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Meera Mohanty

New Delhi, March 13 Sometime during the first week of February, Zee’s ascending Gross Rating Points (GRPs) for prime time television overtook Star TV’s ratings.

But the summer of 2008 is expected to see more television action than ever before, making future rankings difficult to predict.

Zee had been closing the gap with the market leader on the back of its hit musical talent show Li’l Champs. For the week ending March 1, Zee TV’s GRPs were at 196, ahead of Star TV’s 184 for prime time (8 p.m. to midnight, for all Hindi-speaking markets, for audience of four years and above, according to Tam Media Research). With 33 per cent of audience share, it is also marginally ahead of Star TV’s 31 per cent.

Star Plus’ General Manager, Mr Keertan Adyanthaya, nonetheless maintains, “We are leaders – overall, prime time, afternoon prime time as well as weekends. This leadership is not a flash in the pan, but we have been leaders for 400 weeks running now.” On an all-day basis the channel’s GRPs are higher than Zee’s. Its channel share is at 29 per cent against Zee’s 27 per cent. Summer, which sees holidays and exams traditionally diverting television audiences, is chock-a-block with action this year. “Star TV is betting heavily on its Paanchvi Paas and the outlays are huge. Along with the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches which will be aired during prime time on Set Max, television has not had such huge properties in a while and it’s likely to both expand viewership base and eat into competition share,” says a media buyer of a leading agency. Star is leaving no stone unturned to market the Shah Rukh Khan programme. IPL could be a challenge, point out some experts. But Star says it doesn’t know if timings will clash. “As far as we are concerned, we are researching the existing time slots and are yet to take a call on the final time slot that this show will premiere on,” said Mr Adyanthaya.

Despite a steady four-week run in leadership position during prime time, Zee is not celebrating yet. It has Rock N Roll Family and other properties, but the channel which has had spikes taking it to number one position for certain time bands says the challenge lies in securing audiences and its position for a long time. “In the past we have been victims of knee-jerk reactions, you have to build your properties and community over a period of time,” said Mr Ashish Kaul, Executive Vice-President (Brand Development), Zee Network and Essel Group. Dismissing IPL, because “Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta will not be playing cricket” and because there are only a handful of Indian cricket stars who will be watched in their individual capacity, Mr Kaul conceded that Khan as anchor is an ace act. “But it is Sholay Part II,” he added.

More Stories on : Marketing Research | Radio/TV | Zee Telefilms Ltd

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