Indian Media's Growing Influence

Media in India is gathering pace rapidly and is gaining progressive importance among key decision-makers, according to the latest Decision-Makers Survey 5 (DMS 5) conducted by ACNielsen ORG-MARG.

DMS 5 brings together a composite understanding of the media habits and lifestyles of Indian business leaders. A successor to the popular DMS 4, the current survey was conducted among senior executives designated as General Managers and above across India's top 500 private companies, top 100 public sector and 100 leading financial sector companies including banks, merchant bankers and foreign institutional investors (FII).

The DMS helps marketers understand the role of various channels in communicating to these high profile consumers and provides insight into their media habits - newspaper and magazine readership, TV viewership, radio listenership and Internet usage - as well as lifestyle behavior and product ownership. The average annual income of this corporate elite is estimated at Rs 10 lakhs plus (ie Rs 1 million plus - a lakh is 100,000).

With print media competing neck and neck with TV for advertising dollars, the Economic Times has gained significant ground, recording an increase in readership from 78% in 2004 to 91% this time round. The Economic Times is ranked first in 'average issue readership' amongst the business dailies, followed by Business Standard and Business Line.

Measured by the time spent by corporate decision-makers reading them, the publications are also assessed in terms of their ability to involve readers. Among business dailies, The Economic Times is the most preferred newspaper, followed by Business Standard and Business Line. However, as compared to 2004, the percentage of regular readers of Economic Times (reading at least six issues in a week) has declined from 78% in 2004 to 50% in 2005. On average, the Economic Times is read for 20 minutes, an issue of Business Line is read for 20 minutes, and Business Standard is read for 18 minutes.

Faced with hundreds of TV Channels, more corporate professionals are opting to watch news-based programs followed by business shows and current affairs with CNBC TV 18, followed by NDTV, topping the chart as the 'most watched business channel'. The study also found that the discerning corporate elite are most likely to watch them between 8 and 10 pm during the week.

Sarang Panchal, Executive Director, Customised Research ACNielsen South Asia comments: 'At a time when the Indian sub-continent's corporate elite are powering ahead in the global economy, the survey findings will definitely serve as an effective tool to devise effective marketing and communication strategies'.

With total Internet penetration in single digits, the study found that corporate decision makers' access to the Internet is certainly driving the trend. In 2005, Internet penetration among key decision makers increased to 81% from 66% in 2004. Although Internet usage is mainly for checking e-mail and catching up with the latest news, 11% of the corporate elite are also banking on the 'Net.

'This explains why more and more banks are looking at Internet banking as another
attractive addition to their armoury of delivery channels' says Panchal. 'Among the corporate echelons, the Internet is already fast becoming the most popular mode of banking among decision-makers. Hence these initiatives taken by banks can help marketers and advertisers devise the right strategy matrix to reach the corporate echelons.'

The company is online at www.acnielsen.co.in .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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