Tag: Star Bharat

Star Bharat debut ratings and reach impressive

MUMBAI: Well, Star India seems to be on a roll these days. No sooner had the euphoria dimmed after it outwitted others with a masterstroke $ 2.56 billion global bid for India’s premier cricket league IPL, it’s now time to savour the success of  rebranded-cum-rechristened channel Star Bharat, which is rubbing shoulders with category leaders in terms of ratings and reach — and that too within a short period.

On 28 August 2017, Life OK was revamped with a new name, logo, tag line and, of course, a lineup of fresh original shows. It debuted on free-to-air DTH platform DD FreeDish with its parent having successfully bid for a place after coughing up a shade over Rs. 160 million. That Star Bharat continues to be available on other cable and DTH platforms could be another masterstroke.

Now sample the data collated by audience measurement organization BARC India. In week 36, Star Bharat took the second position in the GEC category garnering 669588 (000s) Impressions and 378234 (000s) Impressions, respectively, in the urban+rural and rural markets. The two-week old channel’s reach too had gone up by 15 per cent from week 35-36, while the ratings or impressions grew by 29 per cent.

In contrast, in week 34 of BARC India, Life OK (the earlier avatar of Star Bharat) was placed at 10th spot in the urban+rural market with 328571 (000s) Impressions, while  in the urban market it did slightly better at sixth position with 213162 (000s) Impressions.

Cometh week 35 of BARC India. After an overhaul in name and programming, Star Bharat in its first week of operation climbed to the fifth spot in urban+rural market with 519743 (000s) Impressions. It also made an entry in the rural market at the fourth spot with 278785 (000s) Impressions and in urban market occupied the sixth position with 240958 (000s) Impressions.

An independent observer of the TV industry, having seen many a channel strategy gone awry, admitted that Star’s planning and research regarding distribution and programming does seem to be working. Primarily the FTA platform approach, though audience data provided to indiantelevison.com regarding Star Bharat doesn’t specify whether the viewership and reach is coming from DD FreeDish or elsewhere.

TG: HSM, 2+
Top 10 Channels pre re-branding and post:

Top 10 Hindi GECs in week 36:

Here the equation becomes interesting. According to information collated by Indiantelevision.com, a 10-second ad rate for Star Bharat is presently estimated at around Rs 10,000, whereas Life OK commanded a higher price in the range of Rs 30,000-40000/10 seconds.According to the BARC India data, the four-week average for Life Ok (Week 31-34) was 345621 (‘000s) Impressions.However, the average for weeks 35-36 shows a growth of 72 per cent in the viewership of Star Bharat with figures of 594666 (‘000s) Impressions.

“The (sponsorship) rates will pick up once the ratings come. At present, it is just two weeks data. If there is stability in the ratings over the future weeks, there is a possibility that Star Bharat may increase its ad rates. Right now the marketing buzz and hype is pushing the channel, but after a few weeks it will not only stop, but may even out too,” a senior media planner told Indiantelevision.com, adding that the channel, as also the advertising world, will have to wait for at least “four to six weeks” to fairly evaluate the viewership data.
Old shows  such as ‘May I come in Madam’, `Sher-E-Punjab Ranjeet Singh’, ‘Ghulam’ and `Chandrakanta’ have been taken off the air by the channel management of Life OK/Star Bharat, though crime series ‘Savdhaan India’ continues on Star Bharat. The channel in its new avatar has unveiled a content line up that is aimed at living up to the brand’s philosophy of ‘Bhula ke darr, kuch alag kar’ (forget the fear of the unknown and do something different).

So, Star Bharat now flaunts shows like `Om Shanti Om’, `Kya Haal Mr. Panchaal’, `Nimki Muhkiya’, `Saam Daam Dand Bhed’ and `Ayushman Bhav’.

Reach ‘000s for week 35 and 36

Star has three other channels on the DD FreeDish platform including Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies and Star Sports First. The last one, which debuted earlier this year, again is a new FTA offering of sorts that has been riding the kabaddi league wave.Indiantelevision.com tried to reach out to Star India for its comments, but could not elicit a response till the time of writing this report. However, if we get some comments on Star Bharat from the channel owner, it’d be updated.

The big question is: will this rebranding and repositioning strategy work for Star Bharat? To use a cliché, only time will tell… oops, sorry, BARC India will tell.

