GEC Watch: Balaji's Box Cricket League on Sony gets its first score from TAM

The cricket-based reality show averaged 1126 TVTs in its opening week.

Sony Entertainment Television has been trying everything possible to regain its lost glory. Multi Screen Media's flagship channel has been stuck at No.6 for quite some time now. The deteriorating ratings of its daily soaps have been a worry - it is the crime-based shows that are helping the channel survive.

Sony had found new hope in Balaji Telefilms' cricket-based reality format - Box Cricket League (BCL) - that was launched on December 14. It averaged 1126 TVTs in its opening week. The show that also aimed at running on the back of the popularity of 120 television celebrities failed to do much good for the channel in its debut week.

According to TAM data, Sony clocked 240008 GVTs in week 51, up from last week's 228958 (HSM, C&S, 4+). The growth cannot completely be attributed to BCL as the channel's crime shows - C.I.D (3739), Adaalat (2528) and Crime Patrol (2488) also saw an increase in the viewership numbers in the week.

Star Plus, the leading Hindi general entertainment channel, continued to rule the roost, despite losing eyeballs. It clocked 636952 GVTs in the week, as opposed to 660929 GVTs in the previous week. Five of its shows appeared in the top 10 most watched shows' list.

Colors and Zee TV were two of the biggest gainers of the week. The Viacom18 channel concluded the week with 500016 GVTs (last week 449580) as the Zee Network channel ended it with 473977 GVTs (last week 397607). Both the channels pushed two shows each in the top viewed shows' chart.

Zee TV had aired Zee Rishtey Awards that notched 6352 TVTs in the week. At No.4 is Life OK, the second rung Hindi GEC from Star India's stable. The channel saw a surge in viewership as it rated 327014 GVTs in the week ended December 20 (last week 289099). Next in the hierarchy is Sab TV that grossed 310462 GVTs, compared to 287585 GVTs in week 50 of TAM. Sab's Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma remained one of the most watched shows in the genre.

Zee Anmol fetched 85173 GVTs (last week 90331), Star Utsav clocked 71841 GVTs (last week 62003), Rishtey recorded 63645 GVTs (last week 67030) and Big Magic registered 59613 GVTs (last week 59972) in the week.

Next in the line-up are Zindagi that concluded the week with 31545 GVTs (last week 32917) and Sony Pal that ended it with 25158 GVTs (last week 31024). Epic with 4534 GVTs (last week 5684) and Sahara One with 10802 GVTs (last week 8129) remained at the bottom of the ladder.

A look at the shows...

Star Plus' Diya Aur Bati Hum and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein were the two most watched shows in the genre in week 51. The shows clocked an average of 11823 TVTs and 10209 TVTs, respectively. Zee TV's Kumkumbhagya followed with 9936 TVTs.

Next on the list are Star Plus' Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai that settled with 9292 TVTs in the week and Saath Nibhana Saathiya that closed the week with 8391 TVTs. At No.6 is Ek Hasina Thi (Star Plus) that fetched a viewership of 7283 TVTs in its concluding week. Tu Mera Hero, the ratings of which will be released in the coming week, replaced the show. Sab's Taarak... occupied the seventh spot with 7060 TVTs. At No.8 and No.9 are Colors' Udaan and Sasural Simar Ka that ended the week with 7049 TVTs and 7040 TVTs respectively. Zee TV's Jamai Raja clocked 6879 TVTs.

For the record, the figures mentioned are approximate TVT figures. TVT is television viewership in '000s. 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.