Lok Sabha Question No. 6344 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-04-05
Subject: Popularity of DD/AIR News
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: AJAY NISHAD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6344 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 5.04.2018)

## POPULARITY OF DD/AIR NEWS

## 6344.   SHRI AJAY NISHAD:

Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether news of Doordarshan (DD) is less popular than the news of the private channels;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c)  whether Prasar Bharati has made any effort to improve the quality and contents of the news being telecast/broadcast on DD channels/All India Radio equivalent to the private channels to increase their viewership/audience;
- (d)  if so, the details  thereof, Doordarshan-wise/ Akashwani-wise; and
- (e)  the other steps taken/proposed to  be taken to improve the quality of news being telecast/broadcast on the DD Channels/Akashwani?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING (COL RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE (Retd.)

(a) to (e): Prasar Bharati has informed that Doordarshan (DD) News is ranked First in English genre and 12 th in the Hindi genre . The details of viewership are given in Annexure.

DD News strives to  deliver  factual  and  balanced  News  and  is  looked  upon  for  its credibility  as  a  Public  Broadcaster.  It  cannot  be  compared  with  private  news channels which have a commercial orientation.

As  per  Prasar  Bharati,  improving  the  quality  of  DD/  AIR  News  bulletins  and  their content is an ongoing process.  Steps are taken from time to time to further improve the quality of news bulletins.

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6344 FOR ANSWER ON 05.04.2018

Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) New Consumer Classification System (NCCS) 15+(Hindi News) NCCS 22+AB Male (English News) Market: All India Avg. GVL of 4 week (WK-8 to WK-11) GVL (Gross Viewership in Lakhs)

## VIEWERSHIP OF HINDI NEWS CHANNELS

| Sl. No.       | Channel                | Avg. GVL   |
|---------------|------------------------|------------|
| 1             | Aaj Tak 1527           |            |
| 2             | ABP News               | 1216       |
| India TV      | 1028                   | 3          |
| Zee News      | 984                    | 4          |
| News 18 India | 871                    | 5          |
| News Nation   | 813                    | 6          |
| India News    | 617                    | 7          |
| News 24       | 539                    | 8          |
| Zee Hindustan | 386                    | 9          |
| Tez           | 242                    | 10         |
| NDTV          | India 159              | 11         |
| 12            | DD News                | 128        |
| 13            | India Today Television | 14         |

## VIEWERSHIP OF ENGLISH  NEWS CHANNELS

|   Sl. No. | Channels               |   Avg. GVL |
|-----------|------------------------|------------|
|         1 | DD News                |         31 |
|         2 | Republic TV            |          8 |
|         3 | CNBC TV 18             |          7 |
|         4 | Times Now              |          7 |
|         5 | India Today Television |          5 |
|         6 | Living India News      |          4 |
|         7 | CNN News 18            |          3 |
|         8 | NDTV 24x7              |          2 |
|         9 | BBC World News         |          1 |
|        10 | News X                 |          1 |
|        11 | Wion                   |          1 |