MUMBAI: The Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) gained 23 GRPs last week after losing viewers to live T20 World Cup cricket matches in which India played in two previous weeks.
The India vs Pakistan clash did attract a lot of viewership but its impact was not felt as it was on a Sunday, which resulted in viewers not normally watching television on the weekend being glued to TV sets, and GECs too had strong content in programmes like the finale of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.
As per TAM (HSM, 4+, C&S) data provided by GECs, the India vs Pakistan match fetched 6.4 TVRs in its first innings when India batted and 7.6 TVRs in its second innings during Pakistan‘s batting.
The GECs had taken a hit in previous two weeks because of start of the T20 World Cup on 18 September (week 38 of TAM). The combined GRPs from Hindi GECs fell to 1271 from 1322 in week 38 as the T20 matches were telecast live during evening prime time. In week 39, when India played against Australia on 28 September (Friday), the genre further lost GRPs to register 1233 GRPs. However, GECs have seen an improvement in ratings in week 40 when the genre added 23 GRPs to clock 1256 GRPs.
According to ZenithOptimedia managing partner Navin Khemka, The India vs Pakistan match was able to attract more viewers onto the television screen and people who wanted to watch GECs too saw their favourite programmes. "India vs Pakistan match was able to get light viewers onto the television screen on that day. It had driven up the overall viewership of that day, therefore people who wanted to watch GEC for a particular time period, be it because of the airing of Jhalak finale or Ishaqzaade, watched it."
"The impact of live cricket on GECs is more if the matches are played during weekdays. The India vs Pakistan match was played on the weekend against big properties like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa that aired its final episode," Khemka added.
Weekly GEC update:
Star Plus continues to lead the GEC genre with 274 GRPs, having added five gross rating points (GRPs) during week 40. The channel has crossed the 270 GRP-mark after a gap of seven weeks. In fact, this is the highest recorded rating of any channel in the genre in six weeks.
Star Plus has extended the telecast of two of its weekday shows, ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai‘ and ‘Diya Aur Baati Hum‘, which rated 4 TVR and 2.8 TVR respectively on Saturday (6 October). However, the average ratings of both the shows dropped; ‘Yeh Rishta…‘ rated 3 TVR (last week 3.4) while ‘Diya…‘ fetched 4.9 TVR (last week 6.7) in the week ended 6 October.
Colors held on to its second position with its GRPs unchanged. The channel aired the finale of ‘Jhallak Dikhhla Jaa‘ which notched 3.5 TVR on 30 September. The finale episode helped the channel stabilise itself despite India and Pakistan playing against each other in the same time slot. However, the fiction shows of the channel have seen a drop in viewership. The channel ended the week with 233 GRPs.
Zee TV closed the week with 231 GRPs (last week 217), just two GRPs away from Colors. The ratings of its singing reality show ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa‘ fell from 2.5 TVR to 1.9 TVR, though its fiction shows have seen a rise in eyeballs.
Sony Entertainment Television (Set) added three GRPs to end the week with 205 GRPs. It had premiered ‘Ishaqzaade‘ on 30 September, which rated 1.9 TVR in its 12 noon airing and 1.4 TVR in the 8.30 pm telecast. Set did not air its ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati-6‘ episode at 8.30 pm on 30 September. Daily soaps of the channel lost numbers but its crime-based shows - CID (3 TVR) and Crime Patrol (2.7 TVR) and KBC (3.4 TVR) saw an increase in viewership.
Meanwhile, Sab added six GRPs to end the week with 128 GRPs. Life OK with 121 GRPs (last week 124) follows. Sahara One with 33 GRPs (last week 34) remains at the bottom.
