Times Now is a clear leader in TG that matters for advertisers: Rahul Shivshankar

Comparing the viewership data between pre and post-ratings dark period, Rahul Shivshankar, Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief, Times Now, said that Times Now is a clear leader in the markets and TG which matter most for the advertisers in the English news genre.

Shivshankar said, “Today, Times Now commands a 40% market share in 1mn+ markets among NCCS 22+AB. And on every parameter, be it the reach or times spent per viewer (TSV), there is a huge growth after the cleanup exercise.”

Source: BARC | 10L+| NCCS 22+AB | Pre Wk32-39'20 and Post Wk40-47'22 | All Days | Weekly Avg TVTs, Share%, Reach 000s and Daily TSV

“The dominance in 22+ market is such that in primetime also we are number one which was not the case earlier. In the last 2-3 months, we also reclaimed the top slot at 9 pm also,” Shivshankar added.

Prime Time Band

Source: BARC | 10L+| NCCS 22+AB | Pre Wk32-39'20 and Post Wk40-47'22 | Mon-Fri | 20:00-23:00 | Weekly Avg TVTs, Share%

Talking about the impact of the cleanup exercise at BARC, Shivshankar said, “The day when the ratings resumed on March 17, the entire team at Times Now thanked our viewers because we were vindicated. We were the complainants in the previous system which conspired to show us No. 2 in our core market of 1mn+ and 22+ TG.”

On every channel claiming to be the leader, Shivshankar said, “Ratings matter to advertisers who spend huge money to reach out to their target audience. If a channel is not being viewed in key English language markets, how is it even relevant? It is like saying the Times of India suddenly selling lakhs of copies in a rural regional market. This, in my view, is either the greatest sociological change story or there is a certain kind of dumping taking place. I can bring X data from the rural markets and amalgamate it into the main data and sell it claiming leadership.”

“We want to clear up the misgivings where everyone is claiming to be number one. The propaganda needs to be called out. The advertisers already know this and this is why we have not lost any advertising revenue,” Shivshankar added.

When asked what helped the channel, Shivshankar said, “We are an obsessed company about delivering the best news service. I approach news from a larger ideological point of view. We have been critical of the government as and when needed and not because of any agenda or narrative that dictates us. The viewers are smart and they understand the propaganda. They know who is running agenda and who is constructively critical.”

“On a daily basis through its positioning, Times Now comes across as a rational voice of sanity in a circus full of clowns who are taking positions without looking at the facts. Action truly begins here because we put the facts without fear first. We raise the question first and others follow,” he added.

Pitching for premium advertisers of television news, Shivshankar said that Times Now offers the five most important propositions for them which are: balance, facts, influence, impact, and being honest.

“We let our journalism speak and that is why we are sitting with a 40% market share in our core TG which is a traditional base of buying for media planners,” he concluded.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com