Tenth Anniversary Special
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Corporate
Star Network: Shining bright
S. Vaidya Nathan
MORE and more Indians are seeing stars. The Star Network now enjoys unmatched viewership and this has been achieved with élan, despite a belated entry into the Hindi entertainment space. It has done so amidst intense competition, unlike the dominance established by the Zee group in the early 1990s when Doordarshan was the lone player.
The other channels in the Star network, too, have sizeable viewership, but it is around Star Plus that much of the success is built. Breaking a long-standing relationship with the Zee group, Star struck out independently in Hindi entertainment five years ago, and made a success out of it.
Aided by the casting coup of getting Amitabh Bachchan to anchor Kaun Banega Crorepati, and the long-running family soaps — Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki produced by Balaji Telefilms — Star Plus dominates the weekday evening prime time viewing.
Over the past three years, it has found a place in the list of top 100 programmes. Its competitors — Sony and Zee — have tried to replicate the success through game shows and soaps. But not with much success; Sony has, however, enhanced its viewership on prime time on weekends. And despite three rounds of programme revamp, Zee is still grappling for a formula to regain share in a market that it once monopolised.
The success of the StaSports-ESPN alliance is not a surprise in a cricket crazy country; rising viewership for other sports such as motor racing, tennis, golf and football have also helped improve ratings.
That the group has made a success of its foray into the Hindi news space with Star News only shows how well it has its fingers on the pulse of the viewers.
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