After 5 weeks of steady gains, TV viewership declines

After five weeks of steady increase following the imposition of the COVID-19 lockdown, television viewership dipped in the last week and the Hindu mythology serial Ramayan, the mainstay of the increase, also showed a decline, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) said on Friday.

It attributed the 6 per cent fall in overall minutes watched to a dip in watching in rural areas due to the summer and also fall in south India, which was observing festivities the previous week.

TV audiences grew as the entire country came under a lockdown from March 25.