Broadcasters in India are enjoying the first fruits of the country’s ambitious migration to digital TV, with viewing up across most genres last year, according to ratings agency TAM.

Digital cable networks tend to carry between 180 to 200 linear channels, roughly twice as many as subscribers get on analog systems, allowing households to acquaint themselves with new genres.

Niche categories such as English entertainment, factual and lifestyle, music and kids enjoyed notable boosts in average viewing time, benefiting from greater choice in digital homes, which now make up around two thirds of the survey base in TAM’s reported markets.

At the same time, digital TV makes for a better viewing experience, providing a sharper picture and clearer audio, which seems to have encouraged Indian viewers to spend more time in front of the big screen overall.

Hindi entertainment channels, already accounting for a large slice of viewing time, also experienced a significant boost to consumption last year, perhaps also reflecting greater activity in this segment as broadcasters launched flank and free-to-air offerings.

By contrast, few niche channels have launched in India over the past one to two years. While cable operators are providing digital subs with more channels to watch, they have yet to implement new packaging and tiering that broadcasters hope will unlock additional revenue from premium content.

Some surprises

Some channel categories, meanwhile, are faring better than others. Last year was big on elections, driving up interest in both English and Hindi news.

Cricket still dominates sports viewing, masking any possible gains from alternatives such as kabaddi, which enjoyed wide reach last year.

The decline in viewing time for English movies comes as a surprise. Perhaps channels pared down acquisitions last year due to unfavourable exchange rates, in a bid to keep costs under control.

Or maybe the genre, which already accounts for the biggest slice of viewing time in English content, needs to do more if it wants a bigger share of India’s digital dividends.

Overall, however, Indian households seem to value what TV has to offer more than ever, putting the industry in a good place to introduce a wider range of paid services.

“If you speak with the digital heads of broadcast companies in India, they would say right now television as a medium is fighting with time spent on any gadget,” comments Mihir Shah, VP of India for Media Partners Asia, publisher of Media Business Asia.

“It’s no longer time spent on TV versus traditional media,” Shah adds. “It’s competition for eyeballs with apps and multimedia applications.”