Brahmaputra Network TV Advertising: Your Complete Guide to Reaching Northeast India Through DY365, Jonack, and the Full Channel Portfolio

Most advertisers who approach us about Northeast India TV advertising are surprised to discover that a single network — Brahmaputra Television Network — commands a level of audience trust and regional penetration in Assam that national channels simply cannot replicate at any price point. The Assamese-speaking viewer is loyal, culturally specific, and deeply engaged with local content; which means a well-placed campaign on DY365 or Jonack can outperform a national GEC spot that costs three times as much. We have seen this play out repeatedly in campaigns across categories ranging from FMCG to real estate, and the numbers consistently tell the same story.

What Channels Does Brahmaputra Network Own — DY365, Jonack, and the Broader Portfolio?

Brahmaputra Tele Productions Pvt. Ltd., headquartered at Bharalumukh, Guwahati — more specifically at T.R. Phookan Road, Bora Bhawan — operates what has grown into one of the most recognised private broadcasting groups originating from Assam. The flagship channel, DY365, is a 24-hour satellite news channel that has built its reputation on Assamese-language current affairs programming, political coverage, and investigative journalism; which positions it squarely in the same viewing habit as a morning newspaper for the educated Assamese household. Jonack, the network's general entertainment channel, extends the Brahmaputra Television Network's reach into fiction, music, and cultural programming — which means the combined network buy gives advertisers access to two very different but complementary audience moods within a single media plan.

The ownership structure matters here, and what a lot of people miss is that Brahmaputra Tele Productions is not simply a news operation that added an entertainment arm as an afterthought. The network was built with a deliberate dual-channel strategy, allowing advertisers to plan FCT (free commercial time) buys across both news and entertainment dayparts without going to multiple vendors. R. K. Bora, the driving force behind Brahmaputra Television Network, built the organisation with a clear understanding of the Assamese media landscape — which is why the editorial positioning of DY365 under the guidance of figures like its editor-in-chief has remained distinct and credible even as the channel landscape in the region has become more crowded. For advertisers, this editorial credibility is not a soft benefit; it directly influences brand recall among viewers who trust the channel.

At SmartAds, we always tell our clients that buying a network rather than a single channel is almost always the smarter play in regional markets, and Brahmaputra Network is a textbook example of why. A combined DY365 and Jonack campaign buy allows you to reach the news-oriented, opinion-forming viewer in the morning and afternoon dayparts, then transition to the entertainment-seeking, family-viewing audience in the evening — which is a media planning advantage that you simply cannot replicate by buying either channel in isolation.

Why Is Brahmaputra Network the Right Choice for Advertising in Assam and Northeast India?

The case for TV advertising in Assam through Brahmaputra Network starts with a fact that tends to reset expectations in most media planning conversations: television remains the dominant mass medium across the North East seven sisters states, with cable and satellite penetration running significantly higher in urban Assam than many planners assume when they first look at the market. The FICCI-EY Media Report has consistently flagged regional language television as one of the fastest-growing segments in Indian broadcasting, and the Northeast — particularly Assam — represents a market where that growth is happening against a backdrop of relatively limited competition compared to, say, the Kannada or Marathi GEC space.

What makes Brahmaputra Television Network particularly valuable is the geographic concentration of its audience. Guwahati, as the commercial capital of Northeast India, is where a disproportionate share of purchase decisions are made for the entire region; which means a campaign that achieves strong brand awareness in Guwahati tends to have a halo effect across Assam's district towns and even into neighbouring states. DY365, being a satellite news channel Guwahati viewers have grown up with, carries an authority that newer entrants to the market cannot easily replicate. We have found, across dozens of campaigns planned for this market, that the Assamese-language channel environment generates a level of audience engagement — measured in brand recall surveys we commission post-campaign — that consistently surprises clients who come in expecting regional TV to be a second-tier medium.

Frankly speaking, there is also a cost efficiency argument that is hard to ignore. Northeast India TV advertising, particularly on Brahmaputra Network channels, offers CPM rates that work out to somewhere between a third and a half of what you would pay for comparable reach on a national Hindi news channel — and the audience you are reaching is not a diluted, demographically scattered one, but a concentrated, culturally homogeneous group with strong purchasing power in categories like two-wheelers, consumer durables, financial services, and FMCG. For brands that are serious about Assam as a market, the ROI return on investment TV delivers through this network is genuinely difficult to match through any other medium at the same budget level.

