UK ratings: News18 India yet to make impact

IndiaCast UK’s recently launched current affairs and business channel, News18 India is yet to make impact in the UK ratings, according to official data from BARB.

News18 India, which launched in the UK on Monday 1st July, has failed to attract over 51,000 viewers since it went BARB rated last month. The first weekly reach for week ending Sunday 11th August was 51,000 viewers, followed by 21,000 for week ending Sunday 18th August. It then slid to 15,000 on Sunday 25th August, before climbing back up to 25,000 in the latest round of figures for week ending Sunday 1st September.

Unofficial figures show that Geo News, which recently went free-to-air in the UK market will certainly make a splash in the weekly reach ratings, when official data is reported next week. Al Jazeera English continues to lead with a reach of 1,270,000 viewers, ARY News in second with 371,000 viewers and Aaj Tak in third with 260,000 viewers.

Star Plus was on top of the ratings in terms of entertainment channels with 1,174,000, followed by UMP Movies with 924,000 and Rishtey in third with 841,000 viewers.

The others in the pecking order were Star Gold (649,000), Zing (643,000), Star Life Ok (565,000), Sony SAB TV (551,000).