Jhalakk Dikhla Jaa opens with 3.1 TVR, against DID's 2.8

Jhalakk Dikhla Jaa has garnered 3.1 TVR in the opening episode for its fifth season, which is approximately half of DID Little Master's launch TVR of 5.8, in its second season. The dance reality show scored the highest opening TVR in its fourth season.

Viacom18's Hindi general entertainment channel Colors acquired the rights of the reality show, Jhalakk Dikhla Jaa Season 5, which was earlier reserved with Sony. The channel placed the show right against Zee TV's flagship property, DID Little Masters Season 2, on the weekend 9 pm slot.

Though both are dance reality shows, the profiles of the two are very different. Market experts agree that while Jhalakk... rides on the back of the star quotient, DID Little Masters is majorly driven by the content of the show.

DID Little Masters Season 2 opened in Week 17 of 2012 with 5.8 TVR and its peak TVR has been 6.2. On June 16, the day of the launch of Jhalakk...(which scored 3.1 TVR), DID Little masters had clocked its lowest rating of 2.8 TVRs. The average TVR of DID Little Masters is 4.3. Though Jhalakk... scored the highest opening TVR (5.5 TVR) in its fourth season, Season 5 (current season) has garnered the second highest launch TVR for the show.

The two properties have helped the channels garner more GRPs. While DID Little Masters had helped Zee to climb two positions up and stand at No 2, the launch of Jhalakk has helped Colors to get on to No 2, from its earlier position (No 4) of week 23. While the channels have grown in the GRP numbers, Colors (at No 2 with 215 GRPs in the current Week 24) has taken over Zee (at No 3 with 212 GRPs in Week 24).

While many market experts are positive about Jhalakk, a few others believe that star quotient alone may not work well for the show.

P M Balakrishna, COO, Allied Media, says, "We have different sets of audiences. Some may opt for the content and its quality, but we can't ignore the fact that a significant chunk of viewers watch it for the stars and the glamour around them."

He also believes that the promotions of the two shows have definitely driven the masses towards them. He adds that if the show has started with a good TVR, it is possible that it may sustain the same. This is mainly because the opening TVR of the show cannot be considered as sampling, since the show and the concept aren't new.

However, Vidhu Sagar, executive vice-president, Carat Media feels that the star value won't be able to pull the show off; there has to be some content factor, too. He says, "A show like DID, which is purely content driven, will have a longer shelf life than any other. For Jhalakk..., I believe that it may do well if the channel puts a great show and something different is included in the pattern."

He observes that being on the same time band, it is a clear competition between razzmatazz versus content.

Meanwhile, another media person who doesn't want to be named says that star quotient definitely helps to garner a few unique viewers in each episode. But at the same time, it mostly fails to grip loyal audiences for the show.

He says that though Madhuri Dixit drives this show more than any of the participants, it is still difficult for her charm alone to pull off a show, when there is another better content and better quality of dance available during the same time band.