By GAURAV LAGHATE
Indiantelevision.com Team

(Updated at 5 May 2010 11:55 pm)
(5 May 2010 11:30 am)

MUMBAI: Colors, which had lost its leadership position in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space during the IPL window, has zoomed back to the top due to a strong weekend revival.

The Viacom18 channel is leading the flock with 288 gross rating points (GRPs), as per Tam data for the week ended 2 May.

Star Plus, which had snatched the position from Colors during the IPL, is a close second with 286 GRPs.

Zee TV is also not far behind with 279 GRPs in its kitty (See table).

The absence of a strong weekend property primarily led to Colors' slide during the IPL tourney.

“When Colors launched Bingo National Nights, the first episode got good ratings because of the novelty and curiosity factor. However, it bombed and the channel was not having any good property during the weekends,” a media observer comments.

Another factor that weighed against Colors during the IPL window is its relatively stronger pull among male and urban audiences, compared to Star Plus and Zee TV. These set of audiences were also IPL watchers, some media analysts say.

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Among the top three channels, only Colors has gained GRP numbers post IPL. The next rung of channels – Sony Entertainment TV (Set), Imagine TV, Sab and Star One – have seen a rise in audience share.

After the IPL, Colors' recently launched kids dance reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom is expected to fill the weekend void.

However, Balika Vadhu, one of the main fiction properties of Colors, is losing ground. The show, which was leading the charts in week ended 6 March with a 6.5 TVR, has come down gradually to 3.3 TVR in week ended 1 May. At the same time slot, Zee TV’s Jhansi Ki Rani has marched up the ladder to 4.2 TVR.

Says Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd COO –national channels and Zee TV business head Nitin Vaidya, “We are pleased to note that Jhansi Ki Rani has worked so well as a show. In times when the idea of historical shows was discouraged, Zee TV took the initiative to make a difference with Jhansi Ki Rani. It is heartening to know that our conviction in the concept of the show has borne fruit.”

Colors’ other properties like Uttaran and Laado are maintaining their ratings, but Bairi Piya has gone down.

A new concern for Colors could be the fact that it is trailing behind Star Plus and Zee TV in ratings for non-film programming. As per Tam data for the week ended 1 May, Colors clocked 245 GRPs from non-film programmes, while Star Plus bagged 282 GRPs and Zee TV 261 GRPs.

Colors more than made up with 43 GRPs that it collected from movies aired during the week; Zee TV, in comparison, got 18 while Star Plus had to contend with four GRPs.

“We have to wait for the picture to get clear as after 45 days of IPL, the flirting audience is yet to come back to the channels. The coming weeks will be interesting to observe,” says a media analyst.

Meanwhile, a peep into the other GECs: Set clocked 175 GRPs in the week (from earlier week's 147 GRPs), getting back its male audiences, while Imagine TV (104 GRPs), Sab (80 GRPs) and Star One (40 GRPs) also added a few GRPs.