| MUMBAI:
Colors has opened on a strong note with a total gross rating points (GRPs) of
81 for the week ended 26 July, according to Tam data (HSM, c&s, 4+).
Says Colors CEO Rajesh Kamat, “It is an encouraging response,
but there is a long way to go."
Colors,
from the Viacom18 stable, has had the best start among all
the newly launched GECs.
Earlier
this year, NDTV Imagine garnered 55 GRPs in its first week
of launch (20-26 January). 9X, on the other hand, recorded
a GRP of 21, but later climbed the ratings ladder. Zee Next
crawled with a 6 GRP in its opening week.
 Unlike
9X and NDTV Imagine who adopted the strategy of gradually
building up the slots, Colors went to the field with a full-fledged
programming schedule. The array of shows included reality,
soaps, mythology, periodic drama, fantasy, chat and movie
content.
Colors
has got a push in its ratings with upfront shows like Akshay Kumar hosted
Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi, Jai Sri Krishna, Balika Vadhu, Mohe Rang De, Jeevan
Saathi, Rahe Tera Ashirwad, Bandhan Saath Janmon Ka and Sajid's Superstars.
 Colors
lags behind market leader Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony, NDTV Imagine,
9X and Star One. Colors clarifies that the 81 GRPs have come
from five-and-half days of programming while the other channels
have captured the ratings for seven days. Observers also say
the second week ratings will indicate the actual positioning
of the channel.
The
GEC market seems to have expanded with the new launches. “Clearly,
the market has grown. After the first week of sampling, now
the effort is to hold up the stake. The important thing here
is that our ratings are not driven by a single show but by
three different programmes," says Kamat.
Colors'
big ticket reality show Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi has opened with
1.7 (on 21 July) TVR, which went to a high of 2.27 on 24 July. Balika Vadhu
managed a high TVR of 1.26 and mythological Jai Sri Krishna notched a maximum
of 0.92 TVR on 21 July. 
Jeevan Saathi and Mohe Rang De managed TVR of 0.67 and 0.55 respectively.
The Saturday show, Sajid's Superstar got 0.64 TRP.
Colors
will launch the second season of Bigg Boss after completion
of 16-episodes of its driver show Fear Factor. The
channel has already endorsed original format (Big Brother)
winner Shilpa Shetty for the show.
Colors has reserved Sunday 4 pm slot for movies. It has already shown Dus Kahaniyaan
and will show Heyy Baby on 3 August.
Colors
has been spending big monies on the distribution, marketing and promotions front.
The channel claims that it has reached 36.4 million viewers. “Our aim is
to maximise our distribution reach. We are in talks with Dish TV which we hope
to conclude soon,” maintains Kamat.  For
marketing and launch promotion, the channel is spending close to Rs 400 million.
The campaign has touched top 90 cities and towns, spread across the Hindi speaking
markets.
Colors
has so far roped in 10 advertisers including Idea Cellular, ITC, Reliance, Nestle,
Airtel, Hygienic Research, Boots, Emami, Paras and Ayur.
A
sneak peep into the GEC scorecard for the week ended 26 July:
Star Plus maintaines its numero uno position, though its GRPs
fell from 348 (12-19 July) to 315. Zee follows with 216 GRPs
while Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has 99 GRPs. NDTV
Imagine has 94 GRPs, Star One and 9X have 87 GRPs each, while
Sahara One ended with 69 GRPs.
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