ITV

Tag: Jamai Raja

  • Star Bharat continues to top Hindi GECs across genres

    Star Bharat continues to top Hindi GECs across genres

    BENGALURU: During the first eight weeks of 2018 (Saturday, 30 December 2017 to Friday, 23 February 2018), honours have been divided equally by two Hindi free-to-air (FTA) GEC channels as far as topping Hindi GECs in Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) weekly lists of the top 10 television channels across genres goes. In weeks 1, 3, 4 and 5, it was Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) Hindi GEC channel Zee Anmol that was ranked second after the Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV in BARC’s across genre list. In weeks 2, 6, 7 and now week 8 it is Star India Private Limited (Star India) Hindi GEC Star Bharat that was ranked second after Sun TV in the lists.

    As in the case during the past few weeks, seven Hindi GECs, of which four were FTA, and one channel each from the Hindi Movies, Tamil and Telugu channels made it to BARC’s list of top 10 channels across genre. Also, as in the case of the past few weeks, four Star India GECs’ – three Hindi and one Telugu; two Hindi GECs’ from Zeel; one FTA Hindi GEC and one Hindi movies channel from Sony Pictures Network India (SPN); and one GEC each from the Sun TV Network and Network18 comprised the top 10 channels across genres list for week 8 of 2018 (Saturday, 17 February 2018 to Friday, 23 February 2018).

    As mentioned above, Sun TV topped the across genre list in week 8 of 2018 with 985.551 million impressions. The channel also topped BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu(TN)/Puducherry markets. All the top 5 Tamil programmes during primetime in these markets were aired on Sun TV during the week under review.

    Star Bharat was ranked second in BARC’s across genres list with slightly higher ratings at 762.407 million weekly impressions in week 8 of 2018 as compared to the previous week’s 755.591 million weekly impressions. The channel also topped BARC’s ranking of the top 10 Hindi GEC channels in the urban (U) and rural (R) Hindi speaking market (HSM) and was ranked second in HSM (U). Its soap Nimki Mukhiya was among the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R).  

    Zee Anmol was ranked third in the week under consideration with 715.586 million weekly impressions. The channel was ranked first in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (R) and was ranked second in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U+R).

    The Balaji Telefilms-produced family soap Kumkum Bhagya that featured on the channel was ranked first in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). Another programme that also featured on the channel in the HSM (R) list of top 5 programmes during primetime and was aired on Zee Anmol was Jamai Raja.

    In week 8 of 2018, SPN’s FTA women focused Hindi GEC Sony Pal was ranked fourth – the same as the previous week. The channel garnered 682.137 million weekly impressions in week 8 of 2018. Sony Pal was also ranked third in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U+R) and was ranked second in HSM (R). Three programmes, Baalveer, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah and CID, that were aired on Sony Pal were among the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes in HSM (R).

    At rank five in week 8 of 2018 was Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV (same rank as week 7) with higher ratings of 600.766 million weekly impressions as compared to 587.318 million weekly impressions in the previous week. Kumkum Bhagya that is also being aired on Zee TV and its spinoff Kundali Bhagya were amongst the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM(U).

    Viacom18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors was ranked sixth in week 8 of 2018 with 574.408 million weekly impressions. The channel topped BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U). Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki that aired on the channel was among the top 5 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U).

    Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus climbed two ranks from last week’s ninth to seventh in week 8 of 2018 with 573.432 million weekly impressions. The channel had scored 522.697 million weekly impressions in week 7 of 2018. Star Plus was also ranked third among the top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U). The Balaji Telefilms-produced soap Yeh Hai Mohabbateinwas among BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U).

    Another Star India FTA Hindi GEC Star Utsav was ranked eighth in week 8 of 2018 in the across genres list with 543.482 million weekly impressions to the previous week’s 553.212 million weekly impressions. Star Utsav was ranked third in BARC’s weekly list of top 10 Hindi GEC’s in HSM (R).

    Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa was ranked ninth in week 8 of 2018 in BARC’s across genre list with 538.662 million weekly impressions. In week 7 of 2018, the channel was ranked seventh with 561.696 million weekly impressions. The channel topped BARC’s list of top 5 Telugu channels in the Andhra Pradesh/Telangana market. Like the previous week, 4 of the top 5 Telugu programmes during primetime in the same market were aired on Star Maa.

    SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max was ranked tenth in week 18 of 2018 in BARC’s across genre list with 507.975 million weekly impressions, higher than the 501.759 million weekly impressions of week 7 of 2018. Sony Max topped BARC’s weekly list of top 5 Hindi movies channels during the week under consideration in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U) and the channel was amongst BARC’s list of top 5 Hindi movies channels in HSM (R).

    Also Read :

    ETV Telugu re-enters across genre list

    Sun TV, Star Maa only non-Hindi players in across genre list

    Star Bharat continues leading Hindi GECs across genres

  • ETV Telugu re-enters across genre list

    ETV Telugu re-enters across genre list

    BENGALURU: After a hiatus of one week, the Network18-associated Telugu general entertainment channel (GEC) ETV Telugu returned to Broadcast Audience Research Council‘s (BARC) list of top ten channels across genre list [All India (U+R) : 2+ Individuals]. ETV Telugu replaced the Sun Networks’ Telugu GEC Gemini TV at tenth rank in the list in week 5 of 2018 (Saturday, 27 January 2018 to Friday, 2 February 2018). ETV Telugu was also ranked first in BARC’s list of top 5 Telugu channels (Andhra Pradesh/ Telangana (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals) during the week under review. Swati Chinukulu which featured on the channel was among the top five Telugu programmes in the AP/Telangana markets during primetime in week 5 of 2018.

    Six Hindi GEC channels, two Telugu GEC channels and one channel each from the Hindi Movies and the Tamil GEC genres made to the list of the top 10 channels across genre for week 5 of 2018. From the networks’ perspective, three Star India channels, two channels each from Network18, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel from the Sun Network comprised the top 10 channels across genres list. Four (Hindi GEC) of the ten channels were free to air (FTA).

    Occupying its normal pedestal at rank 1 was the Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV with a slightly lowered viewership of 998.106 million weekly impressions – the channel had garnered 1,047.704 million weekly impressions in week 4. Sun TV also topped BARC’s list of top 5 Tamil channels in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry markets in week 5 of 2017.  Also, as has become a norm all the 5 top Tamil programmes in these markets were from Sun TV.

    Occupying an ‘almost regular’ second rank in week 5 of 2018 was Zeel’s FTA Hindi GEC Zee Anmol, which also topped BARC’s Top 10 Hindi GEC channels in the Hindi speaking urban and rural markets – HSM (U+R) and BARC’s top 10 Hindi channels in HSM (R). The Balaji Telefilms-produced family drama Kumkum Bhagya aired on Zee Anmol was among the top five Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). Another family soap, Jamai Raja which was aired on the channel was also among the top five Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (R). Zee Anmol scored 763.210 million weekly impressions in week 5 of 2018.

    At third rank was Star India’s renamed FTA Hindi GEC Star Bharat with 683.428 million weekly impressions. The channel was also ranked second in BARC’s top five Hindi GEC list in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U). The soaps Nimki Mukhiya and Kya Haal Mr Panchal, which were aired on Star Bharat, were among the top five Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R).

    SPN’s women-focused FTA Hindi GEC Sony Pal moved up a rank to fourth place in week 5 of 2018 with 617.140 million weekly impressions. Sony Pal was also ranked third in BARC’s lists of top 10 Hindi GECs in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). Three programmes aired on the channel – Balveer, CID and Taarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah were among the top five programmes during primetime in HSM (R) during week 5 of 2018.

    Network18’s (aka Viacom18) flagship Hindi GEC Colors moved up two places in week five of 2018 to fifth rank with 613.090 million weekly impressions. The channel was ranked first in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (U) during the week. Two soaps that were aired on Colors – Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki and Ishq Mein Marjawan were among the top five Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U).

    Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV retained its previous week’s sixth rank with slightly higher viewership of 599.2017 million weekly impressions (previous week 595.585 million weekly impressions). Kumkum Bhagya and its spin-off Kundali Bhagya aired on the channel were among the top five Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U).

