CNN-News18 emerged as the number one channel in the English news segment with 243 average minute audience (AMA 000s) also referred to as television viewership in thousands, on Karnataka elections counting day on May 13 this year, according to latest data released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).
BARC defines AMA as the number of individuals in thousands of a target audience who viewed an 'event', averaged across minutes.
According to the BARC data, CNN-News18 beat Republic TV, Times Now and other competitors in the segment. Republic TV garnered 212 AMA (000s), whereas Times Now stood at 190 AMA (000s), India Today TV followed with 66 AMA (000s) and Mirror Now was at 22 AMA (000s).
CNN-News18 also maintained its lead in the 8 AM-12 noon slots, recording 89 AMA (000s), whereas Republic TV and Times Now stood behind with 62 AMA (000s) and 57 AMA (000s), respectively. India Today TV with 24 AMA (000s) and Mirror Now with 4 AMA (000s) stood far behind in public choice.
The 8 am-12 noon slot is critical on counting day since it is followed by election results.
“CNN-News18’s reporting reflects the issues that matter most to our audience. This approach has always kept us ahead of competition like Times Now and Republic. Securing the top spot on counting day is a testament to CNN-News18's comprehensive and incisive coverage on such crucial occasions," said Smriti Mehra, CEO – English Cluster, Network18.
To ensure that the content and presentation of CNN-News18 remain unique and far ahead of its competition, the News18 network has invested heavily in both technology and editorial resources, the channel said.