What Are the TV Advertising Rates on Brahmaputra Network Channels?

Rate transparency is one of the most persistent pain points in regional TV advertising in India, and we think the industry does advertisers a disservice by keeping rate cards opaque. So let us be direct about what we know from active media buying experience. The ad spot rate per second on DY365 during non-prime time slots works out to roughly ₹200 to ₹400 per second — which, for a standard 10-second spot, translates to a campaign-entry cost that is genuinely accessible even for mid-sized regional brands. Prime time slots on DY365, particularly the evening news bulletin windows between 7 PM and 10 PM, command rates in the ballpark of ₹600 to ₹1,200 per second; which is still a fraction of what a comparable prime time slot on a national news channel would cost.

Jonack's advertising rates follow a slightly different curve, given its GEC general entertainment channel positioning. The prime time band on Jonack — which typically centres around the 8 PM to 10 PM fiction and variety programming block — carries ad spot rates that are broadly comparable to DY365's prime time, somewhere in the range of ₹500 to ₹1,000 per second. The more interesting pricing opportunity, which a lot of advertisers overlook, is the non-prime time advertising inventory on Jonack during afternoon hours, where rates can drop to the ₹150 to ₹300 per second range; which makes it an excellent option for brands running sustained, high-frequency campaigns where cost per GRP matters more than peak audience size.

Package deals — which Brahmaputra Network, like most regional broadcasters, is willing to negotiate for committed campaign durations — can bring effective rates down by anywhere from 15 to 30 percent compared to spot buying. Our experience at SmartAds shows that a monthly FCT package commitment across both DY365 and Jonack, structured around a campaign duration of four to eight weeks, typically yields the best CPRP cost per rating point for advertisers in the ₹5 lakh to ₹20 lakh monthly budget range. It is also worth noting that DAVP-empanelled campaigns — particularly relevant for government departments and public sector advertisers — follow a separate rate structure that is governed by DAVP guidelines rather than commercial negotiation.

What Ad Formats Are Available on Brahmaputra Network — TVC, L-Band, Aston Band, and Logo Bug?

Television commercial (TVC) spots remain the backbone of any campaign on Brahmaputra Network channels, and the standard formats of 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, and 45 seconds are all available across both DY365 and Jonack. A 10-second spot is the workhorse of high-frequency brand recall campaigns, where the goal is to keep a brand name front of mind across multiple dayparts; a 30-second TVC is where storytelling happens, and it is the format we typically recommend for new product launches or campaigns where the message requires some explanation. The minimum duration for a television commercial on Brahmaputra Network channels is generally 10 seconds, which is consistent with industry practice across Indian regional broadcasters.

Beyond FCT advertising, the non-FCT branding formats available on Brahmaputra Network are where things get genuinely interesting for brands with specific visibility objectives. L-band advertising — that horizontal strip running across the lower portion of the screen during programming — is one of the most cost-effective brand awareness tools available on any Assamese language channel, because it delivers brand name visibility without interrupting the viewer's content experience; which means the viewer's goodwill toward the channel transfers, at least partially, to the brand. Aston band advertising operates on a similar principle but is typically narrower and used for scrolling text messages or brief promotional announcements. Logo bug branding, which places a brand's logo in a corner of the screen for an extended duration during a programme, is particularly favoured by financial services and telecom brands that want sustained visibility during high-viewership shows on Jonack.

Banner advertisement formats — static or animated overlays used during specific programme segments — round out the non-FCT inventory, and they are especially effective when used in combination with a TVC campaign rather than as a standalone buy. What we tell our clients at SmartAds is that the most effective campaigns on Brahmaputra Network typically combine a prime time TVC schedule with L-band or logo bug branding during high-viewership programmes; which creates a layered exposure pattern that drives both initial awareness and sustained brand recall across the campaign duration.

How Do You Book a TV Ad Campaign on Brahmaputra Network Channels?