    At seventh rank in the top 10 channels across genre list was another Star India FTA Hindi GEC channel – Star Utsav with 575.871 million weekly impressions. Star Utsav was ranked second in BARC’s list of top 10 Hindi GEC channels in HSM (R) in week 5 of 2018.

    At eighth place in week five of 2018 was SPN’s Hindi Movies channel Sony Max with 507.698 million weekly impressions. Sony Max topped the list of top five Hindi movies channels in HSM (U+R) and was among the top five in HSM (R) and HSM (U).

    At ninth rank was Star India’s Telugu GEC Star Maa with 503.891 million weekly impressions. Star Maa was ranked second in BARC’s list of top five Telugu channels in AP and Telangana markets. Four programmes on the channel – Koyilamma, Karthika Deepam, Kumkuma Puvvu and Telugu feature film –Jaya Janaki Nayaka were amongst the top five Telugu programmes in week 5 of 2018.

    As mentioned above, completing the ten was ETV Telugu with 499.513 million weekly impressions.

    Also Read :

    No change in channels in across genres list in first week of 2018

    BARC ratings: 3 Telugu channels among top 10 across genres

    Sony Max returns to top-10 channels in across genre list

  • Sony Max returns to top-10 channels in across genre list

    Sony Max returns to top-10 channels in across genre list

    BENGALURU: After a hiatus of a week, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) Hindi Movies channel Sony Max returned to Broadcast Audience Research Council’s (BARC) list of the top-10 channels across genre (All India [U+R] : 2+ Individuals). Six Hindi GEC channels, two Telugu GEC channels and one each of Hindi Movies and Tamil GEC channels made up the top-10 across genre list for week 4 of 2018 (Saturday, 20 January 2018 to Friday, 26 January 2018). From the network’s perspective, the top-10 channels across genre were three Star India Pvt Ltd (Star India) channels, two channels each from the Sun Network Ltd, SPN and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) and one channel from Network 18. Four of the channels in the list were free-to-air (FTA).

    The Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV held onto to its first rank in the list in week 4 of 2018 with 1,047.704 million weekly impressions. Sun TV was also the most watched Tamil channel in the Tamil Nadu/Puducherry markets according to BARC’s weekly list of top-five Tamil channels during the week under review. All the top-five Tamil programmes during prime time were from Sun TV.

    Zeel’s FTA channel Zee Anmol also retained its second rank with 722.702 million weekly impressions. Zee Anmol was also the most watched Hindi GEC in the Hindi Speaking Urban + Rural (HSM (U+R) and HSM rural [HSM (R)] markets. The Balaji Telefilms produced family drama series Kumkum Bhagya and the Grazing Goat Pictures-produced soap Jamai Raja were among the top five most watched Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM (R). These programmes were aired on Zee Anmol.

    Star India’s FTA Hindi GEC Star Bharat also retained its previous week’s third rank in week 4 of 2018 with 697.485 million weekly impressions. The Qissago Telefilms-produced serial Nimki Mukhiya was among BARC’s five most watched Hindi GEC programmes in the HSM (U+R) markets during primetime.

    Sony Max was ranked fourth in week 4 of 2018 with 639.675 million weekly impressions. The channel also topped BARC’s top five Hindi Movies channels weekly list in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U). The sequel of SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus – Bahubali 2: The Conclusion was among the five most watched movies in HSM (U+R), HSM (U) and HSM (R). Hindi feature film (HFF) Sooryavansham, that was aired on the channel in week 4 was amongst the five most watched programmes in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U). Another HFF that was aired on the channel, Bhairava, was also among the top-five Hindi movies in HSM (U).

    SPN’s women focused FTA Hindi GEC Sony Pal was ranked fifth in week 4 of 2018 with 600.018 million weekly impressions. Sony Pal was also ranked second in BARC’s top 10 Hindi GEC channels list in HSM (R). Balveer and Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah Chashmah aired on the channel were among the most watched Hindi programmes in HSM (R) during prime time.

    Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV was ranked sixth in week 4 of 2018 with 595.585 million weekly impressions. Kumkum Bhagya and its spinoff Kundali Bhagya that were aired on Zee TV were BARC’s top two Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U+R) and HSM (U).

    Network18’s (or Viacom18 if you may) flagship Hindi GEC Colors was ranked seventh in week 4 of 2018 with 583.116 million weekly impressions. Colors was the most watched Hindi GEC channel in the week in HSM (U). The Rashmi Sharma Telefilms-produced story of a transgender, Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki, was among the top five Hindi GEC programmes during primetime in HSM (U).

    Another Star India FTA Hindi GEC, Star Utsav, was ranked eighth in week 4 of 2018 with 569.417 million weekly impressions. Star India’s Telugu GEC Star Maa was ranked ninth during the week under review with 532.247 million weekly impressions. The channel was the most watched Telugu GEC in the AP/ Telangana (U+R): NCCS All : 2+ Individuals market. Two programmes that featured on Star Maa – Kumkuma Puvvu and Koyilamma were among the top five Telugu programmes during primetime.

    The Sun Newtork’s Telugu GEC Gemini TV completed BARC’s list of top-10 channels across genre list in week 4 of 2017 with 522.878 million weekly impressions. Gemini TV was the second most watched Telugu GEC programme in AP/Talengana.

    Also Read :

    BARC ratings: Zee Anmol leads GECs in U+R

    BARC panel tampering: first arrests made

    Star Bharat leads Hindi GEC (U+R) in week 2 of BARC ratings

  • Zeel channels continue to rule Hindi GEC in steady across genres’ list

    Zeel channels continue to rule Hindi GEC in steady across genres’ list

    BENGALURU: The channels present in the top 10 channels Across Genres list for week 38 of 2017 (Saturday, 16 September 2017 to Friday, 22 September 2017) by Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) remained the same as in week 37 of 2017. There were small movements lower down in order with some channels moving up and some moving down the ranks in week 38 as compared to week 37.

    Once again, in what seems to have become almost normal over the last few weeks, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) channels Zee TV and Zee Anmol continued their Hindi GEC supremacy in the weekly top 10 channels across genres list for week 38 of 2017,with improved ratings as compared to the previous week. Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV was at second place behind the Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV. At third place was Zeel’s FTA Hindi GEC Zee Anmol. Like in the previous week, the Balaji Telefilms produced Kumkum Bhagya and its spinoff Kumkum Kundali (Kumkums’) continued to contribute to Zee TV’s ratings in the overall Hindi GEC market (U+R).It was the Grazing Goat Pictures Pvt. Ltd produced soap Jamai Raja in the Hindi GEC rural markets that have helped Zee Anmol bolster its ratings. Both the Kumkums’ have also helped Zee TV gain ratings in the Hindi GEC urban markets.

    Seven Hindi GEC channels, two Telugu GEC channels and one Tamil channel made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genre All India (U+R): 2+ Individuals list for week 38 of 2017. From the network’s perspective, three channels from Star India, two channels from Zeel, Sun Network and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) each and one channel from Network 18 or Viacom 18 comprised the top 10 channels across genres list for week 38 of 2017.

    As mentioned above, Sun TV ruled the across genre list in week 38 of 2017 with 1,033.729 million weekly impressions followed by Zee TV with 717.655 million weekly impressions. Zee Anmol was at third place with 701.571 million weekly impressions followed by the Star Network’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus with 596.472 million weekly impressions as compared to last week’s 635.67 million weekly impressions, at fourth place.

    Star India’s newly renamed and FTA Hindi GEC channel Star Bharat was at fifth place in week 37 of 2017 with 594.202 million weekly impressions followed by Viacom 18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors at sixth place with 592.831 weekly impressions, higher than the 571.014 million weekly impressions of week 37 of 2017. Once again led by the viewership of the Kaun Banega Crorepati, SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television was at seventh place with 547.79 million weekly impressions.

    Sun Network’s flagship Telugu GEC with 540.683 million weekly impressions was at eighth place as compared to the tenth place in week 37.  Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa was at eighth place in the weekly top 10 channels across genre list with 537.934 million weekly impressions  at ninth place followed by SPN’s women focused Hindi GEC Sony Pal with 527.803 million weekly impressions completed the top 10 channels across genre list at tenth place in week 37 of 2017.

