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Terrestrial
television households have taken a back seat and declined by one
per cent while satellite households have grown at an impressive
29 per cent, according to an analysis based on the National Readership
Survey (NRS) 1999-2001 data. Television households have grown from
18.11 crore to 18.76 crore during this period, up 3.59 per cent.
The cable and satellite (C&S) homes increased from 2.94 crore
to 3.79 crore while terrestrial households dropped from 15.11 crore
in 1999 to 14.97 crore in 2001.
“Satellite
television is fuelling television growth in India. It is growing
faster than terrestrial households, though it comparatively has
a much lower base,” said Initiative Media associate vice president
Partha Ghosh, who was an important member in the Initiative Media
Communication Channel Planning team which carried out the analysis.
Terrestrial television households in certain states, however, have
grown faster than C&S homes. “We saw an opposite trend
in states like Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal,”
said Mr Ghosh.
The increase
in TV households in absolute numbers in rural India is double that
of urban India. Urban India is seeing faster growth in C&S households.
“All new TV households in urban India are cable and satellite
homes. Besides, existing terrestrial households are converting into
C&S homes. States contributing to this phenomenon are Gujarat,
Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Bihar and the
four southern states,” said Mr Ghosh. In rural India, the increase
in C&S households is double that of terrestrial homes. All the
four southern states are following the urban trend where terrestrial
TV households are on the decline. Colour TV sets are growing three
times black and white sets. While colour sets increased 37 per cent
from 1.94 crore in 1999 to 2.65 crore in 2001, B&W TV went up
12 per cent from 4.83 crore to 5.4 crore during this period. Remote-operated
TV sets are also growing speedily at 45 per cent. Almost all the
new added colour sets have come with a remote control. “In
states like Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Kerala,
Maharashtra and Goa, the growth in B&W TV sets has almost become
static or started declining. However, states like Orissa, Rajasthan
and West Bengal are where the opportunity lies for the B&W segment
as they are growing at a rate of over 20 per cent,” said Mr
Ghosh.
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