CHAPTER 14 AUDIENCE RESEARCH IN TELEVISION & RADIO

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1 CHAPTER 14 AUDIENCE RESEARCH IN TELEVISION & RADIO / When the Indian Republic was just nine years old, Doordarshan made a modest beginning in 1957 and today after 50 years of Independence Doordarshan is not only a prime player in the national field, but also one of the largest broadcasting networks of the World. With the spread of TV transmitters and production centres like wildfire TV viewing has also gone up considerably. It is estimated that 57.7 million households in India have TV sets. The number of people watching TV programmes in their own homes is 296 million. Under various schemes of the Central and State Govts a large number of community sets have been installed in villages and some urban centres. To facilitate viewing of Educational TV programmes, many schools have been provided with TV sets. In many villages privately owned TV sets generally attract friends and neighbours who do not have a TV set. Even today a large number of people watch TV outside their homes. Till recently TV was mostly an urban medium but with the extension of Doordarshan s services to remote areas and the availability of programmes in rural languages TV viewership is rapidly growing in rural areas. Table : TV Viewers (Million) Urban Rural Total Home Viewers Other Viewers Total Population : TV Homes Million (March 97) Source : Doordarshan 97, Audience Research Unit, Director General Doordarshan. 166

2 Television Homes (All figures as on 31st December of the year) Table : Early Years , ,750, ,547, ,000, , ,632, ,256,000 Source : Television 97. ARU, GD,. DKK. Fig.: 14.1 The Last Decade (in Million) Table : TV Viewers (Urban rural equation) Year Urban Rural % 20.0% % 30.0% % 40.0% % 51.0% Here we can see the narrowing of gap between the urban and rural viewer percentage. Whereas in 1980 the equation was 80 :20 by 1996 it has slightly reversed in favour of rural, the equation being 49:51. il67»

3 Table : TV viewers by regions (Figures in Millions) State/UT Urban Rural Home Outside Total Delhi Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan Punjab Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir North Maharashtra & Goa Gujrat Madhya Pradesh West Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Karnataka Kerala South West Bengal Orissa Bihar Assam & North East East Total Source : Doordarshan 97, ARU. DG. DDK VIEWERS AND VIEWERSHIP : FACTS AND FIGURES The first telecast from the country were for members of teleclubs who were expected to assemble near 21 community sets. The Satellite instruction Television Experiment (SITE). Programme was also addressed to viewers in villages where direct receiver sets (TV connected to a chicken mesh antenna) were set up and maintained at Govt Cost. 168

4 Privately owned black and white TV sets were visible in Delhi by 1970 and gradually spread to other cities. Periodically nation wide readership surveys sponsored by the newspaper industry are conducted which inter alia, give some information about TV ownership and viewership. Doordarshan Audience Research has a system of estimating viewership of Doordarshan programmes on a regular basis. Indian Market Research Bureau has dairy panels in nine cities and People Meter based system in three cities. TV AUDIENCE MEASUREMENTS DART : Doordarshan Audience Research TV ratings or DART is a system operated by Doordarshan Audience Research. It has panels in 33 cities covering 20 cities each week, from all parts of the country, various town categories, language and regions. It has consolidated ratings at all India level with weights according to TV viewers in the zone. It covers DD-I National and Regional ratings from all cities and DD-II rating from 4 cities. DART rating are first computed at the city level. For National programmes the average ratings are worked at the zonal level and the All India figure is calculated with weights proportion to TV viewers in the zones. Cities covered under DART are : North : Delhi, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Alwar, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Basti, Nautanva. West : Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Nagpur Bhopal, Pune, Rajkot. East : Calcutta Bhubaneswar, Guwahati,Durgapur,Tezpur, Berhampur, Navgaon, Ranchi. South : Madras, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiptur, Vishakhapatnam, Vellore, Mysore, Kottayam, Vijaywada. Table : Dart Sample Composition Sex % Income % Male 51 Less than Rs P.M. 6 Female 49 Rs Rs Rs plus 39 Age House With cable 28 Without cable 72 Source : Doordarshan 97, AEU, DG. DDK 169

