Star Majha rules in Maharashtra; Aaj Tak was No 1 in Haryana on election result day

On October 22 -- the result day of the latest Assembly elections in three states, Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh -- Aaj Tak was the most viewed channel

On October 22, when the results of the recent Assembly Elections in Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra, were announced, there was a steep rise in the daily GRPs of Marathi news channels. The channels recorded 87 GRPs on October 22, as against the meagre 11 GRPs recorded on October 15, as per TAM, C&S 15+.

The share of Hindi news channels also saw an increase, from 21 GRPs on October 15 to 45 GRPs on October 22. The share of English news channels increased marginally, from 1.1 GRPs to 2.9 GRPs during the same period.

During Week 43, (TAM, C&S 15+) in Maharashtra, the Marathi news channels were viewed more than the Hindi news channels. STAR Majha was the numero uno with a channel share of 7.8 percent on D-day, October 22. This was followed by IBN Lokmat, which recorded a channel share of 5.2 per cent. At No. 3 was Zee 24 Taas, with a channel share of 2.1 per cent.

In the Maharashtra region, STAR News, the Hindi news channel, was at No. 4, with a channel share of 2 per cent. This was followed by Aaj Tak, which managed a share of 1.8 per cent.

During the period of October 4 to 24, while Marathi news channels were viewed more than the Hindi or English news channels; in Haryana, Hindi news channels were at the top vis-à-vis Punjabi news channels.

Though Aaj Tak was at No. 5 in Maharashtra, it was at No. 1 in the PHCHP (Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh) region On October 22, with a channel share of 2.69 per cent. In this region, MH1, the Punjabi news channel was at No. 2, with a channel share of 2.4 per cent. IBN7 and India TV were next, with a channel share of 1.3 per cent each.

This was followed by Zee News, which managed to grab a channel share of 1.2 per cent on the result day; while India News Haryana grabbed a channel share of 1 per cent.

According to industry experts, the surge in the viewership of Marathi news channels in Maharashtra, as compared to Hindi news channels, was predictable. "The local dialect always clicks during such times. The focus of the region-specific channels was only elections; whereas on national news channels, there must have been other news coverage as well, making the local channels an obvious choice for the viewers looking for election-related news," says a senior media analyst.

"News channels do not hike their prices substantially during such events; so it doesn't make much difference in the ad inventory. The only band, which commands high pricing during such periods, is prime time," adds the analyst.