Television Viewing Habits of Youngsters in India

INTRODUCTION: The latter part of the 20th century is known as the â€Å"Electronic age’’. It is estimated that 97%of the homes have atleast one television set. Children who come from homes without television are likely to view programs in schools, at friends house and in stores. Almost every youngster is exposed to television. Television has had a tremendous impact on the lives of the youngsters as it provides them with entertainment, information as and companionship. One of our television actors has said ‘that shows for youngsters are limited because there are not many takers for these programs . nd family oriented soaps are getting more TRPs. He says that he himself being a youngster prefers to watch shows like friends, music based reality shows, films, etc. and not family oriented soaps. When youngsters watch television with their parents their choice always differs. Because youngsters prefer to watch channels like Mtv, Channel V and more of reality and entert ainment show. While parents usually watch daily soaps and news, which most of the youngsters do not prefer to watch. There is hardly anything left for the youngsters to watch today because nowadays many daily soaps have been increasing. But there are a couple of channels catering to young audiences between the age group of 18-25 years. SURVEY ANALYSIS: The survey which was conducted to find out the television viewing habits among the youth gave us a lot of information as to what exactly the youngsters prefer to watch on television. And what changes they would like to have on television in future. Mostly all the youngsters watch reality shows. Like roadies stunt mania Khatro Ke Khiladi, Indian idol, Big Boss, Dance Reality shows, etc. Many of them watch shows on Sab Tv like Tarak Mehta ka Oolta Cashma , Comedy circus ,etc. They say that these shows give them entertainment and refreshment from studies. Some of them also watch Star Movies, HBO , and other movie channels. A few of them watch discovery, travel and living ,cookery shows ,programmes on NDTV Goodtimes ,and different news channels which give them a lot of information about the outside world . A very few youngsters watch daily soaps. A large no of youngsters yet watch cartoon because it entertains them. And cartoons help them to forget their problems for a little while. Many of them want changes in television in the future; mostly all of them are against the daily soaps on Colours, star plus and Zee Tv. They say that such daily soaps have a bad impact on people. And it can really spoil the children if they watch this entire daily. They expect more of those programmes which give them information which is real and which can help them in their life. Unlike the daily soaps which are fake and they show things which can never happen in our daily lives. IMPACT OF TV VIEWING HABITS OF YOUNGSTERS ON BEHAVIOR NDTV and Aaj Tak: The youngsters watch different channels on television to get knowledge from all the different fields. But they watch more of reality based programmes ,on channels like mtv ,channelv, zoom, bindas, etc. The news channels are usually preferred by senior citizens. but even the youngsters watch news channels. The main news channels are Aaj Tak and NDTV. They watch news channels to be aware of the happenings in our and other countries. But t he very less youngsters watch news. * Cartoon Network: Some of them also watch cartoons. But mainly children watch it. But sometimes for refreshment or entertainment many youngsters prefer to watch cartoons. The most demanded cartoon which is watched by all the ages is Jom &Jerry. There are many cartoons which can have a bad effect on the youngsters as well as the children, which should be banned. * ESPN: Almost all the youngsters like sports. And many of them only watch sports channel. The most demanded sports channel is ESPN. T his channel shows all the different types of sports. Many of the youths have a lot of interest in different sports. There are many other sports channels like neo sport, D. D sports, etc. * MTV and UTV Bindaas: Mtv and Bindas are the channels which are demanded by all the youngsters. These channels show programs which are highly demanded by today’s youth. These channels show reality shows, reality dance shows. singing shows, MTV shows the most demanded program ROADIES and SPLITSVILLA. These shows give entertainment that’s why mostly all the youths watch it. They also show different types of music and songs. The other channels which are demanded by the youths are Channel V, VH1, ZOOM, B4U, etc. Colors and Star Plus: Star Plus and Colors are the channels which show all the daily soaps, which is mostly watched by the middle aged people. The youth does not prefer to watch such channels which do not give them any entertainment. But there are some youngsters who watch these daily soaps. But most of them find these channels and these programs boring. * Doordarshan: D. D (doordarshan) is one of the oldest channels. None of the youths watch this channel or the programs in it. It is only preferred by the old people. * SAB TV: Sab TV is a channel which is demanded by all the age groups. It mainly contains programs which are entertaining unlike the daily soaps. They have all comedy serials which is preferred by everyone. Even large no of youths watch this channel. CONCLUSION: Thus we can conclude that the overall survey has helped us to know what exactly the young generation prefers to watch on television. And also the changes they expect in the near future. It has also helped us to know their views about different shows on television. This survey has really helped us to know the television viewing habits among the youngsters.