5 TRP The second system of audience measurement is the TRP or Television Rating Point. This is operated by Indian Market Research Bureau in Mumbai, Delhi, Madras, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad and Kanpur. Only those cities are covered which account for 15% of the total population of the country. The rating are at city level only. DD-1, DD-2 and Satellite channel rating from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad is an integrated form. Separate DD-1, DD-2 ratings at Calcutta. Only DD-1 ratings from Hyderabad, Thiruvanantapuram and Kanpur. PMBS The third system in the People Meter Based System operated by IMRB now covering Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai only. DOORDARSHAN AUDIENCE RESEARCH Main functions 1. Providing Research support to programming and giving feedback on programmes telecast. 2. Supplying data inputs for effective programme strategies and their implementation. 3. Generating DART (Doordarshan Audience Research Television) Ratings. 4. Evaluating specific programmes and campaigns through surveys, panel studies, on the spot observations etc. 4. Conducting formative audience profiles, assessing and prioritising needs, and proto type programme testing with involvement in programme production. 6. Maintaining Data Banks on the activities of Doordarshan at the National and Kendra level. 7. Interacting with Universities, Research Organisations, Market Research Agencies and monitoring the research done by them which is of relevance to the media. Table : Field Units North West South East Delhi Mumbai Chennai Calcutta Lucknow Nagpur Hyderabad Bhubaneswar Gorakhpur Ahmedabad Bangaloe Ranchi Jalandar Rajkot Thiruvanantapuram Guwahati Jaipur Bhopal Srinagar Source : Doordarshan, 97. ARU. DG. DDK. 170

6 ACTUAL VIEWERSHIP PROFILE OF WOMEN VIEWERS Women constitute a very critical audience group for TV. From the point of view of education and nation building the importance of women cannot be underestimated. The programming for women is therefore a very important and crucial element of Indian TV. Unfortunately the normal tendency has been to only think of topics, like cooking, interior decoration and the likes for women s TV programmes. Such programmes deny the contribution of women to the national economy and development. In making women s programmes it is therefore essential to take great care in the kind of issues being dealt with and the manner in which they are dealt. Over the years the concepts regarding women s programmes have evolved bringing out the importance of the role of women, especially her economic role. This change in approach finally led to the belief that if a woman can earn something for herself, she contributes significantly to her standing in the family as well as her social image. A PROFILE OF THE WOMEN VIEWERS The passage of time has not yet led to major changes in the psyche of the Indian women. Most of them feel that a women s main role in life is to have a good family and to bring up children. According to the economic status urban women can be divided mainly into the lower & middle income group and the upper income group. In the lower and middle income groups, daily household chores e.g. cooking cleaning etc. do not allow the housewife time to pursue other personal activities. An early marriage and the joint family system she enters into, shelters her from the environment. She hardly has time to watch television and may not be literate enough to read the newspapers. She however does listen to the radio. By contrast the housewife in the upper income group is educated and with more liberal views. She is more active in family decisions and voices her opinions on important family matters. She depends on the household help in order to make time to read magazines and newspapers and to watch television. Though this group is a minority comprising of about 5%, she is paving the way for her lesser sisters. The rural women on the other hand are not confined to the four walls of the house. They are not only involved in domestic chores but are also economic assets to their families and contribute to the family income by engaging themselves in multifarious activities like working as laborers in construction, farming or rearing of animals. Due to social taboos prevalent in the rural society, the creative potential of rural women have not fully been utilized. Their literacy level is low and they have extremely poor interaction with the outer world due to lack of exposure. They did not show much inclination to view TV Programmes. i i 1-171

