ITV

Tag: Colors Rishtey

  • Dish it out Rishtey style with Shiv, Shakti and shape-shifting serpents

    Dish it out Rishtey style with Shiv, Shakti and shape-shifting serpents

    MUMBAI: Your living room’s about to turn into a TV temple and a snake pit all in one evening. Colors Rishtey has officially landed on DD Free Dish with a bang, and it’s bringing with it a dhamakedaar line-up that’s equal parts divine, dramatic and downright addictive. The channel is levelling up its entertainment game by airing two of Indian television’s most talked-about blockbusters Shiv Shakti- Tap Tyag Tandav and Naagin – Naash ka Vinaash for the very first time on DD Free Dish, starting 15 May.

    Myth meets masala as Shiv Shakti takes viewers on a soul-stirring journey through the cosmic love story of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti, with Ram Yashvardhan and Subha Rajput slipping into their divine avatars at 7 PM sharp. And just when you’re catching your breath, Naagin slithers in at 9 PM with Tejasswi Prakash, Mahek Chahal, Simba Nagpal, and the evergreen Sudha Chandran in a double role that promises twice the chills and thrills.

    Shiv Shakti – Tap Tyag Tandav actor Ram Yashvardhan shared, “I’m genuinely thrilled that our show is now airing on Colors Rishtey and reaching so many more homes through DD Free Dish! This show is the divine love story of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti, a timeless saga etched in our culture, our hearts, and our collective memory. What makes it even more meaningful is that it’s perfect for family viewing. From powerful visuals to deep-rooted emotions, and so many learnings, there’s something in it for everyone from kids to grandparents. As an actor, it’s incredibly fulfilling to be part of a show that’s not only cherished but also becomes part of everyday conversations in homes across the country.”

    Naagin – Naash ka Vinaash, actor Sudha Chandran shared, “After over 38 years in the industry, Naagin 6 gave me something I had always dreamed of—a double role. Playing both Seema and her mother Tara has been incredibly exciting and creatively fulfilling. As an actor, it’s a joy to switch between two such layered characters, especially when they appear in the same frame. I’m grateful to have this in my kitty, and I’m thrilled that millions of more viewers will now get to experience this journey on COLORS Rishtey through DD Free Dish.”

    But Colors Rishtey isn’t just banking on its primetime heavyweights. The channel is reviving fan-favourites like Sasural Simar Ka, Khatra Khatra Khatra, and a power-packed kids’ slate featuring Munki and Trunk, Keymon Ache, and Shiva. It’s full-family entertainment that’s free, fabulous, and finally on every screen.

    So whether you’re in the mood for divine dilemmas, slithery secrets, or just some nostalgic chaos, tune in to Colors Rishtey on DD Free Dish. Because this May, the remote deserves some drama too.

  • Star Utsav snatches crown from Dangal in FTA showdown

    Star Utsav snatches crown from Dangal in FTA showdown

    MUMBAI: Star Utsav has stormed back into the Free-to-Air (FTA) arena, snatching the No. 1 spot from long-time leader Dangal and catapulting itself to fourth place overall across the Hindi-speaking market, both pay and FTA, in urban and rural India.

    Having rejoined DD Free Dish on 1 April, Star Utsav wasted no time making its presence felt—reaching 111 million viewers within just 11 days of its comeback.  The channel says it managed to get 102 GRPs against Dangal’s 97 in BARC week 14 HSM U+R.

    With heavy-hitters like RadhaKrishn, Rabba Ve, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin, the channel seems to have found its old rhythm and then some.

    “Star Utsav has risen to become the new  no1 FTA channel, ushering in a transformative era in Hindi entertainment. This is just the beginning of a revolution in FTA television, reshaping India’s viewing habits for the future,” said the network’s advertising sales team in a post on Linkedin.

