Charmed by the same tune

Rural and urban audiences' tastes converge when it comes to entertainment, encouraging brands to adopt a similar strategy across geographies

Since BARC started reporting rural data last year, the debate has raged over what works on which channel and how must brands make the most of the new sets of data that provide a more comprehensive view of the viewers' universe. The underlying assumption, as advertisers dug deeper into the data over the past year, was that rural audiences follow a different set of shows than their urban counterparts. However, as the numbers for the latest week show, there is no rural-urban divide when it comes to entertainment.

The latest data released by BARC shows that Naagin (season II) from Viacom18's general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors is the most viewed in rural and urban India. The rest of the shows on the most popular track differ, but the difference in many cases is because not all shows are available on free to air channels and that may be skewing the viewership data.

Raj Nayak, CEO Colors says, "The concept (of Naagin) became a phenomenon; it became a trendsetter with many broadcasters and production houses following its lead and introducing shows rooted in supernatural and fantastical themes. Naagin has gained a cult following with viewers religiously tuning in to watch the show."

While there are many critics who question the merits of such entertainment, brands looking to build themselves mass appeal have lined up for such shows. Oppo Mobile Phones, Ghadi Detergent, Dabur Almond Hair Oil are among the biggest sponsors of Naagin. In the past, the urban appeal of the show drew these brands in but now these shows are helping reach out to rural viewers too.

The challenge is two-fold for brands - who watches what and which profile to market to. While not all brands need to be inclusive of rural and urban audiences, the big spenders like FMCG, consumer goods and telecom need to target both the audiences and such vehicles become efficient solutions to the dilemma. The question that now remains is whether GEC channels will focus on such inclusive content or continue with their strategy to segment audiences.

The first shake up after the data wound its way into weekly ratings charts was ZEE Entertainment's second GEC Zee Anmol finding a place at number one. However, as the data charts stabilised, Star Plus, Zee TV and Colors regained their places in the pecking order, but the line-up of popular programmes changed forever.

Naagin is number one today but what is interesting is that the second season of the show has not only topped the charts in in urban+rural audiences, but the first season of the show continues to attract audiences in the rural belt. Currently on-air on Rishtey, it is ahead of another show with a similar theme on Zee Anmol - Naag Kanya. Nayak says, "We wanted this season to be a bigger visual treat than the previous one. And, the ratings that the show has garnered, not only in its launch week, but also in the second week is testimony that our gamble to take a show off-air at its peak has paid off." He is referring to the decision to run the show as a finite fiction series, which is different from the never-ending sagas that most channels prefer to air.

Most broadcasters have also adopted an audience segmentation strategy whereby they have extended the brand to a rural-only or a rural-focused channel. These are all free to air and air shows that have run their course in the city. Zee Entertainment tried its hand at the audience segmentation strategy with the launch of its GEc's Zindagi and &TV. While the former is positioned as a mass premium channel with content from Pakistani originally (now changed to Turkish and India content owing to unrest in India-Pakistan relations), the latter was targeted towards the aspirational Indian youth. The strategy has worked to an extent since more channels add to the network's advertising inventory. However, whether it has made it possible to include rural and urban audiences effectively in terms of incremental viewership, remains to be seen.