The booking process for advertising on Brahmaputra Network channels is more straightforward than most first-time regional TV advertisers expect, but there are a few procedural realities that are worth understanding before you begin. The first step is brief alignment — which means having a clear picture of your campaign duration, target audience, budget range, and the specific channels you want to be on before approaching the network or a media buying agency. Brahmaputra Television Network's commercial team, based out of Guwahati, handles direct advertiser inquiries, but the more efficient route — particularly for advertisers outside Assam — is to work through a media advertising agency that already has an established relationship with the network and can negotiate rates, secure preferred slots, and manage the creative submission process on your behalf.

Once the media plan is agreed upon and the rate negotiation is complete, the ad campaign booking is formalised through a release order — which is the standard document in Indian broadcast advertising that specifies the channel, the spots, the dayparts, the duration, and the total FCT committed. The creative material — your TVC in the required format — needs to be submitted typically five to seven working days before the campaign goes on air, which gives the broadcast team time to ingest, quality-check, and schedule the material. For non-FCT branding formats like L-band advertising or logo bug branding, the artwork specifications (typically PSD or PNG files at broadcast-safe resolutions) need to be submitted alongside the release order.

One practical point that we have seen trip up advertisers more than once: Brahmaputra Network, like most regional broadcasters, requires the TVC to be submitted in a broadcast-quality format — ideally a .MOV file at the appropriate resolution and audio levels specified by the network's technical team. Submitting a compressed MP4 or a file that hasn't been colour-graded for broadcast can result in the spot being pulled or rescheduled, which disrupts the campaign and wastes the media budget. At SmartAds, we handle the creative specification check as part of our standard campaign management process, which eliminates this risk for our clients.

What Is Prime Time on Brahmaputra Network and Why Does It Matter for Advertisers?

Prime time advertising on DY365 and Jonack is not a uniform concept, and understanding the nuance here is where media planning experience genuinely pays off. On DY365, the 24-hour satellite news channel, the highest-viewership windows are the morning news bulletin (roughly 7 AM to 9 AM), the afternoon news update (around 1 PM to 2 PM), and the evening prime time news block (7 PM to 10 PM) — which mirrors the news-consumption pattern of the Assamese audience quite closely. The evening prime time window on DY365 is where TRP viewership data, as measured by BARC ratings for the Assamese market, tends to peak; which makes it the most competitive and most expensive inventory on the channel.

On Jonack, the GEC general entertainment channel, prime time follows the conventional entertainment viewing pattern — the 8 PM to 10 PM fiction and variety programming block is where the household audience is at its largest and most engaged. Non-prime time advertising on Jonack during afternoon hours (roughly 12 PM to 4 PM) attracts a predominantly female, homemaker audience; which is a highly relevant demographic for FMCG, home care, and food and beverage brands. The cost differential between prime time and non-prime time advertising on both channels is significant — typically a factor of two to three times — which means that a brand with a limited budget can achieve meaningful frequency by concentrating spend in non-prime time slots rather than trying to buy a handful of expensive prime time spots.

Our experience at SmartAds shows that a blended prime time and non-prime time strategy, where roughly 40 percent of the FCT budget goes to prime time for reach and 60 percent goes to non-prime time for frequency, tends to deliver the best GRP gross rating points per rupee spent on Brahmaputra Network channels. This is not a universal rule — a campaign launching a new product needs the reach that prime time delivers, while a campaign for an established brand maintaining top-of-mind awareness can lean more heavily into non-prime time — but it is a useful starting benchmark for advertising campaign planning in this market.

How Does Brahmaputra Network Compare to Pride East Network and Pratidin Time for Advertisers?

This is the question that comes up in almost every media planning conversation we have about TV advertising in Assam, and the honest answer is that it is not a straightforward ranking exercise — each network has a distinct audience profile and programming strength that makes it more or less suitable depending on the advertiser's objectives. Pride East Network, operated by Pride East Entertainments Pvt. Ltd., has a strong GEC presence and has historically been associated with Assamese cultural programming and entertainment; which gives it a different audience composition from DY365's news-heavy viewership. Pratidin Time Network, which includes the Pratidin Time news channel, has built a significant following in the news and current affairs space and competes directly with DY365 for the informed, urban Assamese viewer.