    The timing couldn’t be better. With rising data costs, patchy rural internet, and pricey pay-TV packs, FTA TV is looking more attractive than ever. Add to that a boom in electrification and cheaper TV sets, and it’s a recipe for ratings gold.

    The return of legacy FTA giants—Star Utsav, Sony Pal, Colors Rishtey and Zee Anmol—has breathed new life into DD Free Dish, Prasar Bharati’s free DTH service. As per the FICCI-EY report, FTA homes are set to rise from 49 million in 2024 to 57 million by 2030. And with ad revenues already north of Rs 2,000 crore, there’s more than just eyeballs at stake.

    Star Utsav’s re-entry has shaken up the pecking order—and with more homes plugging in every year, the FTA slugfest has only just begun.

  • Colors Rishtey back on DD FreeDish, bringing TV classics to the masses

    Colors Rishtey back on DD FreeDish, bringing TV classics to the masses

    MUMBAI: Hold onto your remotes, India! JioStar’s Colors Rishtey has slithered back onto DD FreeDish, popping up on channel 50. After a three-year hiatus, the channel is returning with iconic shows, all for free, kicking off on 1 April That’s no April fool’s joke.

    The channel management has lined up a string of  its hit soaps  and drama series in the hope of pulling in the eyeballs.. Expect the serpentine shenanigans of Naagin, starring Mouni Roy and Arjun Bijlaani, and Naagin – Insaaf Ki Jung,  featuring Surbhi Jyoti, Anita Hassanandani, and Karishma Tanna. Family feuds and kitchen sink dramas abound in Sasural Simar Ka, with Avika Gor and Dipika Kakar, and Sasural Simar Ka – Ek Naya Adhyay,  starring Radhika Muthukumar and Avinash Mukherjee. For a dose of social drama, there’s Doree, featuring Amar Upadhya and Sudha Chandran, and for a laugh, Khatra Khatra Khatra, with Haarsh Limbachiyaa and Bharti Singh. And for those seeking a touch of the divine, Mahakali-Ant Hi Arambh Hein and Mahaveer Hanuman are on hand to deliver some timeless devotional sagas.

    Colors Rishtey head of linear TV business Arnab Das is over the moon. “We’re thrilled to reintroduce the magic of iconic shows, all for free!” he exclaimed. “We’re bringing back the golden days of TV – full of drama, family stories, and moments that everyone in the family can enjoy.”

    The return of Colors Rishtey is a major win for DD FreeDish viewers, who’ve been missing their fix of classic television. Now, they can settle in for hours of free entertainment, proving that even in the age of streaming, good old-fashioned television still packs a punch. It’s a proper telly tale. 

  • JioStar revamps sports channel and FTA portfolio

    JioStar revamps sports channel and FTA portfolio

    MUMBAI: JioStar has announced significant changes to its channel lineup, effective 15 March 2025, according to its latest reference interconnect order published on 13 February.

    The broadcaster is rebranding its Sports18 channels under the Star Sports banner. Sports18 1 will become Star Sports 2 Hindi, whilst Sports18 2 and 3 will be rebranded as Star Sports 2 Telugu and Tamil, respectively. Star Sports First will be renamed Star Sports 2 Kannada, and Sports18 Khel will become Star Sports Khel.

    Two new high-definition channels, Star Sports 2 Tamil HD and Star Sports 2 Telugu HD, will launch on 15 March. All sports channels will be priced at RS 19 for consumers.

    The company has also updated its free-to-air package, which now includes Colors Rishtey, Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies, Colors Cineplex Bollywood, Colors Cineplex Superhits, and News 18 India. 

