<div><em>Hindi general entertainment channel (Hindi GEC) Colors edges past Star Plus in week 34 to emerge as the genre leader, shows the latest BARC ratings. Will it be able to maintain its leadership position remains to be seen, says <strong>Ashish Sinha </strong></em></div><div> </div><div>The Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space is witnessing a lot of action in the past few weeks. For the first time, perhaps, since the new television measurement matrics have come in - BARC Ratings - that Viacom 18's Colors channel has edged past the genre leader Star Plus. Based on ratings data for the Week 34 - August 22 to August 28, Hindi Speaking Market: NCCS All - Cable & Satellite 1 Lakh plus - Colors took the top spot, followed by Star Plus, Zee TV, Life OK, and Sony SAB.</div><div> </div><div>Colors surged to the top spot with gross viewership of 360 million, one million more viewership than Star Plus (359 million). The channel had posted gross viewership of 365 million in Week 33. There was a huge gap in viewership between Colors and Star Plus at the top and Zee TV (264 million) followed by Life OK (224 million) and Sony SAB (186 million)</div><div> </div><div>Colors can thank some of its more popular shows for helping it edge past Star Plus. Shows like Udaan and Swaragini consistent performance. There are others too like Meri Aashiqui and Sasural Simar Ka that have added to the viewership and popularity. In fact, in week 34, four out of top five shows were on Colors, the BARC data showed.</div><div> </div><div>Among the leading shows on Hindi GECs, Zee TV’s ‘<em>Kumkum Bhagya</em>’ topped the list with 6.6 TVM (Television Viewership in Millions). The next four programmes all belonged to Colors with ‘Sasural Simar Ka’ getting 5.4 TVM, while ‘Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi’ returned into the top five, taking the third spot with 5.3 TVM. ‘Swaragini’ fetched 5.3 TVM, but was marginally behind ‘Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi’. ‘Udaan’ was at fifth position with 5.2 TVM. Not a single show from Star Plus featured among the top 5 shows in Week 34.</div><div> </div><div>However, media planners point to a 24 GRP drop for the Hindi GEC in the Week 34 with all major players playing their role in this drop. "No doubt shows on Colors have a huge fan following in the Hindi speaking markets. Shows like Udaan, Swaragini and others need to do a bit more to maintain the eyeballs. With realty shows like Bigg Boss waiting to happen, the festive season is up for some close contest between Colors and Star Plus," says a senior media planner. </div><div> </div><div>Experts said Star Plus, though very strong in loyal viewership, has to do more in its programming mix to bounce back. While the Hindi GEC genre as a whole has shown a gradual decline in viewership, Star Plus had witnessed a big drop in week 32 (over week 31 data) when its viewership dropped to 409 million (from 417 million).</div><div> </div><div>For week 33, Star Plus has posted gross viewership of 387 million. With a narrow gap separating the top two channels, everyone is waiting for the next week when data for week 35 comes.</div><div> </div><div> </div>
BW Reporters
Ashish Sinha is an experienced business journalist who has covered FMCG, auto, infrastructure, tourism, telecom among several other beats. Ashish has keen interest in the regulatory scenario impacting different sectors. He writes on aviation, railways, post and telegraph, infrastructure, defence, media & entertainment, among a wide variety of other subjects.
