CNBC TV 18, ‘The Economic Times’ rule the roost: survey

The latest Decision-Makers Survey 5 (DMS 5) conducted by ACNielsen ORG-MARG indicates that media – both print as well as television -- has gained ground, especially among key decision makers. Among the business dailies, ‘The Economic Times’ emerged as the most preferred newspaper, followed by ‘Business Standard’ and ‘Business Line’. In the case of television, CNBC Television 18 was the most watched channel among corporate India.

The readership base of ‘The Economic Times’ has grown significantly from 78 per cent in 2004 to 91 per cent this time round. However, as compared to 2004, the percentage of regular readers of ‘The Economic Times’ (that is, those reading at least six issues in a week) has declined from 78 per cent in 2004 to 50 per cent in 2005.

For the record, the survey throws light upon the media habits and lifestyles of contemporary business leaders across various financial, public and private sector companies. This year’s survey was conducted among senior executives (general managers and higher ranks).

This study was conducted by measuring the time spent by the respondents reading the publications, and their ability to engage readers. It was learnt that on an average, corporate decision makers spend about 20 minutes in a day reading business dailies.

Some of the other findings of the survey were that as a newspaper, ‘The Hindu’ has a greater readership base among people working in the corporate sector, whereas ‘Financial Express’ enjoys a strong readership amongst the chairmen and managing directors. In addition, ‘Business Line’ is popular amongst readers in South India, particularly with people working in the financial sector.

Television news channels too have hooked a larger share of corporate professionals. More corporate professionals are opting to watch news-based programmes followed by business shows, current affairs and lifestyle programmes. In this genre, CNBC TV 18 tops the charts as the most watched business channel, followed by NDTV Profit. This kind of business news is watched the most between 8.00 to 10.00 pm.

In addition, the survey also brought to light the gaining importance of the Internet. In 2005, Internet penetration among key decision makers increased to 81 per cent from 66 per cent in 2004. Although Internet usage is mainly for checking e-mail and surfing news, 11 per cent of the corporate elite are also conducting banking transactions on the Internet.

Apart from its media study, the survey also unveiled trends in the banking sector. ICICI emerged as the most preferred bank among the young corporate decision makers, particularly in terms of Internet banking and credit cards. It was followed by HDFC Bank, SBI, HSBC and Citibank.

The sole aim of this study was to enable marketers to better identify the ideal channels for communicating to their TG and provide insights into their media habits, as well as lifestyle behaviour and product ownership of the corporate elite.

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