Over 95 pct people in South India have access to Television

The total TV penetration is highest in southern India with 95 percent of homes in the five states owning a television set, according to a recent survey.

The Broadcast India 2018 survey carried out by television rating agency Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC) noted that the number of TV-owning individuals in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Kerala is 259 million, up 8 percent from 2016. This also means that 31 per cent of total TV owning individuals are present in these 5 states, it said. The TV owning individuals in north is 209 million, west is 221 million and east is 146 million.

The survey covered 3 lakh households, approximately 4,300 towns/villages and 68 per cent of the urban market. "While total TV penetration in India currently stands at 66 per cent, TV penetration in South India is as high as 95 per cent. This can also be attributed to the fact that electrification in South is around 99.9 per cent and one of the first durables which people buy having electricity is TV," BARC India chief executive officer Partho Dasgupta said.

South has been witnessing a year on year growth in average time spent on TV, with 8 out 10 people sampling TV daily and a high time spent of 4 hrs 10 mins. The region also generates viewership of around 12 billion impressions at a weekly level and 31 percent of the TV individuals in south contribute to 40 percent of total TV viewership. As per the survey, at an all India level, the average family size for TV homes is 4.25 individuals. In the south, this is much lower at 3.8 individuals per household, reflecting that families in the south are much more nuclear in nature.

"The socio-economic profiles of homes in south India have also improved as compared to 2016. While the affluent (NCCS A) have seen a growth of 9 per cent, the upper middle class (NCCS B) TV homes have grown by 15 per cent. TV homes falling under low socio-economic profiles (NCCS D/E) have dropped by 7 per cent. Nuclear families, increasing middle class and rising disposable incomes are helping households move across the affluence chain," it said. It observed that close to 30 percent homes in the south have their female members working either full time or part-time.

The ratio further improves in rural where 35 per cent of homes have their women working. It also noted that among the TV homes in south, 9 out of 10 new consumer classification system A (NCCS A) homes own a refrigerator and 6 out of 10 NCCS A homes own a washing machine. While 85 per cent of NCCS D/E homes have a TV, only 66 per cent of these homes have a gas stove.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)