Radio's reach increases, but news loses share among corporate decision makers: ACNielsen survey

News has always been a preferred media destination for business managers and senior executives from the Indian corporate world, but it seems that radio is now fast catching up. According to ACNielsen's Corporate Decision Makers (CDM) Survey 6, a study of media consumption and product/service usage habits, the number of CDMs tuning into radio almost doubled in 2006 to 72 per cent of the respondents. This figure has increased from 38 per cent last year. The increase in radio listenership is in line with the amount of time this group spends in their cars.

However, it is interesting to note that the average number of television channels watched has declined from six to four, and the time spent on most preferred news-based programmes has also decreased significantly. CDMs spend similar amounts of time watching movies and news channels.

Among general interest newspapers, 'The Times of India' is the most read, with a 72 per cent average issue readership in 2006. 'The Times of India' maintains its lead across all metros, except Chennai. Once again, 'The Economic Times' maintains its lead position as the most read business daily, followed by 'Business Standard' and 'Hindu Businessline'.

It is worth noting that corporate decision makers' access to the Internet increased from 81 per cent in 2005 to 98 per cent in 2006.

In this group, 98 per cent use the Internet to check office emails, closely followed by personal emails (95 per cent) and information search (59 per cent). CDMs are increasingly showing interest in online transactions, either booking air tickets (38 per cent), railway tickets (24 per cent) or trading shares (15 per cent). In corporate echelons, the Internet is becoming one of the most attractive media because of its speed and ability to keep people connected wherever they are.

As India emerges as one of the world's fastest-developing economies, travel by CDMs also increased. In 2006, Singapore emerged as the preferred destination for business (31 per cent) and leisure (21 per cent) among India's CDMs.

When it comes to financial products and services, ICICI Bank topped the 'most preferred bank' ranking among the corporate elite. The younger CDMs also rate ICICI Bank as 'the most popular bank' for net banking and credit cards. Insurance (89 per cent) ranks as the most preferred investment option, with the majority (56 per cent) also investing in risk-bearing instruments such as stocks and equity.

ACNielsen CDMS also profiles CDMs in terms of product ownership and lifestyle behavior, and shows up a fascination for high-end durables. Convenience-related items rank highly, with PCs/laptops having the highest ownership (for 97 per cent) followed by microwaves (88 per cent) and digital cameras (78 per cent).

ACNielsen CDMS is a yearly study designed to understand the media habits and lifestyles of today's corporate decision makers, an influential segment with highly aspirational lifestyles and unique media consumption habits. As with the previous studies, CDMS 6 was conducted among senior executives designated as general managers across the top 500 listed private sector companies, 100 top public sector companies and 100 leading financial sector companies including banks, merchant bankers and foreign institutional investors (FII).

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