    Please refer to the figure below:

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  • Zeel channels continue to rule across genres

    Zeel channels continue to rule across genres

    BENGALURU: In what seems to have become almost normal over the last few weeks, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) channels Zee TV and Zee Anmol continued their Hindi GEC supremacy in the weekly top 10 channels across genres list for week 37 of 2017. Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) data for week 37 of 2017 (Saturday, 9 September 2017 to Friday, 15 September 2017) show Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV at second place behind the Sun Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV. At third place is Zeel’s FTA Hindi GEC Zee Anmol. While the Balaji Telefilms produced Kumkum Bhagya and its spinoff Kumkum Kundali (Kumkums’) along with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs continue to contribute to Zee TV’s ratings in the overall Hindi GEC market (U+R), it is the Grazing Goat Pictures Pvt. Ltd produced soap Jamai Raja in the Hindi GEC rural markets that have helped Zee Anmol bolster its ratings. Both the Kumkums’ have also helped Zee TV gain ratings in the Hindi GEC rural markets. And Kumkum Bhagya and Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Little Champs in the Hindi GEC urban markets have also helped Zee TV in the ratings battle.

    Seven Hindi GEC channels, two Telugu GEC channels and one Tamil channel made up BARC’s weekly list of top 10 channels across genre All India (U+R): 2+ Individuals list for week 37 of 2017. From the network’s perspective, three channels from Star India, two channels from Zeel, Sun Network and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) each and one channel from Network 18 or Viacom 18 comprised the top 10 channels across genres list for week 37 of 2017.

    As mentioned above and as has also been the norm, Sun TV ruled the across genre list in week 37 of 2017 with 1,008.79 million weekly impressions followed by Zee TV with 675.658 million weekly impressions. Zee Anmol was at third place with 673.992 million weekly impressions followed by the Star Network’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus with 635.67 million weekly impressions at fourth place.

    Star India’s newly renamed and FTA Hindi GEC channel Star Bharat was at fifth place in week 37 of 2017 with 617.819 million weekly impressions followed by Viacom 18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors at sixth place with 571.014 million weekly impressions. Led the viewership of the Kaun Banega Crorepati, SPN’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television was at seventh place with 558.178 million weekly impressions.

    Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa was at eighth place in the weekly top 10 channels across genre list with 534.463 million weekly impressions followed by SPN’s women focused Hindi GEC Sony Pal with 532.615 million weekly impressions. Sun Network’s flagship Telugu GEC with 520.117 completed the top 10 channels across genre list at tenth place in week 37 of 2017.

    Please refer to the figure below:

    public://Untitled-2_15.jpg

  • Zee TV extends its weekday programming to 6 days with ‘Sunehra Shaniwar’

    Zee TV extends its weekday programming to 6 days with ‘Sunehra Shaniwar’

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL)’s Hindi GEC Zee TV extended its weekday primetime shows to six days a week from Monday to Saturday. 28 November onwards, the shows on the channel’s 7 to 9 pm  time slot will also  be telecasted on Saturdays.

     

    Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadi said, “The objective of extending our weekday primetime properties to Saturdays is to give our audiences more. The move brings our protagonists even closer to our viewers.”

     

    While Satrangi Sasural and Sarojini have already been airing six days a week, popular shows like  Kala Teeka, Qubool Hai, Tashn-e-Ishq and Jamai Raja will now start airing at their respective time slots on Saturdays as well. With the introduction of ‘Sunehra Shaniwar’, Neeli Chhatri Wale will also air every Sunday at 8 pm.

  • Zee TV programming head Namit Sharma quits

    Zee TV programming head Namit Sharma quits

    MUMBAI: Zee TV programming head Namit Sharma has called it a day at the organisation after a stint that lasted a little more than a year.

    According to information available, Sharma put in his papers earlier this week and his last day at the organisation will be 8 May, 2015.

    In the interim,Zee TV business head Pradeep Hejmadi will be overseeing the programming at the channel till such time that a replacement is found.