    Anyone interested in downloading the latest updates from JioStar can do so by clicking on the links below: 

    Application for request of signals of STAR Channels DOWNLOAD PDF
    Form for Amendment of Subscribed Channels and Subscribed Bouquets DOWNLOAD PDF
    Form for Amendment of Territory DOWNLOAD PDF
    Rate Card DOWNLOAD PDF
  • Karan Singh moves to JioStar network as vertical head for FMCG, beverages, and alcoBev

    Karan Singh moves to JioStar network as vertical head for FMCG, beverages, and alcoBev

    MUMBAI: Seasoned media sales professional Karan Singh has been retained in the JioStar network scheme of things. He has been  named as the vertical head – FMCG, beverages & alcobev, Jiostar. At Viacom18, he was associate vice president – Colors Rishtey, Colors Cineplex Superhit and  Colors Cineplex Bollywood  managing advertising spends for the channels. He consistently delivered revenue growth and drove  innovative advertising solutions.

    Karan, a dynamic leader with a proven track record in media sales, business development, and brand solutions, brings over 17 years of experience in the media and advertising industry. His expertise spans revenue strategies, large-scale product launches, and high-stakes commercial negotiations, making him a perfect fit for the new role at JioStar Network.

    Previously, Karan held prominent positions at Viacom18, where he served for nearly 14 years.. Prior to this, he played pivotal roles at Star TV India and Radio Mirchi, where he was instrumental in establishing revenue functions and scaling up market presence.

    Karan holds a post graduate diploma in marketing from Amity University and has further honed his leadership skills through the young leader development program at XLRI Jamshedpur.

    In his new role, Karan aims to leverage his extensive experience to strengthen JioStar Network’s presence in the FMCG, beverages, and alco-bev sectors, driving growth and innovation in the rapidly evolving media landscape.

  • Govind Shahi set to exit Indiacast after a 12 year stint

    Govind Shahi set to exit Indiacast after a 12 year stint

    Mumbai: Highly placed sources have revealed that Govind Shahi, the International Business Head at Indiacast, is stepping down after an impressive 12-year run. Known for his leadership in steering Viacom18’s international channels to major growth, Govind is likely to explore new opportunities. While there was strong speculation about him taking the reins of international operations at Jiostar, it seems that he could be charting a different course.

    With over three decades of experience in media, including top roles at Zee and Colors, as well as various entrepreneurial ventures, Govind has made a mark in global broadcasting. He’s credited with launching key channels and events, such as Zee Russia, Zee Carnival, Zee Cine Awards, Colors Gujarati, and Colors Rishtey along with digital products like Voot, while spearheading a range of successful global initiatives.

    Govind will be leaving Colors at a time when the network is at its peak, dominating several international markets. Under his leadership, Colors became the only Indian broadcaster with a unified FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) presence internationally -an achievement largely driven by his strategic vision and ability to adapt quickly to market needs.

  • DD Free Dish announces Sony Pal & Colors Rishtey to go live effective 1 December

    DD Free Dish announces Sony Pal & Colors Rishtey to go live effective 1 December

    Mumbai: Prasar Bharti’s free direct-to-home (DTH) platform announced the return of two general entertainment channels, Sony Pal and Colors Rishtey, effective from 1 December. The free-to-air platform has unveiled the comeback news of big media giants via a tweet shared on 21 November.

     

     

    Colors Rishtey and Sony Pal won the 63rd e-auction process, which was conducted on 18 November 2022.

    Recently, the public broadcaster has invited applications for allotment of vacant MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 slots of DD Free Dish platform on a pro-rata basis for the period from 1 December 2022 to 31 March 2023.

    In April 2022, four big broadcasters—Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Viacom18 Network, Sony Pictures Networks, and Disney Star India—withdrew their flagship channels from bouquets. The decision came in January 2020, when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) announced NTO 2.0, which capped a bouquet channel price at Rs 12 instead of Rs 19 (as per the first NTO).

    In order to increase their advertising revenue and gross rating points (GRPs), the broadcasters decided to rejoin the DD Free Dish platform, as it has a lesser number (176+) of TV channels to compete with than private DTH (500+) services.

