GEC Watch: Bad beginning for Yudh

Though there has been an enormous amount of buzz around the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Yudh, this hasn't - relatively speaking - translated into viewership ratings in the first week.

Sony Entertainment Television hopes were riding high on Amitabh Bachchan's fiction debut 'Yudh'. The 20-episodic drama that launched on July 14 seems to have dashed those hopes, however. According to TAM data (C&S, 4+, HSM), provided by subscribers, Yudh clocked an average of 1199 TVTs in its opening week (week 29).

The show had replaced Balaji Telefilm's 'Bade Achche Lagte Hain' which was taken off due to poor performance. It is pertinent to note here that BALH was rating better than Yudh at the 10.30 pm slot. (BALH - week 16 - 1596 TVTs; week 17- 1443 TVTs; week 18 -1490 TVTs; week 19- 1230 TVTs).

Bade Achche Lagte Hain's telecast time was postponed to 11 pm from week 20 (thereby extending the telecast duration of Maharana Pratap). An already dying show still managed to register 1229 TVTs in week 25, 891 TVTs in week 26, 1140 TVTs in week 27 and 977 TVTs in week 28 of TAM.

Not only are Yudh's ratings low, the channel further lost 8904 GVTs to touch 270480 GVTs in week 29. Star Plus continues to lead with an addition of 38647 GVTs. The channel closed the week with 711977 GVTs as six of its shows featured in the top most watched shows. Zee TV continues to hold the second spot with 436478 GVTs, up from 424522 GVTs last week. It managed to push two of its shows to top 10 shows' list. Zee is followed by Life OK that garnered 361347 GVTs (last week 324996).

Colors at No. 4 gained marginally to conclude the week with 347095 GVTs (last week 342279). Its comedy non-fiction was one of the most watched shows in the genre in the week. At No. 5 is Set as its younger sibling Sab TV took the sixth spot with 267631 GVTs, 19327 GVTs up from previous week.

Sahara One closed the week with 13412 GVTs (last week 15078) as Z Anmol ended it with 72828 GVTs (last week 75663). The latest entrant in the category, Zindagi notched 28700 GVTs in its third week as compared to 27013 GVTs in the previous week.

Star Plus' Diya Aur Baati Hum and Mahabharat were the most watched shows in the genre with 10488 TVTs and 9413 TVTs, respectively. Next is Zee TV's Jodha Akbar that averaged 9331 TVTs in the week. At No.4 and 5 are Star Plus' Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai with 6275 TVTs and Saathiya Saath Nibhana with 7960 TVTs. At No.6 is Sab TV's flagship show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma that clocked 7187 TVTs.

Colors' Comedy Nights occupied the seventh spot garnering 6812 TVTs. At No.8 was Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya with 6586 TVTs. The last two positions on the chart are occupied by Star Plus' Yeh Hai Mohabattein (6394 TVTs) and Veera (5779 TVTs).

For the record, the figures mentioned are approximate TVT figures. TVT is television viewership in 1000s. It is the average number of individuals in '000s that are available at any given minute of a programme/day part that is under consideration. It captures growth in TV audiences in the country in absolute numbers. The TVR system, in contrast, works on percentages.