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Alpha Marathi, which stepped up its news coverage from mid 2003
has gained the most - from a nine per cent share in late 2003, it
has grown to 12 per cent, while ETV Marathi,  the
pioneer in the hourly news bulletins, has in fact, lost a tiny share
by slipping to 28 per cent share from 29 per cent. DD Sahyadri,
which continues to command the largest viewership for news bulletins
in Maharashtra, too lost share - from its commanding position of
39 per cent share to 38 per cent.
Interestingly, although the state is yet to spawn regional news
channels unlike in the south, regional news takes the  largest
chunk of viewership. The remaining 20 -22 per cent of news viewership
is shared by Hindi news channels, among whom only NDTV India has
picked up share in Maharashtra - from 3 to 4 per cent and Zee News
that has picked up from 2 to 3 per cent.
Among overall channel shares, however, the Marathi channels have
a long way to climb. In spite of slicked up programming, reigning
entertainment channel Star Plus has held its own and increased its
channel share from 44 to 46 per cent in Maharashtra, when compared
with Marathi channels in Q1 2004 as against Q4 2003. The losers
have been Sony Entertainment Television which fell from 18 to 16
per cent and Sahara Manoranjan that lost channel share from seven
to four per cent. The Doordarshan run Sahyadri has not benefited
from the general good fortune favouring Marathi channels however,
and has stayed steady at a five per cent share in the two time periods
compared.
 Interestingly,
even though viewership of Marathi channels did dip during the India
Pakistan cricket series, the loss of viewership, even though it
indicates a fondness for the sport among Maharashtrian viewers,
was not very significant.
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