MUMBAI: 2013 is turning out to be a fluid market for the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs). With the fight for the top position becoming tougher, the leading GECs are betting on big-ticket properties to give them spikes to surge ahead of competitors on a weekly basis.

Bollywood awards shows, big movie premieres or shows hosted by Bollywood stars are proving to be critical ingredients for a channel to occupy the top chair. Sans this kind of content, the top four Hindi GECs are in a very closely contested race.

In week five ended 2 February, the premiere of Son or Sardar propelled Star Plus back to the number one position by a big lead. Star was similarly the leader in Week 1 because of the Big Star Entertainment Awards.

In week 2, Colors was the leader as the finale of Bigg Boss 6, a reality show hosted by Bollywood star Salman Khan, gave it a spike in gross rating points (GRPs). Without this tent pole property, Colors slipped to the third position in the third week while Star Plus regained the No. 1 spot.

Zee TV was at the top in week 4 as Zee Cine Awards gave it a sharp rise in viewership.

Madison Media Infinity SVP Monaz Todywalla agrees that January has become the season of specials. "One of the reasons why competition is this close is because the proportion of time on fiction has reduced from the same period last year. Clearly channels are using specials to maintain their positions even as programming executives get time to evaluate their fiction offerings."

As per TAM data (HSM including 5 new LC1 markets, C&S, 4+) for week five, sourced from a Hindi GEC, Star Plus got back to the leadership position with a wide lead of 67 GRPs over the second GEC. The GEC in the second position was Zee TV with 214 GRPs.

Star Plus notched 281 GRPs in week five with an addition of 48 GRPs to the previous week’s ratings. The channel had telecast ‘Son of Sardar’ for three hours each at 1 pm and 9 pm on 27 January that clocked 3.9 TVR and 4.5 TVR, respectively. The movie airings collectively contributed 50 GRPs to the channel’s viewership.

Taking the second spot in week five is Zee TV, which lost 31 GRPs from a week earlier at 214 GRPs. It wound up Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on 27 January that clocked 2.2 TVR for a three-and-a-half hour telecast contributing around 15 GRPs to its viewership. The other shows of the channel have seen marginal difference in the viewership.

Just four GRPs away from Zee TV is Colors that added 15 GRPs to close the week with 210 GRPs. The channel’s new reality comedy show ‘Nautanki the Comedy Theatre’ made a debut with 2.9 TVR on 2 February. It’s shows like Balika Vadhu (4.7 TVR), Sasural Simar Ka (4 TVR) and Madhubala (3.9 TVR) have seen increase in viewership.

Sony Entertainment Television (Set) lost 27 GRPs in week five compared with a week earlier. Its total GRPs in the week totaled 159. In the previous week, Set had premiered Karan Johar’s ‘Student of the Year’ that notched a 4.2 TVR and had also telecast the finale episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati-6 that fetched a TVR of 3.1 TVR.

Sab clocked 134 GRPs (previous week 145) and Life OK 121 GRPs (previous week 114).

Sahara One with 24 GRPs (last week 25 GRPs) remains at the bottom of the ladder.

The data includes the five new LC1 (Less than Class I) markets: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal), PHCHP and Rajasthan.

With the release of these markets, TAM now covers 92 per cent of the HSM urban market from the earlier 74 per cent.