MUMBAI: It's early days no doubt. But the first week's TAM ratings of Sony Entertainment's matchmaking blockbuster show hosted by Bollywood screen siren Madhuri Dixit, Kahin Na Kahin Koi Hai, has not brought too much cheer.

According to market research agency AC Nielsen's TAM ratings covering cable and satellite homes in the nine main cities, the very first episode on Monday (29 July) managed only 2.69 TRPs and debuted at 66 on the charts. The next day's episode saw a further dip to 1.39. The ratings fell further on Wednesday before picking up somewhat on Thursday and Friday.

SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta, was not so downbeat in his assessment however, and said that more time was needed to make a judgment on the show. Dasgupta said a parallel survey that they had commissioned AC Nielsen to do in the two main metros, which covered 500 respondents in Delhi and 500 in Mumbai, had thrown up more encouraging findings. The results of that survey had shown that 33 per cent of those sampled saw the shows and of those that did watch, 76 per cent said they intend to watch it the next week as well.

Will Madhuri manage to charm audiences over time?

The TAM data from the main metros, however, threw up a mixed bag. Kolkata had the highest ratings for the debut show at 4.52 while Mumbai had a 4.18 TRP. Delhi cold-shouldered the show from Day 1 with a 2.24 rating. All three cities saw a ratings dip in the following episodes.


Meanwhile, the show that K3H is pitched against in the 8:30 to 9:00 pm slot, Star Plus' Kasauti Zindagi Kay, was 9 on the TAM charts for Thursday's episode at 10.05 TRPs. Monday was when KZK had its lowest rating of the week with 8.38 TRPs, but still in the Top 20 at a solid 14.

And while talk that K3H would be SET's Kaun Banega Crorepati was more media hype than serious expectation, Sony and producer UTV were probably expecting a far better start to the proceedings.

Hindu Businessline reports that advertisers such as Videocon, Samsung, Hindustan Lever, Dandi, Moov and Pantene have paid high advertising fees to get on to the show. According to media planners, sponsorhip rates for the show have been Rs 35 million for a 13-week package (with airtime of 60-90 seconds a week).

For Sony, it is still the Balaji dependables Kkusum and Kutumb that are delivering the goods. And as regards K3H, it will have to do far better in the coming weeks if it is to justify the reported Rs 200 million + that has gone into its making.

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