ALSO READ :

Life OK rebranded as Star Bharat may start from 15 Aug

Star Bharat to be available on DD FreeDish as b’caster’s fourth FTA offering

TDSAT ‘no’ to stay Star Bharat launch, DPO payments subject to adjudication

September 15, 2017
Rebranded FTA channel Star Bharat grabs second position in two markets

MUMBAI: Star Bharat has made its way to the top, becoming the second best channel in both, urban+ rural as well as rural, markets in week 36 of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India. Star Plus recaptured its leadership in the urban market, whereas Colors bagged the second slot.

Hindi GEC

Zee Anmol continued to lead the market with 819438 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Star Bharat which climbed to the second slot from the fifth slot last week with 669588 Impressions (000s) sum.

Zee TV retained its third position in week 36 with 625640 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Star Plus on number four with 581618 Impressions (000s) sum. Colors stood on number five with 560456 Impressions (000s).

Sony Pal, Sony Entertainment Television and Rishtey grabbed sixth, seventh and eighth position with 496335 Impressions (000s) sum, 491965 Impressions (000s) and 438215 Impressions (000s) sum, respectively.

Sab TV and Star Utsav bagged the ninth spot with 383079 Impressions (000s) and 290273 Impressions (000s) sum, respectively.

Hindi GEC Rural

Zee Anmol garnered the first position with 647267 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Star Bharat on the second with 378234 Impressions (000s) sum and Sony Pal with 347856 Impressions (000s) sum on the third spot.

Rishtey stood at number four with 324715 Impressions followed by Zee TV 255624 Impressions (000s) and Star Utsav with 221261 Impressions stood at number six.

Star Plus, Colors and DD National grabbed the seventh, eighth and ninth spots with 186764 Impressions (000s) sum, 176103 Impressions (000s), and 171068 Impressions (000s) sum, respectively.

Big Magic stood at the tenth position with 161225 Impressions (000s).

Hindi GEC Urban

Star Plus regained its top position with 394853 Impressions (000s) and pushed Colors on second spot with 384353 Impressions (000s) sum and Zee TV on third with 370015 Impressions (000s) sum.

Sony Entertainment Television stood at number four with 364056 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Star Bharat on number five with 291353 Impressions (000s) sum.

Sab TV and Zee Anmol stood on number six and seven with 273684 Impressions (000s) sum and 172171 Impressions (000s) sum, respectively.

&TV, Sony Pal and Rishtey grabbed the eighth, ninth and tenth positions respectively with 162519 Impressions (000s) sum, 148479 Impressions (000s) and 113500 Impressions (000s) sum.

September 14, 2017
KBC returns SET to top 10 channels across genre list

BENGALURU: The ninth season of the Indian spin-off of the very popular Who Will Become a Millionaire under the Indian moniker Kaun Banega Crorepati or KBC commenced on Monday, 28 August 2017.

According to sources, this season has broken registration records of all previous seasons by registering 19.8 million citizens on the show. And,the viewership of the game show’s episodes over five days until Friday, 1 September 2017 was good enough to bring Sony Pictures Network’s flagship Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television (SET) into the top 10 channels across genre list for week 35 of 2017.

SET garnered ninth rank with 504.095 million weekly impressions Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) list for week 35 of 2017 (Saturday, 26 August 2017 to Friday, 1 September 2017) – Top 10 Channels Across Genre : All India (Urban+Rural or U+R) : 2+ Individuals. The channel had last appeared in the top 10 channels list across genres in week 11 of 2017 (Saturday, 11 May 2017 to Friday, 17 May 2017) at eighth place with 472.118 million weekly impressions.

KBC was the second most watched primetime programme in the Hindi GEC (U) markets in week 35 of 2017 with 6.253 million impressions according to BARC data for the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes in the Hindi Speaking Market (HSM) Urban NCCS All : Primetime (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals.

Six Hindi GEC and two GEC channels each from the Tamil and Telugu markets made up the list of the top 10 channels across genres list in week 35 of 2017. A remarkable feature for week 35 of 2017 was the presence of four Star India channels in the top10 across genres list. Further, two channels each from the Sun TV Network and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel) and one channel each from Network 18 (Viacom 18) and Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) made up the top 10 channels across genre list for week 35 of 2017.

The Sun TV Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV retained its pole position in the top 10 channels across genres list for week 35 of 2017 with 1,009.285 million weekly impressions. All five programmes in the top 5 Tamil programmes list for the TN/ Puducherry (Urban+Rural): NCCS All : Primetime (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals in week 35 of 2017 were from Sun TV.