News Live Assam and Prag News — both established names in the Assamese satellite news channel landscape — add further competition for the news-viewing audience, which means that DY365's position as a credible, established current affairs channel Assam viewers trust is something it has had to earn and maintain against genuine competition. What we find, when we run BARC ratings analysis across these channels for specific dayparts, is that DY365 tends to index particularly strongly among the 25-to-44 age group in urban Assam — which is precisely the demographic that most advertisers in categories like banking, insurance, automobiles, and consumer electronics are trying to reach. Jonack, by contrast, has a broader age spread in its audience, which makes it more suitable for mass-market FMCG regional TV campaign planning.

From a pure media buying standpoint, the CPRP cost per rating point on Brahmaputra Network channels is broadly comparable to what you would find on Pratidin Time Network and News Live Assam — the differences are typically in the range of 10 to 20 percent rather than the dramatic gaps that sometimes exist between networks in larger language markets. The more meaningful differentiator, in our view, is the network's willingness to structure flexible packages, the quality of the programming environment in which your brand appears, and the responsiveness of the commercial team when you need to make mid-campaign adjustments. On all three counts, Brahmaputra Television Network has generally performed well in our experience of managing campaigns across the Northeast India TV advertising landscape.

What Brands and Industries Benefit Most from Advertising on Brahmaputra Network?

The short list of categories that consistently deliver strong ROI return on investment TV through Brahmaputra Network advertising is not particularly short, which tells you something about how broad the network's audience utility actually is. FMCG brands — particularly those in the food, personal care, and home care categories — have historically been the heaviest spenders on Assamese language channel television, and for good reason; the Assamese household is a high-frequency purchase environment for these categories, and television remains the most efficient way to drive brand awareness and purchase intent at scale. We worked with a mid-sized FMCG client from Guwahati who ran a sustained eight-week campaign across DY365 and Jonack, and the post-campaign retail audit showed a 23 percent increase in brand recall in the Guwahati metro area — which was significantly ahead of what the same budget had delivered in a previous digital-only campaign.

Financial services — banks, insurance companies, microfinance institutions, and mutual fund distributors — are another category where Brahmaputra Network TV advertising consistently delivers. The news channel environment of DY365, in particular, is a natural fit for financial services messaging; viewers who are engaged with current affairs programming are typically in a receptive mindset for information-dense advertising, which is exactly what financial products require. Automobile brands, particularly two-wheeler manufacturers and commercial vehicle companies, have a strong historical presence on Assamese news and entertainment channels, reflecting the importance of the two-wheeler category across Assam's urban and semi-urban markets.

Real estate developers, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and government departments — particularly those running public awareness campaigns — round out the advertiser base on Brahmaputra Network channels. One automotive brand we worked with ran a campaign specifically timed around the Bihu festive season on DY365 and Jonack, concentrating their FCT spend in the two weeks before and during Rongali Bihu; the campaign generated enquiry volumes at their Guwahati dealerships that were roughly 40 percent higher than the same period in the previous year, when they had relied primarily on print advertising. Festive season advertising on Brahmaputra Network — across Bihu, Durga Puja, and Diwali — is genuinely one of the highest-impact opportunities in the Northeast India TV advertising calendar, and it is consistently underutilised by brands that plan their national campaigns without building in a Northeast-specific activation.

How Is TV Advertising Effectiveness Measured on Assamese Regional Channels?

BARC ratings are the industry standard for measuring broadcast audience reach in India, and Brahmaputra Network channels including DY365 and Jonack fall within the BARC measurement universe for the Assam market — which means advertisers do have access to TRP viewership data and GRP gross rating points for campaign planning and post-evaluation purposes. That said, it is worth being honest about the limitations: BARC's panel size in smaller regional markets like Assam is not as large as it is in the Hindi heartland or the major southern language markets, which means the TRP data should be treated as directional rather than definitive. We use BARC ratings as one input among several, alongside our own post-campaign brand recall surveys and retail audit data, when evaluating the effectiveness of TV advertising in Assam.

