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| Zee pips STAR Plus for top position |
| Upasana Kaur & Ashish Sinha / Mumbai/New Delhi Jul 02, 2009, 01:57 IST |
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Leads prime-time band with GRP of 113
 It's celebration time at Subhash Chandra's Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) as its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Zee TV has become the genre leader among the dozen Hindi channels, pushing the leader STAR Plus to number three position behind Colors.
The rankings are based on viewership ratings data for week 26 (ended June 28) released by TAM Media, the viewership ratings agency whose data form the basis on which advertisers put their money on television. And the Hindi general entertainment genre is important because it contributes nearly half of the Rs 8,000 crore of advertising revenue that is generated on television annually, with the bulk coming from players like STAR Plus and Zee TV, among others.
It is also significant because genre-leader STAR Plus has been pushed to the number three spot for the first time in over a decade. It is ranked behind Colors that has managed to retain its number two spot for most weeks in the current year.
According to the TAM data, not only has Zee TV become the number one channel based on the gross rating points (GRPs), it has emerged as the leader in prime time (7pm to 11:30 pm), weekend prime time and the afternoon band (Monday to Friday), beating both STAR Plus and Colors.
According to the TAM data for week 26 of 2009, Zee TV has got a GRP of 243.1, ahead of Colors (242.8) and STAR Plus (218.5). Zee TV leads the prime-time band (Monday to Friday) with a total GRP of 113, ahead of STAR Plus (103 GRP) and Colors (100 GRP). Zee TV has also emerged as a leader in the weekend prime-time (Saturday and Sunday) slot with a total GRP of 23, while Colors (19 GRP) and STAR Plus (17 GRP) stood at number two and three respectively.
The GRPs are the currency used by the media planners for determining the popularity and reach of entertainment channels. GRPs are arrived at by adding the programme ratings of all shows aired during the 24-hour period while the weekly GRPs are determined by adding the GRPs of all seven days in a week.
"We are happy to have emerged a clear genre leader based on our programming strength alone and not on airing movies or running content without commercial breaks. We are creating GRPs and not buying them," Nitin Vaidya, COO, ZEEL and business head of Zee TV, said.
When contacted, a spokesperson for STAR Plus said: "It is a dynamic situation but as far as we are concerned the viewer-loyalty has always been with us. Our show Bidaai... continues to be the top rated show among all Hindi entertainment channels. We will soon be launching two more big-ticket shows."
A top executive of Colors said: "The TAM data puts both us and Zee TV at the same position — we have a GRP of 242.8, which is interpreted as 243, the same as them. But the main point is that we have been a consistent number two player. We were even the leader for a couple of weeks."
Reacting to this, Vaidya of Zee TV said: "We are a 17-year old company that has stuck to the basic business fundamentals of entertainment for the viewers, mileage for the advertisers and value for our shareholders. We are not in a hurry to grab rankings, but the TAM data clearly establishes us as the leader in all time-bands."
But are media planners excited about the new leader in the entertainment genre? "We are happy for Zee. But we don't buy slots on channels based on their weekly performance. I think, the next four-months will be crucial for Zee, STAR and Colors as a lot of new shows will come in," says Shashi Sinha, CEO of Loadstar Media, a leading media agency.
According to industry sources, at least 8-10 new telly-shows will be launched between Zee TV, STAR Plus and Colors in next few months and the media planners are expected to look at them for buying ad slots for their clients.
"Zee's TRP have seen a steady improvement since week one of CY2009. More importantly the contribution to these ratings is less dependent on movies unlike its peers which get a relatively higher share of their overall ratings from movies. Some of their new shows like Choti Bahu and Agle Janam seems to be getting the desired viewership and inching up the charts in the Top 10 shows in the Hindi GEC space," Mihir Shah,media analyst, Prahudas Liladher, said.
Zee TV's gain in GRP has been from a combined effort of at least five shows that have generated higher ratings. They include Choti Bahu, Aapki Antara, Pavitra Rishta, Agle Janam... and Saregamapa Lil Champs, a top Zee TV executive said.
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