• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Port Info

• Ships in Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• Business Line
• The Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Chennai , May 5

THE Indian Readership Survey has the tools to capture viewership patterns of over 60 per cent of the TV-owning population, currently unmeasured in the country, said Mr Premjeet Sodhi, Head of Intellect, an arm of Lintas Media Divisions.

Half the population having access to cable & satellite channels and three-fourths of those getting Doordarshan channels don't get measured, he said, adding that the rural areas and towns with a population of less than a lakh — which constitute the "invisible" TV zones — are clocking handsome growth in TV ownerships, thus becoming more relevant for marketers.

"We can't assume that the measured part represents the viewership patterns of the unmeasured too." Factors such as electricity supply, content, type of television set, and whether the viewer is watching TV in his own house are unique to the "invisible" TV areas, and these may mean a different kind of a preference set for them, he said in a meeting hosted here by Media Research Users Council (which brings out the IRS), in association with Hansa Research.

Ms Meenakshi Madhvani, Managing Partner of Spatial Access Media Solutions, tracing the changing face of consuming India, said the rural population is becoming more affluent; rural India's share of durables growth, packaged goods, among others, is quite high.

Keeping pace with such changes has been the increasing reach of mass media, more particularly television, which has gained at the cost of cinema.

This, along with growing literacy among housewives and chief wage earners, has been a result of demographic changes, she said.

Hansa Research Group's Managing Director, Mr Ashok Das, introduced the Household Premiumness Index (HPI), which seeks to provide a better understanding of the affluence of a household. Socio-economic classification has often been inadequate while differentiating within the top end, he said, adding that HPI will be based on demographics, ownership and consumption of media, products and services.

Mr N.P. Sathyamurthy, Director General of MRUC, said IRS would add data on retailing and air-travel this year.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Reliance Info set to offer handsets below Rs 1,500

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line