The CPRP cost per rating point metric is the most useful planning tool for comparing efficiency across channels in the Northeast India TV advertising market. When we run a media plan for a client looking to advertise on Brahmaputra Network, we calculate the expected GRP delivery across the campaign duration based on historical BARC data for the relevant dayparts, then divide the total FCT cost by the projected GRP to arrive at a CPRP figure; which gives us a standardised efficiency metric that can be compared across DY365, Jonack, and competing channels like Pratidin Time Network or News Live Assam. In our experience, the CPRP on Brahmaputra Network channels for the urban Assam target audience works out to a figure that is competitive with — and often better than — what you would find on the competing Assamese satellite news channels.

Beyond BARC, the GroupM TYNY Report and the Dentsu e4m Report both provide macro-level data on regional TV advertising growth in India, which we use to contextualise the Northeast market within the broader regional television story. Connected TV OTT advertising is beginning to appear as a complementary layer to traditional broadcast buys in urban Guwahati — which is a trend worth watching, though it has not yet reached the scale where it fundamentally changes the media mix calculus for most advertisers in this market. For now, television branding Northeast India through channels like DY365 and Jonack remains the most cost-efficient way to build broadcast audience reach Assam at scale.

Media Buying Tips for Getting the Most Out of Brahmaputra Network Advertising

Timing is the variable that separates a good Brahmaputra Network TV advertising campaign from a great one, and what a lot of advertisers get wrong is treating the campaign calendar as a fixed, uniform schedule rather than a dynamic plan that responds to the programming environment. The Bihu season — particularly Rongali Bihu in April — is the single most important festive advertising window on any Assamese language channel, and inventory on DY365 and Jonack gets booked up surprisingly early; we typically advise clients to lock in their Bihu campaign slots at least six to eight weeks in advance, because the premium spots go to committed buyers. Durga Puja and Diwali are secondary but still significant peaks, and they tend to attract national brand spend that drives up competition for prime time inventory.

Negotiating a network buy — which means committing FCT across both DY365 and Jonack simultaneously rather than buying each channel separately — almost always yields better effective rates and better slot positioning than buying channels individually. Brahmaputra Television Network's commercial team responds well to committed, longer-duration buys; a four-week commitment at a fixed weekly FCT volume will typically unlock better rates and more flexible slot selection than a spot-by-spot approach. On top of that, brands that are willing to commit to non-FCT branding alongside their TVC schedule — adding L-band advertising or logo bug branding to a TVC campaign — often find that the combined package is priced more attractively than the sum of its parts.

A retail client in Pune that we were helping expand into the Assam market came to us with a media plan that was almost entirely weighted toward prime time DY365 spots — which is a common instinct but not always the most efficient strategy. We restructured their plan to include a significant non-prime time advertising component on Jonack's afternoon block, which reached the homemaker audience that was actually the primary purchase decision-maker for their product category; the revised plan delivered roughly 35 percent more GRP at the same budget, and the brand achieved distribution targets in Guwahati ahead of schedule. The lesson, which we apply across every media plan Assam channels that we build, is that demographic targeting Northeast requires understanding not just which channel to buy but which daypart reaches the specific audience segment that matters for the brand.

Frequently Asked Questions About Brahmaputra Network TV Advertising

Q: What channels are part of the Brahmaputra Network?

Brahmaputra Television Network, operated by Brahmaputra Tele Productions Pvt. Ltd., currently includes DY365 — a 24-hour satellite news channel broadcasting in Assamese — and Jonack, which functions as the network's general entertainment channel. The network is headquartered at Bharalumukh, Guwahati, and both channels are available on major cable and satellite distribution platforms across Assam and the broader Northeast India region. DY365 focuses on news, current affairs, and political programming, while Jonack covers fiction, music, cultural shows, and entertainment programming; which together give the network a presence across the two most-watched content categories in the Assamese television market.

Q: How much does it cost to advertise on Brahmaputra Network channels like DY365?

