Big B scores again, KBC gets year's highest opening rating

Opens with 6.1 ratings vs an average TVR of 5.24 in 2011

The Big B's magic continues to cast a spell on the country's television viewers. The sixth edition of Kaun Banega Crorepati, the game  show on Sony Entertainment (SET), has opened with a 6.1 TVR (television viewership rating) – the highest debut rating for any show across all general entertainment channels this year.

This is for the first time that KBC was launched at a weekend (Friday-Sunday) slot. Even the Saturday episode garnered a 5.3 TVR, as per TAM viewership data, provided by SET.

The mood is jubilant at SET, which was betting big on KBC, one of its tentpole properties. SET Sr. EVP and Business Head Sneha Rajani said, “It's a record-breaking performance. Over the next four to five weeks, we aim to consolidate our position further.”

The channel, which ended the week at number three with 244 GRPs, slightly lower than leader Zee TV (251 GRPs) and Star Plus (250 GRPs), is now aiming at the nuber one spot. KBC alone added 44 GRPs to the channel this week.

The ratings have also allayed -- at least for now the apprehensions of media buyers who were questioning SET's decision to show KBC on the weekends. 溺any advertisers and media buyers were confused as to why SET has decided to put its prime property on weekends. It now seems it was a very well calculated risk,a media buyer said.

SET has roped in Cadbury for the third year in a row as the presenting sponsor and Idea Cellular as the telecom partner. The associate sponsors for KBC 2012 are CEAT bike tyres, Axis Bank, Just Dial, Sony Bravia and Aakash. Cadbury has paid nearly Rs 18-20 crore for its association with KBC 6. Associate sponsors such as Idea have been charged about Rs 10-12 crore for the current season.