ET NOW is No 1 in Mumbai

Media News

Mumbai, August 17, 2009

It’s a short time in the lifetime of a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year medium, but the fledgling business channel from the Times Group, ET NOW, has already made a mark. Less than two months after its launch, ET NOW has achieved leadership position in the key market of Mumbai. For the second week in a row, the channel had more than 50% share of the English business news category.

Premier market research agency AC Nielsen’s TAM data for the week ending August 8 show ET NOW with 55% share of the English business news genre followed by NDTV Profit with 23%, CNBC TV18 with 16% and UTVi with 6%. "That sounds like a fantastic start," said Vikram Sakhuja, CEO, Group M South Asia, “and I’m sure it’ll get better from here." The audience considered is a key demographic for advertisers males aged 25 years and above, from socio-economic class A&B. "Advertisers are focused on this age band," said Jasmin Sohrabji, managing director, OMD, "so what matters is how a channel does with the audience that’s relevant to them." The TAM panel data is the standard yardstick used by advertisers and media agencies.

In its launch phase, ET NOW is focused on a few key markets, and the channel is fast consolidating its overall No. 2 position. "With this kind of channel share in Mumbai, it’s only a question of time before it establishes itself in the other markets," said Punitha Arumugham, CEO, Madison Media. But on the niche profile of viewers that premium advertisers target, she said, "I would say this kind of profile is found in the key metros, and there’s nothing better than the financial capital."

On the weekends, ET NOW is a leader in the four key markets —Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat and Hyderabad —with 43% of weekend business television viewers, compared to CNBC’s 32%. And the top 5 programmes in the business television genre for this audience last week were all shows on ET NOW. "I wouldn’t have expected any less of ET NOW, given the equity and backing of ET," said Sohrabji.

Chintamani Rao, CEO of Times Global Broadcasting, said that he was delighted that the channel has captured the imagination of the financial capital. "It’s early days and the game has just begun. Let’s not read much into these numbers, but it does strengthen our resolve that there’s an alternate, credible and intelligent way of tracking the markets. We don’t want to fuel wild speculation, we hope to encourage sensible, intelligent investing." ET NOW is continuing to ramp up distribution in key markets, and is now available on direct-to-home services from Bharti and Reliance’s BIG TV.

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