Operation Sindoor coverage: TV news viewership soars to record high, says BARC

A man holds the national flag as he watches the live telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the Nation, in Bikaner. (PTI Photo)

News channels recorded peak viewership numbers during Operation Sindoor between May 3 and May 9, with 507 million viewers tuning to watch the developments pertaining to the India-Pakistan conflict, as per weekly data released by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

As per the data released on Monday, the TV news genre accounted for 16 percent of overall TV viewership during May 7 and May 9— almost tripling from its usual 6 percent level.

At 254 GRPs, Hindi news channel recorded the highest growth, as they logged their highest weekly performance since 2022.

As per the data shared, this surpassed even other big ticket events like Lok Sabha Elections of 2024 (235 GRPs), results of multiple state elections of 2022 (211 GRPs) and the Ram Mandir Temple Consecration and the Republic Day coverage of 2024 (185 GRPs each).

TV viewers also spent a significantly more time on Hindi news and the average time spent (ATS) on Hindi news jumped to 60 minutes — marking a 67 percent increase over pre-Pahalgam weeks.

During the three key days of Operation Sindoor, BARC data shows that Hindi news share rose from 3 percent to 13 percent (HSM 2+), and from 4 percent to 15 percent among HSM 15+ audiences— clocking higher levels than numbers seen during the surgical strikes in 2016.

In addition, 142 million viewers tuned into Hindi news channels between Wednesday and Friday of the week — nearly doubling from 73 million levels.

Government briefings by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) across the three days also saw massive spikes in viewership, with viewership rising by 509 percent between 10:36–11:00 AM on Wednesday, by 125 percent between 5:45–6:25 PM on Thursday and by 242 percent between 5:33–5:55 PM on Friday.

The BARC data also showed that 65 million viewers, who hadn’t tuned in to Hindi news in the prior month, switched to it during Week 18— showing that the genre reaches beyond its regular audience base during moments of national significance.