New Delhi, Apr 9 (IANS): India united for Prime Minister Narendra Modis #9PM9Minutes programme on April 5, and the outcome was the lowest ever total television viewership for those nine minutes since 2015.

PM Modi had appealed to the nation to switch off lights and light up torches, candles, lamps and cellphone torches at 9 pm for 9 minutes on March 5 as a mark of solidarity to the nation's COVID-19 warriors.

According to a report by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), the impact of #9PM9Minutes initiative on viewership in those nine minutes was the lowest ever since 2015, showing how the initiative brought the nation together.

The TV viewership dropped by 60 per cent during these nine minutes as compared to previous weeks. The decline started by 08:53 pm and came back to current trends only after 09:30 pm

The report also highlighted that PM Modi's video message of positivity, community and strength on April 3 garnered one billion viewing minutes.

The third part of the report on "Crisis Consumption on TV and Smartphones" was released on Thursday jointly by BARC and Nielsen Media. It showed how India follows the global trend in showing continued increase in TV (43 per cent) and smartphone consumption(13 per cent) this week vis-a-vis the Pre COVID period. The growth in TV consumption this week was driven by the movie genre(77 per cent growth).

It also highlighted that the return of the classics made DD National the most watched channel this week across India. While the return of the old classics improves viewership on DD National and pay GEC Channels, smartphone viewers increase consumptions on original series with 32 per cent growth over the Pre COVID period. Non-primetime also continued to be the growth driver for TV (81 per cent over the pre-COVID period), with early morning and late night slots also showing a growth.