Viewers desert non-news Eng channels in India, as TV enters more homes

The viewership of entertainment and film channels that offer English-language content in India has dwindled alarmingly despite an appreciable spike in cable and satellite television homes. While English entertainment channels have lost 30% of their viewers over the past three years, the film channels have been deserted by 27% of viewers.

The drop in numbers is significant because cable and satellite television homes in India have jumped from 63 million to 75 million. The viewership of English entertainment channels ” Star World, Zee Cafe and AXN ” have dropped from 0.34% in 2006 to 0.15% in 2009, TAM Media Research figures reveal.

As for English film channels, their viewership slid from 1.09% to 0.82%.

To hold on to its shrinking base, a few English channels have been deploying English subtitles to alleviate the difficulty of alien accents. The introduction of magic and reality shows seems to figure in the survival strategy of AXN.