All European nations combined can't beat India's TV audience

It was on 15th September 1959 that Indians got a pastime, luxurious and available only to a select few. Fifty seven years later, not only has TV entered almost every household in India, but watching television has become India’s favorite pastime. So much so that the entire continent of Europe combined can’t beat the number of people that watch TV in India.

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A report by BARC India, the country's TV viewership monitoring agency, estimates the audience size and television penetration in India to be around 780 million, bigger than Europe’ entire population, which stands at 745 million.

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The latest Broadcast India Survey was the largest ever research about the Indian television habits, conducted between November 2015 and February 2016. It covered 300,000 homes in 590 districts across about 4,300 towns and villages.

"The TV universe in India is ever growing and changing and so is the profile and choice of a TV viewer. The last survey done was in 2013 and the last Census was in 2011. The consumer and viewer landscape is changing rapidly with electrification, prosperity, changing modes of signal and digitisation," says Partho Dasgupta, CEO at BARC India.

(Image source: YouthConnect)