[icernet] Breaking news

[Arul Selvan]

  When 9/11 happened, the shock waves were felt in the most unexpected 
places. The images of the World Trade Centre collapsing left such a deep 
impact that even children from less privileged homes in India suddenly 
became glued to the news. A UNICEF-supported study conducted by the 
media monitoring organisation, Centre for Advocacy and Research, found 
that these children were not only following the news with greater 
curiosity, they were discussing it with their peer group.

Viewership of news channels surged across the spectrum at that time. 
Suddenly, in the search for new genres, broadcasters recognised that 
there was an audience for news channels. The question is  whos 
watching all these channels, particularly when there is no mega 
international crisis to hold viewers interest? BBC Worlds 
just-released Horizon 2003, a study profiling 3,80,000 people from a 
sample base of more than 5,500 upmarket respondents in six metros, has 
found that the average number of channels accessed is five and an 
average of 100 minutes of television is seen in one day, with 30 minutes 
devoted to news. News and Sports are the most preferred programme 
genres, with Delhi scoring the highest for News at 29 percent. Bangalore 
has the lowest score in this category, with only 14 percent.

All this early euphoria is very well. But media analysts say the 
suspicion that general elections may be round the corner has provoked 
many of these channels launches. However, one cannot dismiss the feeling 
that the usual Indian herd mentality has been at play here. The world 
over news channels make money only if they are pay channels. They are 
not TRP driven.

Source:
http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?id=SEG20030503074812