    Confirming the development to Indiantelevision.com, Sharma says, “I’ve decided to move on from Zee TV and explore other opportunities.  I am happy that during my stint at Zee TV we have seen significant success with distinctive programming concepts in an extremely competitive genre. The last 14 months have been an incredible experience working with some of the best talent in the television business.”

    He further adds, “I am happy that our audience has reacted well to innovative content like Kumkum Bhagya, Jamai Raja, Neeli Chatri Waale and the recent DID Super Moms Season 2.  I have worked with a great team here and am confident that they’ll continue to lead the channel to even greater heights. As I complete 20 years in the entertainment business, it’s time to look forward to newer challenges.”

    Prior to joining Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) in February 2014, Sharma was Wizcraft Television and Films business head and chief creative officer. He had replaced Ajay Bhalwankar at Zee, who had quit to join Sony Entertainment Television (SET) as chief creative officer.

    As yet undecided on his next career move, Sharma will be taking a small mid-career break. “Honestly there are no plans as of now. But I will definitely be in the television business,” he informs.

  • 2014: A year of change for GECs

    2014: A year of change for GECs

    2014 was a year of change and evolution for Zee TV. The game is not over yet, I think we are still evolving everyday and so are our audiences and that is the real excitement. This year, we saw a lot of buzz and excitement on the channel, around the new properties and we are carving our own identity year-on-year in the general entertainment space.

    The channel created some extraordinary concepts in 2014 and now we are seen as a channel that has clutter-breaking ideas within the traditional format. We have launched shows with very different type of protagonists from Jamai Raja to Bandhan.

    We also came up with a weekend block of Zee Super weekends with Maharakshak Aryan and Neeli Chatri Waale and the other non-fiction shows. So, there was an attempt to provide differentiated content to the viewers and yet something that they will be familiar with very easily. This year, we have also observed a very quick traction for all our new shows. Be it for Kumkum Bhagya or Jamai Raja and even Neeli Chatri Waale which has seen strong growth within eight and nine weeks of its launch.  

    We are happy that people are attracted to the differentiated content that we are providing. 2014 was also a year of experiments in the non-fiction category, right from finding talent in India’s Best Cinestars Ki Khoj to Dil Se Naachein Indiawaale. Moreover, we are now coming back to the traditional Zee show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs as we enter the last leg of the year.

    The idea is to be happy with whatever you do because I think from a product and positioning point of view we have changed in the last nine months. We made a conscious shift about how we look and feel. There is certain uniformity in what we are doing and a certain sense of it coming together. The numbers have been good, so satisfied at that level. We are aligned with the legacy of Zee and yet evolving in a direction that we want to take the channel in.

    I see the same evolution being mirrored in the rest of the industry as well. Channels are providing content that is in the familiar zone but with very different types of protagonists and very different propositions. You may feel like you are watching a show which is in a genre that looks familiar but the story, characters, subjects, the way stories are presented are all different. There is a sense of innovation which broadcasters are giving and audiences are accepting. I think this is a beginning of a good phase.

    Not only Zee, but talking about the whole industry, what we as broadcasters will continue doing is living and breathing what our audiences want and giving them that.

    In 2014, we at Zee have started a new journey and it will take us to a very different place from where we were before. I hope the audiences will be with us in the journey.

    (These are purely personal views of Zee TV programming head Namit Sharma and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views.)

  • Zee TV’s four shows top this year’s fiction launches

    Zee TV’s four shows top this year’s fiction launches

    MUMBAI: There is no dearth of entertainment in the country of 800 plus channels. Every now and then, new channels and shows are launched to keep the momentum going.

    For Zee TV, one of the oldest and leading general entertainment channel (GEC) of the country, launching a number of new shows in a year is nothing new; every channel does so at regular intervals. But what is noteworthy is the fact that the channel has produced top four weekday fiction launches of 2014.

    If one takes a look at the opening week averages of all the fiction launches across GECs for the year, it is very clear from the numbers that who ruled the ratings charts. ‘Jamai Raja’ leads the pack with 5488 TVTs, ‘Satrangi Sasural’ that opened in week 49 with 4970 TVTs stands at number two,  ‘Bandhan’ with 4366 TVTs  and ‘Aur Pyar Ho Gaya’ with 4044 TVTs followed at number three and four, respectively.

