Will 2024 polls lend TV news the much-needed leap?

The elections of 2024 are about to begin later this year and the viewership numbers on television are just going to make the game better.

During the 2014 elections, some news channels saw a viewership growth of up to 206 per cent on the counting day. In the 2019 polls, the total news viewership in South India increased by 416 per cent to 721 million impressions during the counting week, compared to the previous eight weeks, according to BARC data.

The data further stated that out of a total of 258.5 million TV-viewing individuals from the five states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, 65 per cent (167.3 million) audience watched one or the other news channel on May 23 (the counting day). This is an increase of 67 per cent compared to a regular day.

Irrespective of whether a news channel is small, medium or big, the election season offers the opportunity to draw viewers.

Apart from a bump in viewership, polls have also proved to be a catalyst in the growth of AdEx for the TV news sector.

The news genre viewership which had fallen to almost 4 per cent after the spike during Covid is now bouncing back. As per the BARC numbers, the TV news share of total viewership is now above 7 per cent. It is likely to touch double digits as the election season approaches. With the increasing viewer interest all news channels are lining up solid programming as the expect to get better rates from advertisers.

Rising ad packages

According to Karan Abhishek Singh, CEO-Hindi News Cluster (TV & Digital), Network18 Group, “For our national Hindi channel, we have increased our ad rates by almost 30 per cent in the last one year as a result of increased viewership for the channel. Similarly, for our Hindi regional channels, this hike has been in the range of 10 to 30 per cent. In the coming months, as we move closer to elections, we are hoping to keep strengthening our position and ad rates. The advertiser interest in the news genre is also increasing with several traditional categories making a comeback.”

Mona Jain, Chief Revenue Officer, Zee Media, shares, “The channel has a number of coverage plans to ensure whichever advertiser comes on board gets a huge mileage.”

Zee has seen ad packages go up by 15 to 20 per cent during the election season.

Similarly, NDTV Executive Director Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan says there is a significant jump in viewership during election, especially the counting days. 

As for Bharat Express CEO Varun Kohli, during the elections, advertisers find investing in TV ad slots a lucrative option. Advertising slot packages thereby go up by almost 40 per cent, he said. 

Sharing brands’ perspective, Krishnarao Buddha, Senior Category Head - Marketing at Parle, says during elections ad package rates go up by three-four times and for some categories, advertising during elections is extremely crucial for getting eyeballs.

Karan Taurani, Senior Vice President - Research Analyst, Elara Capital, believes news consumption goes up by 15 to 20 per cent on average, in terms of viewer time spent. Overall, news channel advertising revenue moves up by five to eight per cent primarily due to the election delta and these numbers are even better for leading national news channels, he added. Regional channels too witness numbers going up by over 10-15 per cent, Taurani shared. 

For Zee, the rallies and campaigns also pull a lot of viewership, making it to a jump of about 20 per cent and at times even more than that. In 2022, when Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand had their assembly elections, the channel saw a jump of 86 percent during January to March. 

“Linear TV news if you see contributes 10-11 per cent of total ad spends on TV,” Taurani added.

TV v/s digital: Who gets more votes?

Between digital and TV there is a balance, Jain noted. The upside of digital is one can watch it anywhere and anytime but when it comes to news people like to consume serious news on linear for its higher credibility and authenticity. In case they miss important coverage, then YouTube or digital helps but first TV takes priority. Even the brands prefer linear because of the visibility they get. 

She shared, “Even in our election advertising packages we have bundled combinations of both. Definitely, there is a premium on the price, because not only are we offering a platform but a valuable partnership too.” 

Parle’s Buddha too believes digital may be able to provide time-to-time updates but in-depth voting analysis and extensive coverage are done impeccably by television news channels and hence, advertising on TV will always be more rewarding during elections. 

For news, TV is still a winner. Especially for regions like Rajasthan, MP, and Chhattisgarh where news is the most important discussion among groups, says Jain.

As for NDTV’s Senthil Sinniah Chengalvarayan, people who watch news on digital channels will remain on digital, and the ones on TV will consume news on TV. “There is going to be no shift of platform as such but a healthy balance is going to sustain overall.”