: Obama sweeps the prime time coverage : Obama Grabs Maximum Prime Time Coverage Among Foreign Heads : The three day visit of US President Barack Obama to India received more prime time TV news coverage than any foreign heads of the states who visited India and even more coverage than Indian Prime Minister’s visit to any foreign countries, according to a study.
To analyze the coverage of US President Barack Obama’s visit to India, CMS Media Lab conducted the study of prime time (7-11 PM) of six major news channels (Aaj Tak, DD News, Star News, Zee News, CNN IBN and NDTV24x7) from 1st to 8th November 2010.
The study revealed that the three day visit of Obama, from 6th to 8th November 2010 received 70% more prime time space than the three days visit of his predecessor George Bush in 2006. Obama received 2410 prime time minutes whereas Bush’s three day visit in 2006 got 1392 minutes of prime time coverage.
The news channels carried 309 news stories and 64 special programs and devoted 1105 & 1892 minutes respectively of the prime time on Obama’s India visit. According to the study, Obama’s visit got the maximum coverage on CNN IBN with 636minutes of coverage, followed by NDTV 24×7, which allotted 625 minutes. Zee News spent 575 minutes and DD News devoted 478 minutes of prime time for the President’s visit. Aaj Tak and Star News allotted 376 and 307 minutes respectively to the US President’s visit.
The study reflected that the prime time coverage on the President had touched its peak during three days he stayed in India (6th to 8th Nov 2010). Those three days consumed 2410 minutes out of the 2998 prime time minutes of Obama coverage in the eight day study period.
Table 1 – Prime Time Coverage of Obama Visit to India from 1st to 8th November 2010
Channel No. of Story Time No. of Special Time Total Time
Aaj Tak 27 133.2 12 242.5 376.1
DD News 68 301 5 177 478
Star News 80 269.4 2 37.2 307
Zee News 58 187 24 388 575
CNN IBN 21 37.2 12 599 636.2
NDTV24x7 55 177.1 9 448.2 625.3
Total 309 1105.3 64 1892.3 2998 (all time in minutes)
Table 2 – Prime Time Coverage of Obama Visit to India from 6th to 8th November 2010
Channel No. of Story Time No. of Special Time Total Time
Aaj Tak 25 128.2 10 214.5 343.1
DD News 46 228 2 76 304
Star News 76 265 2 37.2 302.2
Zee News 34 123 17 295 418
CNN IBN 7 13.5 9 493.3 507.2
NDTV24x7 19 87.3 9 448.2 535.5
Total 207 845.4 49 1565 2410.4 (all time in minutes)
Source: CMS Media Lab
