Thanks to hype around the recently held UP elections, Hindi news channels in the country saw a massive tripling in viewership on the day of the results. Results of elections in five states were announced on March 11. These states included UP, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. Hindi news channels, which command the lion’s share of viewership within the news genre, registered a combined viewership of 368.59 million impressions (total number of viewers) on the day of the results, as compared to 112.02 million impressions registered as an average of the previous three Saturdays. According to data provided by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC), the top five Hindi news channels on election result day were ABP News, Aaj Tak, India TV, India News and News 24, in that order (see chart). ABP News was not only the most viewed, but also the biggest gainer, albeit on a lower base than its peers, jumping from 12.9 million impressions to 65.6 million on result day. Aaj Tak …
