The Indian television news genre recorded its highest weekly viewership in recent times during Operation Sindoor, with 507 million viewers tuning in across Week 18 (May 3–9, 2025), according to BARC India data.
The military operation, which unfolded rapidly over three critical days (May 7–9), led to an unprecedented spike in news consumption on TV, with the genre accounting for 16% of overall TV viewership during those days, nearly triple its usual 6% share.
Hindi News sees record GRPs and time spent
Hindi news channels emerged as the dominant force, logging 254 GRPs—the highest weekly performance since 2022. This surpassed other recent high-impact events including the 2024 Lok Sabha election results (235 GRPs) and the 2024 Ram Temple consecration and Republic Day coverage (185 GRPs).
Viewers also spent significantly more time on news: the average time spent (ATS) on Hindi news jumped to 60 minutes, marking a 67% increase over pre-Pahalgam weeks.
Dramatic spike in reach and tune-ins
During the three key days of Operation Sindoor, Hindi news share rose from 3% to 13% (HSM 2+), and from 4% to 15% among HSM 15+ audiences—higher than what was seen during the 2016 surgical strikes.
Daily tune-ins on Hindi news channels nearly doubled, rising from 73 million to 142 million viewers between Wednesday and Friday of that week.
Government briefings draw massive attention
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) briefings held across the three days saw massive spikes in viewership:
- Wednesday (10:36–11:00 AM): Viewership up by 509%
- Thursday (5:45–6:25 PM): Up by 125%
- Friday (5:33–5:55 PM): Up by 242%
These spikes highlight the audience’s demand for real-time, authoritative information during national events.
65 million new viewers sample Hindi News
The data also revealed that 65 million viewers, who hadn’t watched Hindi news in the past month (Weeks 12–15), tuned in during Week 18—indicating the genre’s reach beyond its usual audience base during moments of national significance.