Rise of Regional Content
A growing number of Indians also prefer watching content in their respective vernacular language.
- Oct 10, 2018,
- Updated Oct 10, 2018 1:56 PM IST
Almost 49 per cent Indians prefer watching Hindi television shows, says a recent BARC report. However, a growing number of Indians also prefer watching content in their respective vernacular language.
And, this is outside of Tamil Nadu and Andhra, where over 94-96 per cent of TV viewership comes from Tamil and Telugu channels. The BARC report says that in the past two years viewership of Bhojpuri channels have gone up by a whopping 134 per cent, while Assamese and Odiya channels have witnessed a viewership increase of 125 per cent and 89 per cent respectively. The viewership share of Assamese channels has increased from just 15 per cent in 2016 to 23 per cent in 2018.
The rise in viewership of regional channels has also led to an increase in advertising revenue. Advertising revenue of Bhojpuri channels, according to BARC, has increased by 54 per cent in the last one year, while Bangla and Tamil channels witnessed a 39 per cent and 22 per cent surge in advertising money. In contrast, the ad revenue for Hindi channels went up by just 10 per cent.
Regional content is in huge demand and this is not just a TV phenomenon. OTT platforms are also going all out to acquire regional content. Amazon Prime Video launched a Telugu web series earlier this year, GangStars. The platform, which currently offers content in Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, Marathi and Hindi is planning to foray into other vernacular languages also.
With viewership of Hindi channels dipping, most of the leading broadcast networks are beginning to invest a lot more on regional channels. The trend now is to look beyond general entertainment channels in vernacular languages. Viacom 18 has recently launched its third Kannada channel, Colors Kannada Cinema, a movie channel. It already has a Kannada general entertainment channel, Colors Kannada and a youth channel, Colors Super. Earlier this year, the broadcaster launched a Tamil GEC, Colors Tamil. Zee Entertainment is launching a Malayalam channel and is also planning an Assamese channel. Similarly, Star India launched a sports channel in Tamil and has recently launched Star Sports 3, which is a multi-lingual channel that would offer audio feeds in Kannada, Bangla, Malayalam, Telugu and Marathi in the respective states.
Movie studios are also betting on regional films. While Dharma Productions distributed its first regional film, Bucket List (Marathi), Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Sony Pictures Network and Eros also have a decent slate of regional releases.
Almost 49 per cent Indians prefer watching Hindi television shows, says a recent BARC report. However, a growing number of Indians also prefer watching content in their respective vernacular language.
And, this is outside of Tamil Nadu and Andhra, where over 94-96 per cent of TV viewership comes from Tamil and Telugu channels. The BARC report says that in the past two years viewership of Bhojpuri channels have gone up by a whopping 134 per cent, while Assamese and Odiya channels have witnessed a viewership increase of 125 per cent and 89 per cent respectively. The viewership share of Assamese channels has increased from just 15 per cent in 2016 to 23 per cent in 2018.
The rise in viewership of regional channels has also led to an increase in advertising revenue. Advertising revenue of Bhojpuri channels, according to BARC, has increased by 54 per cent in the last one year, while Bangla and Tamil channels witnessed a 39 per cent and 22 per cent surge in advertising money. In contrast, the ad revenue for Hindi channels went up by just 10 per cent.
Regional content is in huge demand and this is not just a TV phenomenon. OTT platforms are also going all out to acquire regional content. Amazon Prime Video launched a Telugu web series earlier this year, GangStars. The platform, which currently offers content in Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, Marathi and Hindi is planning to foray into other vernacular languages also.
With viewership of Hindi channels dipping, most of the leading broadcast networks are beginning to invest a lot more on regional channels. The trend now is to look beyond general entertainment channels in vernacular languages. Viacom 18 has recently launched its third Kannada channel, Colors Kannada Cinema, a movie channel. It already has a Kannada general entertainment channel, Colors Kannada and a youth channel, Colors Super. Earlier this year, the broadcaster launched a Tamil GEC, Colors Tamil. Zee Entertainment is launching a Malayalam channel and is also planning an Assamese channel. Similarly, Star India launched a sports channel in Tamil and has recently launched Star Sports 3, which is a multi-lingual channel that would offer audio feeds in Kannada, Bangla, Malayalam, Telugu and Marathi in the respective states.
Movie studios are also betting on regional films. While Dharma Productions distributed its first regional film, Bucket List (Marathi), Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Sony Pictures Network and Eros also have a decent slate of regional releases.