Sun TV was followed by Zeel’s FTA Hindi GEC Zee Anmol that also retained its week 34 position of second place in week 35 with 778.876 weekly impressions. The channel’s programmes Jamai Raja and Kaala Teeka were the ranked first and second respectively in the top 5 Hindi GEC programmes in the HSM (R) : NCCS All : Prime Time (1800 – 2330 hrs) : 2+ Individuals. Further Jamai Raja on Zee Anmol was also ranked third in week 35 during primetime in the HSM GEC (U+R) markets in week 35 of 2017.

Network 18’s flagship Hindi GEC Colors moved up one place to third rank in week 35 with 645.973 million impressions on the back of strong support from the HSM (U+R) and the HSM (U) markets during primetime for the eighth season of its reality and stunt television show Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi. Zeel’s flagship Hindi GEC moved down one place to fourth place with 642.612 million impressions. Three of its shows – Kumkum Bhagya and its spinoff Kumkum Kundali and reality singing show Sa re ga ma pa Little Champs were present in the top 5 programmes list during primetime for HSM (U+R) and Kumkum Bhagya was present in the top 5 programmes list during primetime for HSM (U) for week 35 of 2017.

Star India’s flagship Hindi GEC Star Plus was placed fifth with 626.212 million weekly impressions followed by the Sun TV Networks flagship Telugu GEC Gemini with 538.077 million impressions. Star India’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa was ranked seventh with 531.41 million weekly impressions followed by Star India’s FTA Hindi GEC and newly christened Star Bharat with 531.083 million weekly impressions at eighth place.

As mentioned above SET was ranked ninth followed by Star India’s flagship Tamil GEC Star Vijay at tenth place with 486.959 million impressions.

September 11, 2017
GEC: Sony climbs in two markets, Star Bharat jumps five slots in U+R

MUMBAI: Zee Anmol and Colors retained leadership in their respective markets in week 35 of BARC’s all-India data. On the other hand, Star Bharat (previously called Life OK) has jumped from the tenth position to the fifth in Hindi (U+ R) GEC market and entered the rural market.

Piggybacking KBC, Sony Entertainment Television has jumped a position each in two markets.

Hindi GEC (U+R)

Zee Anmol continued to be the leader even after a fall in ratings in Hindi GEC (U+R) market with 771523 Impressions (000s) against 815471 Impressions (000s) in the previous week.

Colors retained its number two position with 613679 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Zee TV on the third with 598705 Impressions (000s) and Star Plus stood on number fourth with 574003 Impressions (000s).

Star Bharat pocketed the fifth slot with 519743 Impressions (000s) climbing from the tenth position. Sony Entertainment too climbed up to the sixth position with 474425 Impressions (000s).

Sony Pal, Rishtey and Sab TV bagged seventh, eighth and ninth spots respectively with 469504 Impressions (000s), 418914 Impressions (000s) and 368444 Impressions (000s).

Star Utsav stood at number ten with 290265 Impressions (000s).

Hindi GEC Rural

Zee Anmol bagged the first position with 608797 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Sony Pal on the second with 329928 Impressions (000s) sum and Rishtey with 306972 Impressions (000s) sum on the third spot.

Star Bharat (Life OK) has entered the rural market this week with 278785 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Zee TV 248559 Impressions (000s) sum and Star Utsav with 219630 Impressions stood at number six.

Colors, DD National and Star Plus grabbed the seventh, eighth and ninth spots with 201560 Impressions (000s) sum, 174453 Impressions (000s), and 172688 Impressions (000s) sum, respectively.

Big Magic stood at the tenth position with 163412 Impressions (000s).

Hindi GEC Urban

Colors continued to top with 412119 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Star Plus on the second position with 401315 Impressions (000s) sum and Sony Entertainment Television on the third with 353685 Impressions (000s) sum.

Zee TV stood at the fourth position with 350145 Impressions (000s) sum followed by Sab TV on the fifth with 261410 Impressions (000s) sum.

Star Bharat and &TV stood at the sixth and seventh positions with 240958 Impressions (000s) sum and 163766 Impressions (000s) sum, respectively.

Zee Anmol, Sony Pal and Rishtey grabbed the eighth, ninth and tenth positions, respectively, with 162725 Impressions (000s) sum, 139575 Impressions (000s) and 111942 Impressions (000s) sum.

September 7, 2017
TDSAT ‘no’ to stay Star Bharat launch, DPO payments subject to adjudication

NEW DELHI: Even as it declined to stay or restrain the launch of Life OK channel as Star Bharat, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) yesterday said the amounts paid to the distribution platform operators or DPOs will be subject to the final orders of the tribunal.

