GEC Watch: Epic receives its first ever TAM report card

The channel, which launched on November 19, grossed 1246 GVTs in its opening week.

Epic Channel, the latest entrant in the Hindi general entertainment genre, has clocked 1246 GVTs, in its opening week. The Mahesh Samat-channel was launched on November 19 and hence the viewership data of the channel is for four days.

The channel airs content pertaining to Indian history, folklore and mythology, in a contemporary storytelling format. It is positioned as the first 'segmented' channel in Indian television. The EPIC Channel's programming line-up is a mix of fiction and narrative non-fiction shows, short form content, as well as period films.

Meanwhile, Zee TV, the Hindi general entertainment channel from Zee Entertainment Enterprises, is the biggest gainer of week 47 of TAM as it added 14363 GVTs to gross 433251 GVTs in the week. The channel pushed three of its leading fiction shows - Jodha Akbar, Kumkum Bhagya and Jamai Raja to the 'top 10 shows' list.

The channel was preceded by Star Plus which remains the leader in the genre, despite losing eyeballs. The Star India flagship channel registered 630817 GVTs in the week ended November 22, as compared to 657612 GVTs in the previous week.

As per TAM data, (HSM, C&S, 4+), at No. 2 is Colors that clocked 481802 GVTs in the week, down from 483401 in week 46 of TAM. Two of its fiction shows were in the most watched shows list in this week.

Zee TV is followed by Star Plus' younger sibling, Life OK that recorded 325953 GVTs, up from 312534 in the last week.

Multi Screen Media's two Hindi GECs Sab TV and Sony Entertainment Television occupy the next two spots with 275600 GVTs (last week 295909) and 206513 (last week 189680).

Zee Anmol is next with 84398 GVTs (last week 83921). Star Utsav closed the week with 68923 GVTs (last week 69388), Big Magic with 68667 GVTs (last week 61220), Sony Pal with 30457 GVTs (last week 32126), Zindagi with 30125 GVTs (last week 29324) and Sahara One with 10030 GVTs (last week 9302).

A look at the shows...

The top three shows in the chart are from the Star Plus' stable - Diya Aur Baati Hum (13400 TVTs), Yeh Hai Mohabbatein (9316 TVTs) and Saathiya Saath Nibhana (8763 TVTs).

The next is Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya that ended with 8021 TVTs.

At no. five is Star Plus' Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai that notched 7667 TVTs in the week. It is followed by Zee TV's Jodha Akbar that closed the week 7336 TVTs.

At No. 7 is Colors' Sasural Simar Ka that ended the week with 7260 TVTs.

The eighth spot is occupied by Sab TV's Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma that fetched 7175 TVTs in the week.

Zee TV's Jamai Raja and Colors' Udaan concluded the week with 7133 TVTs and 6797 TVTs, respectively.

For the record, the figures mentioned are TVT figures. TVT is television viewership in 1000s (TVR in 1000). 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.