Satyamev Jayate's 'mid-week' score is healthy; but can it hold on?

According to TAM, the primetime telecast of Satyamev Jayate has garnered an overall TVR of 4.08 across all channels in the C&S 4+ market in the six metro regions. On Star Plus, the property scored 3.79 TVR in the HSM market across three metros.

According to TAM, the primetime telecast of Satyamev Jayate has garnered an overall TVR of 4.08 across all channels in the C&S 4+ market in the six metro regions. On Star Plus, the property scored 3.79 TVR in the HSM market across three metros.

With an approximate 6 lakh plus views on YouTube and close to 7,08,232 likes on one of the show pages on Facebook (at the time of filing the report), Aamir Khan-led Satyamev Jayate has surely become a huge blockbuster hit across the social media circle. Not to forget, the show and the subject of its first episode have also been one of the top 10 trending subjects on Twitter. According to Blogworks, a social media consulting firm, the total tweets (including re-tweets) for the show stood at 26,452 on May 6, 2012 (the day the show was launched), wherein the total re-tweets were 10,890 and the total reach (number of unique users exposed to a message or brand) stood at 1,18,93,522.

But even as the buzz stays high, does this maddening fervour also reflect on the nationwide curiosity with which the Indian television viewers watched the first episode of the show on Sunday (May 6) at 11 am?

According to TAM, the primetime telecast of Satyamev Jayate has garnered an overall TVR of 4.08 across all channels in the C&S 4+ market in the six metro regions (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad). For the record, the primetime (11 am to 12.30 pm) telecast TVR stands for the percentage share of universe that was watching the show at any point of time during the telecast across all the channels.

These channels include Star Plus, STAR Pravah, DD National, STAR Utsav, ETV, Vijay, STAR Jalsha, STAR World and Asianet. Consider the terrestrial market, too (that is, terrestrial, cable, satellite, age group 4+) and the ratings stand a little higher at 4.27 TVR.

The mid-week data from TAM also suggests that the show's primetime telecast was viewed by as many as 81,46,000 viewers in the C&S 4+ age group; for the all 4+ markets, the cumulative reach of the same during the primetime telecast was 89,60,000. Additionally, if one considers just Star Plus, the show has garnered 3.79 TVR across the three metros (Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata) in the HSM market.

Various media experts feel that while the show has exhibited a healthy performance, they expected it to deliver more that 4 TVR (at least) across the HSM market. However, considering the time slot that it occupies, the performance still remains "good if not great", is the universal consensus.

Says PM Balakrishna, chief operating officer, Allied Media, "While the channel and Aamir Khan have together succeeded in creating a huge brand connect in terms of numbers, the show could have done better to have become more attractive to the advertisers."

R S Suriyanarayanan, business director, LMG, says, "Any programme that goes beyond 2.5 TVR in the HSM market is considered to be a top programme in the region. And, with a Sunday morning 11 am slot at hand, the show has done well for itself."

"If we look at the time spent on this show, the data indicates that many of them did not stay on it for more than 10 minutes. And this indicates that in the future, the show may not be able to hold onto the viewership of its first episode," says Praveen Tripathi, chief executive, Magic9 Media & Consumer Knowledge.

Evidently, it cannot be overlooked that the show's well-designed pre-launch promotions had influenced the huge curiosity factor to enforce the first episode appointment viewing. Consequently, a high viewership was nothing but expected! And therefore, it will be the following few episodes of the show that will finally determine the content viewership trend for the property.

Sundeep Nagpal, director, Stratagem Media, says, "While I am hoping that the show will do well, I am also worried that as the high decibel promos subside, the ratings could eventually fall."

Meanwhile, there is also anticipation at play that the show could eventually stabilise in and around a similar TVR (the numbers already delivered). But if that happens, it could also motivate advertisers to negotiate on the premium 10-second slot rate that STAR is currently demanding. For the record, industry experts state that STAR is demanding about Rs10-12lakh per 10-second spot on the show for the overall network package.

A top media buyer on conditions of anonymity says, "At an average rating of about 4.7 TVR, a 10-second spot on IPL is being sold for around Rs 5.5 lakh. Therefore, if Satyamev Jayate is being considered a national telecast property like the IPL, then one must understand that to ask Rs 10 lakh for a 10-second spot per episode for such delivery is just not justifiable."

In today's media world, more often than not, deals are cracked on the basis of CPRPs, wherein advertisers put the money only where the buck is. Agreed that at least for the sponsors the show has created a stupendous buzz, but 60-70 per cent of revenues for any given show are still dependent on spot buys. And according to another media pundit who does not wish to be named, there are not many advertisers who would be willing to pay such a premium for the spots until they are acknowledged as a brand that is socially conscious.

"And this is all the more reason why we have to wait and watch how the show performs in the next two-three episodes," he says.