The bench, comprising TDSAT chairman Shiva Keerti Singh and members B B Srivastava and A K Bhargava, observed that the agreements between broadcaster Star India and DPOs Dish TV and Videocon d2h (both entities in the process of merging) will continue to operate and the cost being offered by the broadcaster cannot be reduced unilaterally.

While Star India was given four weeks to reply, the two DTH platforms were asked to file their counter-affidavits too. Thus, the next hearing may come up some time in October 2017.

The tribunal said if it is proved that the presence of Star Bharat on Prasar Bharati’s free to air DTH platform FreeDish is tantamount to the channel’s conversion from pay to FTA, then both Dish TV and Videocon d2h will be entitled a refund from Star.

Star India had contended that merely making a channel available on FreeDish platform does not tantamount to a conversion in the nature of the channel for which the DPOs are being charged.

Dish TV and Videocon d2h had moved the tribunal earlier this week alleging that Star India was converting its pay channel Life OK into a FTA network by putting the rebranded channel (Star Bharat) on FreeDish platform without informing the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). In its defense before the court, Star India responded by saying that “we are only rebranding” and not “converting our pay channel” into FTA.

Interestingly, this petition came just two days after Essel/Zee Group’s Dish TV had sent a letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Indian cricket board BCCI, TRAI and monopoly watchdog Competition Commission of India. In the letter Dish MD Jawahar Goel had alleged that Star was trying to create a monopoly over cricket broadcast rights in the country, a move that would be detrimental for all stakeholders, including consumers who would ultimately dish out more subscription money to watch cricket on telly.

To buttress his arrangements, Goel had contended that Star had even challenged rge sector regulator TRAI’s jurisdiction to fix tariff charges — a case that’s pending before the Madras High Court.

ALSO READ:

Dish TV moves TDSAT against Star Life OK name change & turning FTA

Dish TV shoots off letter to IBF; alleges discrimination by b’casters, OTT platforms

Jawahar Goel raises alarm of emerging Star cricket monopoly (updated)

August 26, 2017
Star Bharat: Comedy, devotional & fiction shows start on 28 Aug

MUMBAI: Star India, which is launching Star Bharat from the 28 August at 6 pm, will showcase inspirational stories about journeys of strong and fearless characters that rise for the collective. Celebrating the many facets of Fearless India, Star Bharat unveils a content line-up with strong, rooted icons and differentiated programming that is in line with the brand’s philosophy of “Bhula de darr”.

Om Shanti Om: For the first time on Indian television, a channel will celebrate the essence of devotional music with a contemporary twist. A devotional music reality show where tradition meets trendy, creating ‘trenditional’ music. The show will depict the musical journey of 14 voices that will give a contemporary touch to devotional songs and unify audiences across the country with their renditions. Produced by Colosceum, the show will mark the debut of Baba Ramdev on television as the Maha Judge. While the esteemed panel of judges will include Bollywood sensation Sonakshi Sinha, singer and music director Shekhar Ravjiani, and singer Kanika Kapoor.

Kya Haal Mr. Panchaal? –1 Saas. 1 Son. 5 Brides. Boon or bane? Kya Haal Mr. Panchaal? is a comedy of errors where a mother’s quest for the perfect bride lands her with five. See how a desperate mother’s prayer for the ‘perfect’ bride with 5 essential qualities gets answered in the form of 5 women with 5 different qualities. What follows is a series of funny events. Sometimes getting more than what you ask for can be a curse! Created in association with Optimystix, ‘Kya Haal Mr. Panchal?’ is a rib-tickling comedy starring Kanchan Gupta as the saas and Manindar Singh as the son.

Nimki Mukhiya- Set in Bihar this is a story of a village that has been ruled by men for years. Women here are confined mostly to being home makers. But a wind of change is about to set in. Call it opportunity or sheer luck, for the first time ever the state will witness something extraordinary. A naïve and bubbly young girl, Nimki, who loves to daydream and is unaware of the world outside her house, is about to take on the responsibility of her village and become the Mukhiya. The show is a journey of self realisation that power to change oneself as well as the environment we live lies within. Nimki’s unexpected position as the Mukhiya gives a comical twist to situations.

Saam Daam Dand Bhed- Saam Daam Dand Bhed is the personal journey of Vijay Namdhari, played by Bhanu Uday, a high-potential but misguided youth who doesn’t know what he wants from life. This family drama, based in a fictitious town in India, is produced by Shakuntalam Telefilms. When a storm shatters his life, Vijay finally finds the courage to fight back and protect his family. The show will trace his transformation from a carefree youngster into a political leader, who becomes the inspiration to many.

