News TV eyes viewership gains in temple coverage

The grand consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 22 January promises to set off a year of big gains for television news channels, many of which have been running exhaustive coverage leading up to the inauguration, and even plan to set up studios in the ancient town for the historic day.

- LataJha

The news category commanded nearly a fifth of overall TV viewership at the beginning of the covid-19 lockdown, thanks to a lack of fresh entertainment content and viewers' hunger for pandemic-related information. However, it fell to nearly 4% as the economy opened up, before rising back to 7.1% recently ahead of the general election. The Ram temple pran pratishtha, or consecration ceremony, is being seen as yet another tentpole event that could lead to a near fivefold jump in viewership compared to a regular day.

"The Ram temple inauguration stands as a key attraction for the Hindi belt audience, making it increasingly significant for Hindi news channels to cover updates on the happenings in Ayodhya. Hindi news channels are airing two to three hours of news relating to Lord Ram's life and times, the upcoming Ayodhya temple and other related events," Rajat Sharma, chairman and editor-in-chief, India TV, said. India TV's own coverage is running under the tagline Mere Ram Aaye Hain'.