Aaj Tak leads Hindi News genre in Week 19

The channel’s leadership was consistent across all four days of “Operation Sindoor” coverage

by e4m Staff
Published: May 23, 2025 10:13 AM | 2 min read

Latest data released by BARC India affirms Aaj Tak’s continued dominance in the Hindi news genre for Week 19 (rolled) and Week 18 (unrolled data in the public domain). The channel emerged as the clear leader across key audience engagement metrics, particularly during the high-impact coverage of “Operation Sindoor” between May 7 and May 10.

In Week 19, Aaj Tak secured a market share of 13.4% among Hindi news channels in the 15+ HSM segment, with an even stronger showing of 13.6% in the combined TV and out-of-home (OOH) measurement. The channel also topped viewership charts across all genres during the crucial “Operation Sindoor” updates on May 7, recording AMA’000s of 905 in the 2 AM to 2 PM slot. This figure outpaced leading general entertainment channels, including Star Plus (535 AMA’000s) and Dangal (605 AMA’000s), highlighting the impact of Aaj Tak’s news programming.

The dominance extended further as Aaj Tak’s AMA between May 7 and 9 was 40% higher than that of News18 India, which logged 39,341 AMA’000s during the same period, according to publicly available trade data. Week 18’s unrolled BARC data placed Aaj Tak at 254 GRP in the 2+ HSM category, and extrapolated figures showed the channel reaching nearly 15% market share, reinforcing its position even in untreated measurement sets.

On the digital front, Aaj Tak recorded significant traction with a peak of 2 million concurrent viewers on YouTube LIVE on May 8. Additionally, “Aaj Tak LIVE” ranked among the top three trending Google searches in India on May 7, demonstrating strong real-time digital engagement.

The channel’s leadership was consistent across all four days of “Operation Sindoor” coverage from May 7 to May 10, including five key MEA press briefings, where Aaj Tak maintained the top spot as per rolled BARC data. Cumulative reach for Aaj Tak also surpassed that of News18 India over the same period, outperforming even channels with artificially boosted landing-page viewership.

During the ceasefire announcement led by Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri on May 10, Aaj Tak further cemented its leadership by achieving close to 17% market share in rolled probabilistic data.

These findings collectively reaffirm Aaj Tak’s position as the top Hindi news channel in the country, with a strong performance backed by both traditional television metrics and digital engagement indicators.