The Hindu Business Line : Kerala youth shed no tears over mega serials

THE young generation in Kerala has a clear dislike for the daily mega serials that major TV channels dish out in the hope of attracting the maximum number of viewers, and by extension, commensurate revenue.

The finding was the result of a study of TV watching trends in the State conducted by Dr Suresh Manimala and Dr Mukunda Das that covered students in the age group of 15-25 years from rural and urban centres.

The study found that almost 100 per cent of the sample was in the habit of watching TV regularly. Teenagers did not prefer longer hours of TV watching, mainly because of the options available to them in the form of other activities. Urban population tended to watch TV for slightly longer durations.

Of the two major reasons for TV viewing, viz., entertainment and information, "entertainment" was the most cited. Only a small proportion of the respondents watched TV for "information".

Even among this group, the entertainment aspect was valued more by women in both rural and urban areas.

The teenage segment fell in this category.

Information-oriented programmes were preferred more by men, especially so by urban males. Film songs and music-based programmes were found to be the most viewed among entertainment programmes, closely followed by "films'' and "news".

The favourite timing of TV watching is broadly from 6 p.m. to 11 p. m. The most preferred time slot was found to be 9 pm to 10 p. m.

This was strikingly in contrast to the general perception in that the peak viewing time in Kerala is 7 p.m. - 8 p. m.

The study also attempted to explore the nature of interface between advertising and its outcome of responses from the consumers.

It confirmed the fact that the young generation in the State is considerably influenced by TV advertisements.

Generally, the respondents showed a lot of interest in TV advertisements.

In fact, a large majority (85.83 per cent), stated that they liked TV advertisement. Women in urban areas, both males and females in rural areas and teenagers, generally, displayed a pronounced bias in favour of Malayalam advertisements.

Males in urban areas, other than teenagers, liked English advertisements in Indian channels more. "Visuals" and "music" were found to be the most preferred components in an advertisement. The respondents also rated components such as "appeal", "models", "technical excellence" and "distinctiveness" in advertisements as important.

An analysis of the response shows that among the components of the most liked advertisements; the liking for the "visuals" takes in the first place.

More Stories on : Marketing Research | Entertainment & Leisure | Radio/TV | Kerala

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