7 THE RURAL WOMAN S MAIN REASONS FOR NOT VIEWING TV WERE 1. They do not find spare time to view TV programmes, their evenings are extremely busy with household chores. 2. Community TV is far of from their house. 3. They were not allowed to leave the house in the evening. 4. Social taboos like veils and viewing with the elders of the family do not permit them. 5. They do not understand TV programmes properly. 6. Some programmes except feature films or film based programmes or serials do not interest them. Studies conducted in showed the following media habits of women : Table -14.7: Medium Frequency Exposure% Radio 7 days of the week 55.4 Television -do Newspaper -do Magazines At least once a week 25.0 Cinema At least once a month 29.4 Video -do- 9.4 Source : Study conducted by Ogilvy Benson & Mather ( ) The study also showed that TV was fast catching at the expense of cinema and Radio Table Medium More often % Less often % TV Radio Video Cinema Magazine Source : Study conducted by OB & M ( ). Exposure to all media vehicles increases with income,.but more so for television, press and video. Radio delivered the highest expose of all media in the lower income groups. 172

8 Medium All Table Upto Rs. 750 % Exposure to Rs. 751 to Rs.1500 Rs Rs Rs Radio TV Newspaper Cinema Magazine Video Source : Study conducted by OB & M ( ) PROPORTION OF WOMEN AUDIENCE IN TV In our TV programmes, women s average proportion amounts to about 36% of the total adult audience. When women s serial is going on, the proportion of women audience is seen to exceed this average. Table : Audience Proportion at the Transmission time Sr. Audience No. General prog. % during the prog. Women s prog. % during the prog. Adult Audience Women Men Child Audience Total Source : A study by Indian Space Research Organisation From the above table, it is clear that the proportion of women audience is more while special women s programmes are on, compared to the general programmes. At the time of women s progammes, proportion of women and men seen to be almost equal, of the total adult audience. Thus on days when there are women s programmes women make a special effort to see these whereas on other days their proportion in the TV audience is observed to be irregular. PERCENTAGE OF TV PROGRAMMES FOR WOMEN Percentage of programmes for women in the annual average proportion of all TV transmission us given in the table below : 173

9 Year Table : Average % of Women s Programmes Total average % 5.4 Source : A Study by ISRO, REACHING RURAL WOMEN The rural audience in our country are mostly economically backward coming mainly from the working classes and hence cannot afford individual TV sets. Though most of them possess radio sets, their access to Television is only through community TV sets installed by the government. It was observed that rural women were quiet aware of the community TV sets. The villagers viewed feature films telecast at the end of the week. The rural women however had very poor interaction with the outer world due to lack of exposure. Women could not come to watch the TV programmes regularly, the main reason were : 1. They do not find time to view TV programmes, transmission timings of TV programmes and dinner time generally coincided. Even after dinner the job of cleaning and making sleeping arrangements still remains and by the time they are through, it is too late. 2. Social and family restrictions are another important factor. Being wives and daughters, the family often objects to their watching TV in Public with other male members Besides veiled women cannot view TV programmes in public. Social taboos like sitting in the same room with their elder male in laws also prohibit women from viewing TV programmes. 3. Community TV is far off from their houses. People living away from the community TV sets installed mainly in schools or panchayat offices, do not allow the womenfolk to leave the house in the evening due to dark roads. Besides women themselves do not feel enthused if the distance is great. 174

10 4. Women are mainly interested in TV programmes specially made for them or dramas, films and film based programmes. Neither do they understand nor are they interested in watching other TV programmes. 5. Finally the rural male psyche thinks that women s role is confined to the home. Since TV is a means for entertainment and information, men feel that women do not need to watch TV at all. Even in families owning private TV sets, women rarely get to watch TV regularly. RADIO Most of the families in the villages posses radio sets. The commercial services and of late FM are the most popular channels. Women do have more access to the radio sets and another advantage of a radio in that women could listen to it without unveiling herself any time along with her household chores. She did not need to sit and watch. They mainly listened to songs and rural programmes and weather forecast in order to take precautionary measure with regard to agricultural practices. REFERENCE 1. Doordarshan 1997, Audience Research Unit, Directorate General, Doordarshan. 2. Ogilvy Benson & Mather, You ve come a long way lady or have you really...? 3. Dubey V. K., K. N. Pandey, Jaswant Kaur, Reaching Rural Women. 175

APPENDIX A SITE: MAT WAS IT? The Indian Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was

APPENDIX A SITE: MAT WAS IT? The Indian Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was undertaken as a one-year learning experience, a trial-run to provide insights on how to harness the potentially