News channels, especially in the Hindi heartland, saw substantial gains in advertising and viewership on January 22 thanks to the iconic Ram Mandir consecrations. As per reports, such a spike is only witnessed on a general election counting day.
Viewership, split with digital platforms like YouTube is said to have increased 10 to 15 percent on liner TV alone. Advertising rates consequently, were three to four times higher, especially for mass market brands. These brands found their slots on L-bands during the coverage of the ceremony. News channels too operated with fewer ad breaks.
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News channels reduced their ad volumes to increase viewer retention. The high ad rates though, more than made up for the loss. Ad volumes on news channels fell by 14 percent on the inauguration day as opposed to the previous day (Jan 21), as per reports. Similarly, during state election results in December last year, ad volumes declined by 9 percent compared to the day prior.
Food and beverages led ad volumes at 15 percent, followed by services at 14 percent and building, industrial and land materials or equipment at 13 percent.