Polls, a Rs 175 cr windfall for media

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The 2004 general elections were a bonanza for the Indian media with 
poll-related advertisements fetching them Rs 175 crore (Rs 1.75 billion) 
in a matter of four weeks. According to an analysis by TAM Media 
Research, the electronic and print media have benefited the most from 
the polls, taking home Rs 137.7 crore (Rs 1.377 billion). About Rs 93 
crore (Rs 930 million) of this income came from advertisements by the 
BJP, Congress and their allies. TAM said advertisement revenues for 
channels had started going up almost 3 weeks before the viewerships 
started rising.

Atul Phadnis, vice president, TAM Media Research, said: "It was an 
exceptional election. A host of records have been created. That 
viewership during the polls far surpassed the levels seen during the 
September 11 Parliament attack and the 1999 elections came as a major 
surprise." According to Phadnis, what perhaps made it even more 
interesting was that the elections were taking place in 4 phases, 
thereby increasing the suspense for the 407 million potential Indian TV 
viewers.

The steepest increase in viewership was seen in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, 
Maharashtra, West Bengal. Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat Delhi and Mumbai. On 
the day of the counting, the viewership of news channels was up 5 times 
at 34 per cent. The TAM analysis also shows an exceptional spurt in 
viewership levels of news channels compared with other genre for the 
specified period. The counting period saw a whopping 70 per cent growth 
in time spent compared with the average over the previous weeks. 
Besides, the viewership share of news channels for the counting period 
shot up to 9.3 per cent. This is almost seven times more than the 1999 
elections. The percentage channel share for news genre shot up from an 
average of 5 per cent to almost 7 per cent during the four weeks of 
elections. This had further gone up to 9 per cent during the counting 
period. TAM analysis said sports channel viewership dipped from 5.9 per 
cent to 1.5 per cent during the period, while regional channel 
viewership slipped from 25.8 per cent to 25.5 per cent. The viewership 
of Hindi mass channels fell from 32.6 per cent to 31.9 per cent.

Source:
http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/may/26media.htm