    Earlier, when the big players decided to quit the platform, they were completely aware that they had taken on the risk of losing subscribers and ad revenue through that move. Broadcasters knew that if they did not bring back their channels on the platform, then they may have to shut down these channels, as at present, free users are shifting to DD Free Dish for free entertainment and paid DTHs are moving towards OTT streaming apps.

  • BARC week 21: Star Utsav tops the list of Hindi GEC platforms

    BARC week 21: Star Utsav tops the list of Hindi GEC platforms

    Mumbai: Star Utsav has topped the list of most-watched Hindi GEC channels across all platforms, released by the Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) for week 21 (22 May to 28 May 2021). The channel also bagged the top spot in the list of free platforms, while it was placed sixth in the list of paid platforms. 

    In the list of paid platforms, Star Plus continued its dominance with 2792.69 Average Minute Audience (AMA), followed by Sony SAB in the second spot with 2520.82 AMA. Colors and Sony Entertainment Television bagged the third and fourth spot in the pay platform with 1449.93 and 1294.56 AMA respectively. The remaining channels in the top 10 list of Hindi GEC pay platforms are Zee TV (1278.53), Star Utsav (928.53), Star Bharat (721.95), Sony Pal (629.86), Dangal (467.47), and Colors Rishtey (429.25). Star Utsav topped the category of free platforms with 2037.08 AMA, followed by Colors Rishtey (1077.12) and Zee Anmol (1043.52) in the second and third spots respectively. Sony Pal bagged the fourth spot in the free category with 945.33 AMA.

    Other television channels that found their place in this BARC list of free Hindi GEC are Dangal (778.15), The Q (772.12), Big Magic (326.58), Shemaroo TV (137.4), DD National (21.77), and DD Retro (21.29). The most-watched Hindi GEC in the rural market is Star Utsav with 2104.48 AMA. Other Hindi GECs included in the top 10 list of the rural market are Colors Rishtey, Zee Anmol, Sony Pal, Star Plus, Dangal, Sony SAB, The Q, Zee TV, and Colors. 

    In the urban market, Star Plus topped the list with 1869.27 AMA, followed by Sony SAB (1721.53), Colors (983.04), and Sony Entertainment Television (918.03) in the second, third and fourth spots respectively. Other channels in this list of top Hindi GECs in the urban regions are Star Utsav, Zee TV, Sony Pal, Star Bharat, Dangal, and Colors Rishtey. 

    Star Utsav topped the all-category list which is a compilation of both pay and free platforms with 2965.61 AMA, followed by Star Plus, Sony SAB, and Sony Pal in the second, third and fourth spots respectively. Other channels in the all-category list are Colors Rishtey, Colors, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee Anmol, Zee TV, and Dangal. 

  • Viewership dynamics changing in Unlock 1.0? Hindi GEC viewership grows on DD Free Dish?

    Viewership dynamics changing in Unlock 1.0? Hindi GEC viewership grows on DD Free Dish?

    BENGALURU: Television consumption decreased slightly (reduced 0.6 percent) in Week 23 of 2020 (Saturday, 6 June 2020 to Friday, 12 June 2020) to 16.3 billion weekly impressions as compared to the previous week which had scored 16.4 billion weekly impressions according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data. BARC had reported viewership of 16.3 billion impressions for week 21 of 2020. This number is still 12.4 percent higher than the viewership of 14.5 billion impressions reported for week four of 2020.

    BARC and Nielsen have set the average viewership data between weeks two and four of 2020 as the yardstick to measure television consumption trends during Covid2019 weeks. While the lockdown in India commenced on 25 March 2020, which was midweek of week 12 of 2020, BARC-Nielsen Covid2019 reports are available for weeks between weeks 11 and 18 of 2020 at the time of writing of this paper. The author has considered week four of 2020 as the reference week here.

    GECs have shown growth in viewership. Is it because a number of them, more so Hindi GECs and movies channels, have returned to DD Free Dish’s fold? Quite likely.

