AaJ Tak and Zee News have attracted more audiences than CNN and BBC following the ‘September 11’ incident, indicating a clear preference for Hindi news channels, even for coverage of global events. The proportionate increase in viewership is higher in the case of Aaj Tak and Zee News than BBC and CNN, though overall consumption of news in all the channels has gone up.

The first week of September 11, however, showed a different trend, as the channel-share of Aaj Tak slipped even as Zee News held on. BBC scored over CNN as its share shot up from 6 per cent to 14 per cent. CNN saw a rise from 6 per cent to 13 per cent, according to Intam data for 15+ SEC ABC viewers in cable and satellite homes of eight major cities. Aaj Tak fell from a channel-share of 39 per cent pre-September 11 to 33 per cent in the week of September 11, while Zee News remained stagnant at 22 per cent.

Star News’ audience share fell steeply from 22 per cent to 14 per cent. CNBC’s share slipped from 6 per cent to 4 per cent, despite the channel’s shift of coverage from business news to the plane crash in World Trade Centre.

“Star News has an audience profile similar to BBC and CNN. Its viewers probably migrated to the international news channels. Being a business channel, CNBC also saw a fall in its share,” said Madison Communications senior media planner Mr Anish Rajgopal.

The Hindi news channels, however, recovered ground as the events unfolded. In the four weeks post-September 11, Zee News’ channel share actually improved from its pre-September 11 position, going up to 29 per cent. Aaj Tak, which had lost share in the week of the incident, recovered ground to enjoy a channel share of 36 per cent. This, however, was lower than its pre-September 11 share.

“Zee News used footage from CNN, while Aaj Tak took feed from Fox News, which might not have been so popular. On the whole, Hindi viewers did not feel the need to tune in to the global news channels,” said media analysts.

BBC and CNN lost channel-share to be at 9 per cent each, while CNBC and Star News fell further by one per cent to have a share of 3 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. The appetite for global and business news channels was obviously not as high as the Hindi channels.

Even as the US bombing on Afghanistan intensified, Aaj Tak grew its audience share to 41 per cent in the week-ended November 11. The channel’s decision to send its own reporters to cover the event had a positive impact.