    If that wasn’t enough, the channel’s other property, ‘Kumkum Bhagya’, according to TAM data provided by the channel, while a four-week average for the pre-wedding period (starting week 21’14 to week 24’14) stood at 3,263 TVTs, the show has seen a 127 per cent increase in viewership.    

    According to the channel’s business head Pradeep Hejmadi there are two reasons behind this. He explains, “Shows open well when two conditions are served. One, the concept strikes an interesting chord and second, the promotions are well crafted to sound inviting. We have done rigorous work to ensure we fire as desired on both these pre-conditions. Hence, the not-so-surprising, but certainly noteworthy success with our launches.”

    With growth as its top priority, the channel hopes to sustain the upward trend in at least some slots. “A careful assortment of variety across shows, clutter-breaking ideas/concepts, consistency in audience targeting have been the three key corner-stones of our successes,” points out Hejmadi.

    The channel doesn’t believe in rating itself, but rather leaves it to its audiences (current and prospective). “From the numbers, they clearly seem to rate us well, so we are motivated to up the ante on this further,” he says.

    With a strong weekday fiction line up and recently-launched new weekend properties like ‘Maharakshak Aryan’ and ‘Neeli Chhatri Wale’, the channel hopes to continue entertaining its viewers.

    “Interesting and inspiring concepts that will set the tone for the category…” is how Hejmadi wants to see 2015.

     

  • “You should never underestimate the power of good writing”: Namit Sharma

    “You should never underestimate the power of good writing”: Namit Sharma

    MUMBAI: Utilising his 15 years of experience across genres, he has created great programming for Zee TV. From broadcasting to content generation, it’s an amalgamation of several aspects.

     

    Here we are talking about Zee TV’s programming head Namit Sharma who with his creative thoughts has bought some best ideas to the table. For ‘The Content Hub’, indiantelevision.com had a quick chat to get his views on today’s story-telling and the power of story writers.

     

    According to Sharma, our stories are universal and emotion driven. “Of course”, comes a prompt reply from Sharma when asked whether Indian content has the ability to travel international. “It all depends on who’s selling it and who’s buying it.”

     

    He cites the example of MIPCOM, the global market for entertainment content across all platforms. “At MIPCOM, there are Latin American companies selling Telenovelas which get bought by Indian companies. The difference between what we do here and what they do there is, they market them better,” he says.

     

    According to him, the channel’s current offering Jamai Raja can easily travel internationally. On the contrary, he feels that a concept like Satrangai Sasural won’t be accepted abroad because it is culturally very sensitive.

     

    Finding good script writers is difficult in every genre and one needs to keep building talent pool that they want to work with.

     

    “We will never arrive at a time when we say ‘Oh! We are happy with the amount of good writing talent we have’. We will always be hungry for more. We will always keep on looking and creating,” he emphasises.

     

    He believes that one should never underestimate the power of good writing. “A lot of people look down upon GEC shows and the quality of writing on it, but what they don’t realise is that it takes equal effort to write these shows as it takes to write intelligent shows.” The GEC shows talk to the masses, more than the biggest Bollywood blockbuster.

     

    He believes that Indian content shifting its paradigm can mean different things to different people. “It depends on which viewer is asking the question. For some it might be ‘when they will only do crime thrillers’ or ‘stop doing saas-bahu soaps’ or ‘produce only love stories’. For us as broadcasters, the only relevant questions come from the audience. So we are happy to listen to their questions and answer them and that’s the crux of what we do,” says he.

     

    Zee TV was a pioneer in creating seasonal shows when it launched two seasons of Choti Bahu and Punar Vivaah. He feels that there must be seasonal shows, but nobody should be forced to do it because it is a fad or a trend. “One should do seasonal shows because they want to do it. Every story has its own destiny and fate and nobody should really judge somebody else’s work in the field of writing specifically with one uni-dimensional filter,” signs off Sharma.