MUMBAI: The media and entertainment industry will now have to get used to a new ratings system, which is scheduled to begin by the end of this month. And as Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) gears up to roll out its ratings data, Epic has a treat in store for audiences with a fresh programming line-up.
A lot of speculation and anxiety over the new television rating system came to rest last week when BARC announced that the new ratings system would be out every Wednesday by April end.
In order to launch its new shows the “segmented” Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Epic is waiting for the new ratings rollout.
A source close to the development tells Indiantelevision.com, “The channel is now four months old and has gone through its initial run. We are waiting for the BARC ratings to roll out and then put the new programmes on-air so that we know how the shows are doing in terms of numbers. Moreover, with that we will also have a clearer picture to show to advertisers.”
Though the content is kept under wraps, a show which has already created a lot of buzz before its release is Anurag Basu’s adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s Chokher Bali.
Additionally, veteran Bollywood scriptwriter and poet Javed Akhtar has also been roped for a show called Jaane Pehchaane on the channel. The series is slated to go on air in June and will have Akhtar as a narrator reminiscing about films, actors and famous dialogues of yesteryears.
Positioned as the first ‘segmented’ channel on Indian television, Epic currently airs only four shows throughout the day – two fiction series titled Dharmakshetra and Siyaasat and two non-fiction shows – Kahi Suni and Ekaant.
Founded by former Disney India managing director Mahesh Samat, Epic clocked around 1,246 GVTs in its debut week when it launched in November last year.
Wanting viewers to step in and out as per their convenience, all the shows on the channel were designed for a finite period. Epic began airing content pertaining to Indian history, folklore and mythology, in a contemporary storytelling format.
The channel started with around 13-15 weekly shows, most of which were hour-long. On weekends, the channel airs films that are in sync with its core proposition, Kahaniyaan Hindustan Ki (Hindi for fables of India), chosen from the channel’s library of 20 movies. On weekdays, Epic airs around two-and-a-half hours of original content starting at 8 pm.
