MUMBAI: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s call to the nation to switch-off lights for 9 minutes at 9 pm on April 5th also made a lot of Indians switch off their TV sets and illuminate candles and lamps in their homes.
As per BARC India
viewership data, for the nine minutes during the peak primetime, the total viewership on Sunday was down by 60%, lowest at the time band since 2015. In fact, the decline in the viewership started at 8:53 pm, and came back to its normal trend only by 9:30 pm.
Earlier on April 3rd, PM Modi had urged all the citizens through a recorded message to switch off all the lights in their house at 9 pm on Sunday and light a diya or candle or shine their mobile’s flashlight for 9 minutes. The move was to show solidarity in fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
Interestingly, the 11 minute message, which was aired across 199 TV channels, was viewed by 119 million viewers for a total of 1.02 billion minutes.
Locked down at their homes, Indian viewers are anxious for information and have been tuning in to every message of PM Modi in unprecedented numbers.
Modi’s two previous live addresses, first when he asked the nation to follow a one-day Janta Curfew, and second when he announced a 21-day lockdown, were also viewed by 82.5 million and 196.5 million viewers, respectively.