The ad spot rate per second on DY365 during non-prime time works out to roughly ₹200 to ₹400 per second, while prime time slots — particularly the evening news bulletin between 7 PM and 10 PM — are priced in the ballpark of ₹600 to ₹1,200 per second. For a standard 10-second TVC, this means a single prime time spot costs somewhere between ₹6,000 and ₹12,000, which is a number that tends to surprise advertisers who have been quoting national news channel rates as their benchmark. Package deals negotiated across a campaign duration of four weeks or more can bring effective rates down by 15 to 30 percent; which makes Brahmaputra Network TV advertising genuinely accessible for brands with monthly media budgets starting from around ₹3 to ₹5 lakh.

Q: What ad formats are available for advertising on Brahmaputra Network — TVC, L-Band, Aston Band?

Brahmaputra Network channels offer the full spectrum of television advertising formats. FCT advertising covers standard TVC spots in 10-second, 20-second, 30-second, and 45-second durations. Non-FCT branding options include L-band advertising (the horizontal lower-screen strip), Aston band advertising (scrolling text overlays), logo bug branding (corner-of-screen brand logo placement during programming), and banner advertisement formats used during specific programme segments. Sponsorship of specific programmes — which includes opening and closing billboards, mid-programme mentions, and integrated branding — is also available on both DY365 and Jonack, and it is a format that works particularly well for brands that want a sustained, programme-associated identity on the channel.

Q: What is the difference between prime time and non-prime time advertising on DY365?

On DY365, prime time advertising refers to the high-viewership windows of the morning news bulletin (7 AM to 9 AM), the afternoon update (1 PM to 2 PM), and the evening prime time news block (7 PM to 10 PM); these slots carry the highest TRP viewership data and the highest ad spot rates, typically two to three times the non-prime time rate. Non-prime time advertising covers the remaining hours of the broadcast day, where viewership is lower but the audience is still meaningful — particularly for categories where the target audience is at home during daytime hours. The choice between prime time and non-prime time is fundamentally a question of reach versus frequency: prime time delivers more viewers per spot, while non-prime time allows a brand to achieve higher contact frequency at the same total budget.

Q: How do I book a TV advertisement on Brahmaputra Network in Assam?

The booking process begins with defining your campaign parameters — budget, duration, target audience, and preferred channels — and then either approaching Brahmaputra Television Network's commercial team directly in Guwahati or working through a media advertising agency that handles the negotiation and logistics on your behalf. Once rates and slots are agreed upon, a release order is issued, and the creative material (TVC in broadcast-quality .MOV format, or artwork files in PSD or PNG for non-FCT formats) needs to be submitted five to seven working days before the campaign goes live. Working through an experienced media buying agency is strongly advisable for advertisers who are new to the Assamese market or who are managing campaigns remotely from outside Guwahati, as the agency relationship typically unlocks better rates and more responsive service from the network's commercial team.

Q: What is the minimum duration for a TV commercial on Brahmaputra Network channels?

The minimum duration for a television commercial on Brahmaputra Network channels is 10 seconds, which is consistent with the standard minimum across Indian regional broadcasters. A 10-second TVC is the most common format for high-frequency brand recall campaigns, where the objective is to keep a brand name and tagline front of mind through repeated exposure rather than to communicate a detailed message. For campaigns with a more complex message — a new product launch, a promotional offer with multiple conditions, or a brand story that requires context — a 20-second or 30-second format is more appropriate, though it will naturally carry a higher per-spot cost.

Q: How does Brahmaputra Network compare to Pride East Network and Pratidin Time for advertisers?

Each of the three networks has a distinct positioning. Brahmaputra Network's DY365 is a credible, established current affairs channel Assam viewers associate with serious news journalism; Pratidin Time Network competes in the same news space with a slightly different editorial tone; and Pride East Network has historically been stronger in the entertainment and cultural programming space. From a media buying perspective, the CPRP cost per rating point across these networks is broadly comparable for the urban Assam target audience, with differences typically in the 10 to 20 percent range. The decision of which network to prioritise should be driven by the brand's target audience profile and the content environment in which the brand wants to appear, rather than by rate differences alone.

Q: Which industries and brands benefit most from advertising on Brahmaputra Network?

