‘95% of homes in 5 southern States have a television’

Ninety-five per cent of homes in the five southern States have a television, a survey by the Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BI) has found. As per the 2018 survey, the number of individuals owning television sets in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala is 259 million, an increase of 8% from 2016.

The map below shows TV ownership State-wise.

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The number of individuals owning TV in the North is 209 million, 221 million in the West and 146 million in the East.

The survey was conducted covering 3,00,000 households, approximately 4,300 towns/villages and 68% of the urban market, BI said.

“The survey has thrown some interesting facts about South India’s TV viewing habits. While the total TV penetration in India currently stands at 66%, in South India it is as high as 95%,” said Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC India. “This can also be attributed to the fact that electrification in the South is about 99.9% and TV is one of the first durables which people having electricity buy,” he added.

With 8 out 10 people watching TV daily for 4 hours 10 minutes a day, South India has been witnessing year-on-year growth in the average time spent on TV.