Elections & exit polls remain evergreen TRP boosters on Television: Survey

New Delhi: Not long ago, the Hindi film industry used to rule the mind & hearts of crores of Indians, only to get silently replaced by Indian Television and its wide array of programs, dramas & sitcoms. However, Elections and exit polls have once again stood out as flag-bearers of TRP ratings. Over the years, the medium of consumption may have shifted from TV to digital mode but the numbers do see a sudden spike whenever election season arrives.

A leading survey ‘Ratingology’ has found that Elections are an all-weather event that not only bring huge audience but also give a big boost to TRPs.

The survey, studying the digital viewership pattern in the run-up to Exit polls for four Assembly elections, has identified a gigantic shift in the way Indian public taps on their Television during elections. The surveying agency studied & analysed the YouTube rating points of respective TV channels to draw a comprehensive report on public viewership during Elections.

The survey has found nine-fold jump & three-fold jump in English & Hindi YouTube viewership rating points during Prime Time of the TV broadcasts.

As per its findings, the YouTube viewer rating points (for English) which stood at barely 2,182  on 29th November 2023 (a day before Exit polls) soared exponentially to 17,648 rating points on the day of Exit polls i.e. 30th November 2023.

A stark difference was also observed in the way the Hindi audience watches TV, before & during Exit polls. On 29th November 2023, the YouTube viewer rating points for Hindi stood at 16,130 during Prime Time and that spiked to three times at 45,820, the next day i.e. 30th November 2023.

What’s even more astonishing are the numbers, when a channel telecasts Exit poll findings by a credible polling agency like Axis My India. For the unversed, the polling agency has a proven & consistent track record of over 90-95% accuracy in its poll projections in last couple of years, since its inception.

As per survey, India Today’s Prime Time numbers for English (during Exit polls) jumped from 592 to 17,648 rating points and saw a spike from 7,334 to 45,820 rating points on its YouTube channel.

The Exit poll numbers of a credible & authentic pollster not only drives the TRP ratings of a news channel but also shows up in its concurrent viewership, a benchmark for measuring YouTube popularity. The India Today English YouTube channel recorded a concurrent viewership of 34,000 during Exit polls while its Hindi channel recorded a concurrent viewership of 1,69,000, leaving the other competing channels far behind.

Not just the Prime Time, the Exit polls also kept the audience glued to their TV sets during other shows of the day. Here also, the channel with more credible pollster won hands down as compared to rivals.

Overall, the survey has found catapulting impact of Elections and exit polls, on how India watches television. Lately, the various experiments on TV like reality shows, dramas & sitcoms have lost their sheen but the Exit polls continue to drum up the numbers, much like the way Electioneering heats up the battle on ground.