Television banks on Ayodhya news to keep viewers glued
pran pratishtha, or consecration ceremony, is being seen as yet another tentpole event that could lead to a near fivefold jump in viewership compared to a regular day. “The Ram temple inauguration stands as a key attraction for the Hindi belt audience, making it increasingly significant for Hindi news channels to cover updates on the happenings in Ayodhya.
Hindi news channels are airing two to three hours of news relating to Lord Ram’s life and times, the upcoming Ayodhya temple and other related events," Rajat Sharma, chairman and editor-in-chief, India TV, said. India TV’s own coverage is running under the tagline ‘Mere Ram Aaye Hain’.
“When the Supreme Court gave the judgement (for the disputed land to be handed over to a trust to build the temple) in 2019, the Hindi news genre viewership increased by 150%, even though it was not a planned event. The pran pratishtha on 22 January is a planned event and has evoked curiosity and enthusiasm among people not only in India, but also in Thailand, Korea, Cambodia, Indonesia and other South-East Asian countries where Lord Ram is venerated.
On that day, the viewership of the Hindi News genre is anticipated to take a quantum jump—nearly threefold—from the current scenario," Sharma added. There is unprecedented interest in the inauguration, since it is an article of deep faith for many across the country, Karan Abhishek Singh, chief executive officer (CEO), Hindi news cluster, Network18, said.
“As a result, there is tremendous curiosity around each aspect of the temple and its construction; people genuinely want to know every little detail. It is thus expected that viewership of news platforms will most certainly spike—this is something that one sees with most high-value news
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