FMCG brands, financial services companies, automobile manufacturers (particularly two-wheelers), real estate developers, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and government departments running public awareness campaigns have all found strong ROI return on investment TV through Brahmaputra Network advertising. The news channel environment of DY365 is particularly well-suited to financial services and information-dense categories, while Jonack's entertainment programming is a natural fit for FMCG regional TV campaign planning and consumer goods. Brands that are serious about Assam as a market — rather than treating it as an afterthought to a national plan — consistently see better results from Brahmaputra Network TV advertising than from any other medium in the region.

Q: Does Brahmaputra Network cover all states of Northeast India or only Assam?

DY365 and Jonack are distributed across the major cable and satellite platforms that serve Assam and the broader North East seven sisters states, which means the channels are technically available in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura in addition to Assam. That said, the primary audience concentration is in Assam — particularly in the Guwahati metro and the major district towns — because the channels broadcast primarily in Assamese, which is the dominant language of Assam but not necessarily of all the other northeastern states. Advertisers targeting a pan-Northeast India audience should treat Brahmaputra Network as the Assam-specific anchor of a broader Northeast media plan, supplemented by channels in other regional languages for the non-Assamese states.

Q: Can small businesses and startups advertise on Brahmaputra Network channels within a limited budget?

Yes — and this is one of the most underappreciated aspects of low-cost regional TV advertising in the Northeast. A small business in Guwahati with a monthly advertising budget of ₹1.5 to ₹3 lakh can run a meaningful campaign on Brahmaputra Network channels by concentrating on non-prime time advertising slots and using shorter 10-second TVC formats for high frequency. Non-FCT branding options like L-band advertising are even more accessible from a budget standpoint and can deliver sustained brand visibility during popular programmes at a fraction of the cost of a TVC schedule. The key is to have a clear, well-produced creative — even a modest ad film production budget can yield a broadcast-quality 10-second TVC — and to plan the campaign duration for at least four weeks to build meaningful brand recall.

Q: What creative formats are accepted for TV ads on Brahmaputra Network — MOV, PSD, PNG?

For TVC advertising, Brahmaputra Network requires broadcast-quality video files, typically in .MOV format at the resolution and audio specifications provided by the network's technical team. Compressed formats like standard MP4 may be accepted in some cases but should be confirmed with the network before submission. For non-FCT branding formats — L-band advertising, Aston band advertising, logo bug branding, and banner advertisement — static artwork files in PSD or PNG format at broadcast-safe resolutions are the standard requirement. All creative material should be colour-graded for broadcast display and should comply with ASCI guidelines for advertising content; which is a compliance check that a media advertising agency will typically handle as part of the campaign management process.

Q: How is viewership and audience reach measured for Brahmaputra Network channels?

BARC ratings are the primary source of TRP viewership data for Brahmaputra Network channels, and both DY365 and Jonack fall within the BARC measurement panel for the Assam market. The GRP gross rating points delivered by a campaign can be calculated from BARC data for the specific dayparts and programme environments in which the ads are placed. As noted earlier, the BARC panel size in regional markets like Assam is smaller than in the major national markets, so the data should be used as a directional planning tool rather than a precise measurement. Post-campaign brand recall surveys and retail audit data provide complementary effectiveness metrics that we routinely use alongside BARC data to give clients a complete picture of campaign performance.

Q: What is FCT (Free Commercial Time) advertising on Brahmaputra Network?

FCT, or free commercial time, refers to the standard advertising break slots within a broadcast schedule — the designated commercial breaks during which TVC spots are aired. On Brahmaputra Network channels, FCT is the primary advertising inventory and is sold on a per-second basis, with rates varying by daypart, programme environment, and channel. FCT advertising is distinct from non-FCT branding — which covers L-band advertising, logo bug branding, Aston band advertising, and programme sponsorships — in that FCT spots interrupt the programme content, while non-FCT formats appear alongside or overlaid on the content without creating a break in viewing. Both FCT and non-FCT formats have their role in a well-structured campaign, and the most effective Brahmaputra Network advertising campaigns typically use both in combination.

Q: Is Brahmaputra Network advertising effective during festive seasons like Bihu and Diwali?

Absolutely — and to be honest, the festive season advertising opportunity on Brahmaputra Network is one of the