Zee TV ousts Star Plus to grab the No. 1 position

Riding on the back of its flagship weekend property, the Finale episode of DID L'il Masters' second season, Zee TV has displaced Star Plus from the topmost position of the GEC flock in Week 33. The latter had been ruling the flock for about 125 weeks since Week 12 of 2010.

Zee TV, the channel that has gradually carved its way up from the earlier No. 4 position, has reached the top of the GEC ladder by gaining 36 extra points in the current week, garnering 283 GRPs. The channel was on the top of the flock in Week 26 of 2009, with 243 GRPs.

The otherwise leader of the group, Star Plus has shifted to the No. 2 position with a loss of 15 points, to clock 255 GRPs in the current week (Week 33).

Star Plus has ruled the Hindi GEC flock since Week 12 of 2010, when it displaced Colors with a gap of 24 GRPs by garnering 315 GRPs in that week. Subsequently, the channel recorded an all time high rating of 443 GRPs in Week 25 of 2010, as per the then TAM data.

Zee TV has gained extra numbers in the current week on the back of its flagship weekend property, DID L'il Master's final episode which clocked 8 TVRs for the three-hour show, which was screened live, contributing 55 GRPs to the overall ratings of the channel. Also, the debut episode of its Sunday morning property, Ramayan, has contributed 5 GRPs, gathering 2.7 TVRs.

The industry unanimously agrees that DID L'il Masters and the new show, Ramayan, are the driving forces behind the channel reaching the top position. Though the industry has mixed reactions for the new show, it is already established that DID has been doing the magic for the channel since its launch.

The Grand Finale of the first season of the show in May, 2009 also pushed the channel to the No. 1 position. Later, the Grand Finale of the second season of the show pushed the channel to No. 2, up from its erstwhile third position.

In 2010, L'il Masters' Season One, too, had pushed the channel up with its launch episode, while the Grand Finale scored 5.4 TVRs.

"While it cannot be overlooked that DID L'il Masters Season Two has been the most successful of all the earlier versions and seasons of the show, the channel has always had a bent towards the talent hunt shows," says a media planner on condition of anonymity. He also cites the example of Saregamapa L'il Champs.

Media planners accept that the overall gap between the top GECs have narrowed. Divya Radhakrishnan, managing director, Helios Media opines that the gap had narrowed and thus, a little gain resulted in the shift in positions.

"Overall, Zee's programming mix is much stronger right now. Where other channels are riding mainly on the back of fiction, the channel has a good mix of genres. Having said that, for this one time the Grand Finale, coupled with a little support of the new mythological Ramayan, has worked for the channel."

The media experts also opine that if it is observed closely, the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is not very high; neither is the jump higher - it's just a matter of fact that somebody's gain is someone else's loss. This being true, Zee TV is ahead of Star Plus by just 28 GRPs.

Adding to this, Avinash Pillai, national buying director, Mediacom, says, "Zee has been slowly carving its way up to the position. The numbers that the channel has garnered is no wonder. It has been strengthening its content and strategy since a year or so."

He also mentions that meanwhile, the position gain is very momentary. All the top GECs are at such a position that a little trick can shuffle the positions.

Apart from this, at No. 3, Colors has gained 21 points to garner 238 GRPs, while Sony follows with a drop of 11 points, gathering 214 GRPs.

Meanwhile, Life OK, too, has gripped the ground strongly at No. 5, after it replaced SAB TV last week for the first time since its launch. Life OK has garnered 134 GRPs against SAB's 133 GRPs in the current week. The two channels were neck-to-neck in the last week too, when Life OK clocked 129 GRPs, against SAB's 128 GRPs in Week 32.

Sahara One has gained two extra points to garner 35 GRPs, up from last week's 33 GRPs.

DID L'il Masters Season Two Grand Finale episode was the most watched programme in Week 33 with 8 TVRs.

While Star Plus has lost its position and GRP numbers, the channel has stood strong on its weekday prime time line up, adding 8 extra GRPs, making 128 GRPs for the slot.

Also, its flagship fiction property, Diya Aur Baati Hum, continues to gain TVRs, achieving 5.6 TVRs, up from last week's 5.2 TVRs, the second highest ratings in the Top 10 most-watched programmes list.

At No. 3 stands Colors' Balika Vadhu with 4.4 TVRs (4 TVRs in the last week). The fourth position is shared by Star's Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Colors' Sasural Simar Ka with 3.8 TVRs. Both the shows were at the same position last week, too, with 3.3 TVRs each.

At No. 6 and No. 7 are Sony's Bade Achhe Lagte Hain and CID with 3.7 TVRs and 3.5 TVRs, respectively. The eighth position is again shared by Sony's Crime Patrol and Star's Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai, with 3.4 TVRs each.

Saathiya Saath Nibhana of Star Plus is also in the Top 10 list with 3.2 TVRs.