    This paper must be read with caveats. The conclusions are based on BARC weekly data in the public domain which comprises of the combined weekly impressions of the top two, three, five or 10 channels of each genre/sub-genre/platform or across genres.  The author has used the combined weekly impressions of the Top ten, five, three or two channels of the genre sub/genre during different weeks for comparison and the conclusions in this paper are limited to that extent. Further, the channels listed in BARC’s weekly lists needn’t be the same week-on-week. The comparison of combined weekly for all the weeks mentioned in this paper is meant for genre/sub-genre/platform comparison, not any individual channel (if named anywhere in this paper). In some cases, viewership in terms of combined weekly impressions of the week under review and week four is not comparable because the number of channels in BARC’s weekly lists of the respective genres/sub-genres/platforms during the two periods were not same. Probably BARC watermarks were provided for some of the channels after week four of 2020.

    For Hindi GECs, BARC provides data for the Top 10 Hindi GECs in a combination  of the urban and rural Hindi speaking markets or HSM (U+R) on all platforms; HSM (U+R) on the pay platform; HSM (U+R) on the free platform; HSM (R) on all platforms; and on HSM (U) on all platforms. It also provides data for Hindi movies in these five segmentations. It must be noted that as per BARC, HSM includes the All India market minus the south Indian markets of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. 

    In the case of regional channels, BARC provides data for the top five Assamese, Bangla, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi channels as also for the four south Indian languages – Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Many of the channels included in the respective lists of top five regional channels are from mixed genres – these could be news, music, movies, infotainment and spiritual channels. In many of the cases, it is often the news segment/programme of the GEC that is amongst BARC’s weekly list of top five programmes which is probably one of the reasons why a channel landed up in BARC’s top five channels list for that language in the first place. However, BARC’s top five lists of languages such as Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Assamese, Bangla and Marathi have a channel mix that consists mainly of GECs and movies that run mainly GEC and/or movies content. 

    In the pre-Covid2019 weeks, four genres had 89 percent of television viewership share – in terms of size, they are GEC, movies, news and the kids genres.  The viewership share of these genres grew to 93 percent in week 18 of 2020 as per the 8th edition of the BARC-Nielsen report for week 18 of 2020. Please refer to the figure below:

    Overall, GEC had 52 percent viewership share in the pre-Covid2019 lockdown weeks. In the absence of fresh content, as well as stiff competition from news and movies channels, GEC viewership share declined to about 40 percent of total television consumption in week 13 of 2020 when there was huge growth in overall television consumption due to the various phases of the lockdowns in India. Considering the larger television consumption, more people preferred watching the news and movies genres, as well as the kids genre. Many GECs run movies on a regular schedule. Post the first few weeks of the Covid2019 lockdown, when the movies genre showed viewership growth, many GECs, more so in south India, started airing movies, and most still continue to do so. This helped perk up the viewership of GECs to grow.

    The Hindi GEC genre has a large combined viewership as compared to the all the other languages. BARC’s weekly lists of the top 10 Hindi GECs' growth was led by the HSM (R) market and the free platform in week 23 of 2020 as compared to week 21. Also, a number of second rung Hindi GECs and movie channels returned to DD Free Dish in June 2020. The reach and television consumption on the government’s free DTH service has brought back channels such as Sony Pal, Star Utsav, Colors Rishtey an Rishtey Cineplus back into BARC’s weekly lists of top five or 10 channels in their respective genres and across genres lists.

    The combined viewership of the top 10 Hindi GECs on All Platforms grew 4.1 percent in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs in the urban Hindi Speaking Market or HSM (U) in week 23 of 2020 was almost flat as compared to the previous week. Consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U) grew just 0.8 percent as against the 10.9 percent growth in the rural hindi speaking market or HSM (R) in the period under review as compared to the previous week. Consumption of the Top 10 Hindi GECs on the free platform grew 21.1 percent in Week 23 of 2020 as compared to the Week 22. TV consumption of the top 10 Hindi GECs on the pay platform grew 1.5 percent in week under review as compared to the previous week. 

