If Viacom18 and Sony are planning a merger, there couldn’t be a better time. That is the first thing that hits you when you look at Broadcast Audience Research Council numbers for what has happened to television broadcasting in the last six-odd months. The second is how much the market has changed.

In the first half of 2020 television viewership has risen by 9 per cent over the first half of 2019. The average time spent has gone up from 3 hours and 46 minutes to over four hours. Yet India’s top five broadcast networks have lost audience share. The estimated Rs 18,000-crore …