Bigg Boss-2 fortifies Colors at No 3 position

Over 11 million viewers tuned in to Bigg Boss-2 in the first week, according to aMap data, helping Colors, the month-old general entertainment channel of Viacom 18, keep its third place among 12 such channels.

STAR Plus and Zee TV remain number one and two, says aMap, the agency that discloses viewership data overnight, as opposed to the more-widely-accepted TAM data, which takes much longer time.

Viacom 18 is the television arm of the joint venture formed by Viacom and Network 18.

Bigg Boss-2, hosted by Shilpa Shetty, who became a recognised face in the UK after winning a show on the same format, is the second big success of Colors after the game show hosted by Akshay Kumar, the actor who has given five hit films in the last two years.

"Reality shows on general entertainment channels are certainly kicking in the viewership numbers. But will this continue, that is the big question," said a media analyst.

The first episode of Bigg Boss-2 on August 17 generated the highest ratings for Colors (1.6 per cent) in the 10-11 pm time band, beating even the ratings of STAR Plus (0.9 per cent) and Zee TV (0.3 per cent). After the impressive debut, it slipped up a little, but was the third most watched show in this time slot all of last week after the soap operas of STAR and Zee.

Bigg Boss-2 replaced Akshay Kumar-hosted Khatron Ke Khiladi, the desi version of international reality show Fear Factor, which, too, had been an instant success just like its successor and had been instrumental in taking Colors to the third place.

"Colors crossed the 100 GRP mark last week and continues to generate over 100 GRP, thereby keeping the number three position," said a Mumbai-based media planner.

GRP, or gross rating points, are generated by adding up the ratings on a channel for every half an hour.