    Viewership growth was witnessed by the top five Tamil, Marathi, Malayalam and Bangla channels. Except for Tamil, the other three witnessed viewership growth in at lest three of the top 5 channels. In the case of Tamil, the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV had major growth in Week 23 of 2020, with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd's Tamil flagship channel Zee Tamil showing a small amount of growth as compared to week 22. The other three channels in BARC’s weekly list of top five Tamil channels showed decline in viewership in terms of weekly impressions in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week.

    Another indicator that Hindi GECs could have grown is BARC’s weekly lists of top 10 channels across genres – BARC has segmented across genres to the top 10 channels across genres on all platforms, on the pay platform and the free platform. Though the combined weekly impressions of the top 10 channels across genres on all platforms in week 23 of 2020 were almost the same (grew 0.3 percent) as compared to the previous week, a Hindi GEC replaced a Telugu channel in the weekly list during the week under review. Though the combined weekly impressions of BARC's weekly list of top 10 channels on the free platform in week 23 of 2020 declined 1.4 percent as compared to the previous week, two Hindi GECs entered the list at the cost of a Hindi movies and Bhojpuri channels. One more Hindi GEC that entered the free platform across genres list replaced another Hindi GEC. 

    The Hindi movies genre showed flat growth (combined weekly impressions of top 5 movies channels on all platforms de-grew by 0.7 percent) in week 23 of 2020 as compared to week 21. Combined weekly impressions of top 5 Hindi movies channels in HSM (U) was flat, while those in HSM (R) saw a growth of 1.9 percent in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. Combined weekly impressions of the top 5 Hindi movies on the free platform grew 6.3 percent, while on the pay platform they grew by 0.2 percent (almost flat growth).

    Further, unlike the previous weeks, news channels lost viewership if BARC’s weekly data for Top 5 Assamese, Bangla, Hindi, English, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Tamil and Telugu News channels for week 23 of 2020 is considered. The Top 5 Kannada news channels seems to be the only news genre that has bucked the trend, combined viewership of the Top 5 Kannada channels grew by a phenomenal 48.7 percent in week 23 of 2020 as compared to the previous week. In is worth noting that three of the Top 5 Tamil programmes in week 23 of 2020 were Tamil films on Sun TV, the other two were non-film GEC shows.

    Another major genre-the kids genre has shown growth, going by BARC data of the top 5 kids channels for weeks 23 and 22 of 2020 – week 23 of 2020 saw weekly impressions of top 5 kids channels grow by four percent as compared to the previous week. The combine weekly impressions of top five channels of the other genres which saw growth during the week under review as compared to the previous week were music (7.7 percent growth); English entertainment (21.2 percent growth); sports (5.7 percent growth) and infotainment (1.2 percent growth). The overall viewership share of these genres is in single digits percentage.

  • Colors Rishtey creates special programming for DD Free Dish viewers

    Colors Rishtey creates special programming for DD Free Dish viewers

    MUMBAI: With an intent to satisfy the entertainment needs of its larger viewer base in the times of isolation, Colors Rishtey on DD Freedish will present premium content with blockbuster shows like Naagin 3, Madhubala, Khatra Khatra Khatra, Kitchen Champion amongst many others. Catering to the masses with stories they treasure and characters that they admire, the channel will air an eclectic mix of content from Viacom18’s umbrella.

    Carefully curated to cover a variety of genres ranging across folklore, mythology, romance, drama, fantasy and kids special, the channel will continue to stay viewers’ partner in the tough times.

    Tapping into the kids' genre, the channel will treat its little viewers with shows like Mottu Patlu, Gattu Battu, Pakdam Pakdai, Munki and Trunk and Paw Patrol.  Bal Gopal from Jai Shri Krishna is also part of the line-up

    The channel will further strengthen the programming with properties like Internet Wala Love and Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi.