 13 weeks data after consultation with industry stakeholders.