MUMBAI: Zee TV ranks at the top as the channel having the strongest favourite characters, according to a study by consumer knowledge firm Ormax Media.

Zee TV’s characters have an overall 27 per cent share, while Colors lagged at 20 per cent and Star Plus at 18 per cent, Ormax said in its fourth edition of "Characters India Loves" (CIL) track.
 
Though Anandi, the protagonist of Balika Vadhu (Colors) retains her No 1 position, the rest of the top 10 list shows a dramatic shift.

The previous top rankers including Sadhana (Bidaai, Star Plus) and Akshara (Yeh Rishta, Star Plus) have gone to position 15 and 11 from second and third. Also, Ichha (Uttaran, Colors) has slid from fifth position to 13 in the latest report.

Contrary to two positions in the top-10 list of the previous quarter, Zee TV ups the scale and has five characters this time, including Archana and Maanav (Pavitra Rishta), Manu (Jhansi Ki Rani) and Remo and Terence (Dance India Dance judges).
 
The study measures the popularity of characters on Indian television. This edition reports the ranking of the 251 most liked characters across various channels on Indian television. The report also lists the top characters across gender, age, SEC and market segments.

Further, a section of the report illustrates reasons for likeability of the top characters.
 
The fourth track for CIL was conducted during May-June this year. Interviews were conducted among 2,500 respondents (70 per cent females, 30 per cent males) in the 15-44 year age group from SEC ABC across six cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore and Jalandhar.