54% of Indians tired of watching TV news, finds survey

New Delhi: The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a new media landscape of India. According to the findings of IANS-CVoter Media Consumption Tracker, 54 percent of respondents admitted to being tired of watching the TV news channels while 43 percent disagreed.

While about 55 percent of the surveyed males agreed that they were tired of watching Indian news channels, nearly 52 percent of females shared the same opinion.

Interestingly, it was people from the northeast (59.3 percent) that were most tired of watching Indian news channels while 47.6 percent of people from Union Territories felt the same way.

When it came to north India, at least 57.9 percent of the respondents felt that they were done watching new channels while nearly 48 percent from the south and 53.6 percent from west India felt the same way.

Among the different income groups, 52.4 percent of the lower-income group felt tired of news channels, while the figures for the middle-income group and higher income group were 54.4 percent and 58 percent, respectively.

On educational levels, 52.2 percent of the lower education group felt that they are tired of watching the news channels while 56.4 percent of people from higher education groups felt likewise.

A slight difference of opinion on the same question was also observed in respondents from rural and urban India. While 55.5 percent of people from urban India shared the tiredness of new channels, 52.8 percent of rural India felt likewise.

On an age basis, among those in the age group from 18 years to 55 years and above, the percentage ranged from 52.4 percent to 55 percent.

Talking specifically, in the age group between 18 years to 24 years, 52.4 percent said that they are tired of watching Indian news channels, while the level was 55.9 percent among those aged between 25 to 34 years and 52.3 percent among the age group from 35 to 44 years. The figure for those aged 55 and above was 52 percent.

The sample size of the survey, conducted in the last week of September and the first week of October across India covering all districts in all states and representing the demographic profile according to the latest census figures, was 5,000 plus. The MoE (margin of error) is +/- 3 percent at the national level and +/- 5 percent at regional levels.