Ayushman Bhav- Set against the backdrop of Mathura, Ayushman Bhav is a gripping story of Krish. The show depicts the poignant tale of an eight-year-old boy whose childhood is not as simple as others’. Like other children his age, Krish plays with toys and games but he also harbors a burning desire to seek justice for the wrong doings in his past life. Produced by White Horse International, the revenge drama stars popular child artist Ricky Patel as the lead and Avinash Sachdeva, Megha Gupta, and Manish Goel as cast members.

Star Bharat’s launch campaign ‘Mat kar’ is based on a simple yet powerful insight on how we unknowingly allow different kinds of fears to creep into our minds and how these fears end up in stopping us from pursuing our dreams.

‘Mat kar’, an oft repeated phrase in Indian society refers to a pull-back factor. Pulling back from free flowing fun, nurturing a dream, making a life choice or simply following one’s instincts. The film, conceptualized by Star India’s creative team and directed by Shimit Amin of Chak De fame, takes us through various scenarios, some significant and some apparently not so, all of which play on fear. Star Bharat’s answer to “Mat kar” leading to fear is a resounding ‘Bhula de darr’…

August 21, 2017
Star Bharat to be available on DD FreeDish as b’caster’s fourth FTA offering

MUMBAI: Going FTA seems to be the flavor of the season. Star India’s Hindi general entertainment channel Life OK, which will be soon rebranded as Star Bharat, is now slated to be available on DD FreeDish.

Recently, one of India’s largest broadcasting company Star India had won additional slots on pubcaster’s FTA KU-band service (DD FreeDish) by bidding shades over Rs. 160 million. At present, the three Star channels on the platform are Star Utsav, Star Utsav Movies and Star Sports First.

Prasar Bharati sources admitted to indiantelevision.com that Star India has additional slots on DD FreeDish, but could not give an immediate time frame for any new channel to be made part of the FTA platform. Reason: DD FreeDish is being upgraded with a new technology (MPEG-4) that will help it enhance overall viewer experience as also get more TV channels on board after signal compression.

“We cannot guarantee if the technological upgradation will be complete by the end of this month so as to accommodate more TV channels,” a source in Prasar Bharati said, explaining that the arrival of Star Bharat or any other TV channel on FreeDish could get delayed beyond August.

Meanwhile, according to industry sources, shows such as ‘May I come in Madam’, ‘Sher-E-Punjab Ranjeet Singh’ and ‘Chandrakanta’ will go off air and shows like ‘Savdhaan India’ and ‘Ghulam’ will continue on Star Bharat. Shows like ‘Kya Haal Mr Paanchaal’, produced by Optimystix, are among the new launches. Life OK earlier carried another named and was originally launched in 2011.

‘Aayushman Bhava’, produced by White Horse Telefilms (a murder mystery) and Zama Habib’s ‘Nimki Mukhiyaan’, which was supposed to have aired on Star Plus, has now been shifted to soon-to-be launched Star Bharat. It’s a story about a girl who becomes a village chief and changes her entire village.

Star Bharat is also exploring launching a bhajan reality show ‘Om Shanti Om’, produced by Colosceum Media, which will be likely judged by rock star yoga guru-turned-entrepreneur Baba Ramdev, along with Sonakshi Sinha, Kanika Kapoor and Shekhar Ravjiani.

On 17 August 2017, Star Bharat launched its first TVC, #Bhuladedarr. The TVC gives a new definition to ‘overpowering inhibitions’.
BARC data has shown in the past that private sector FTA channels on DD FreeDish, like Zee Anmol and Star Utsav, garner good audience and help in upping the ratings of such TV channels.

Doordarshan’s FreeDish is a multi-channel FTA DTH service, which was launched in December 2004 with a modest collection of 33 TV channels. Regular upgrades has enhanced capacity and presently platform has the capacity of 80 SD TV channels along with 32 radio channels. The service is a available in KU-band on GSAT-15.

(With additional inputs from BB Nagpal in New Delhi)

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August 17, 2017
Life OK rebranded as Star Bharat may start from 15 Aug

MUMBAI: Star India is planning to relaunch its existing general entertainment channel — Life OK, renamed as Star Bharat. The channel plans to have modern outlook but Indian feel.

According to reports, it will be relaunched with the new look on 15 August.

Since 2011, the channel will be branded for the second time. At the earlier launch, Star One was rebranded as Life OK. In 2016, the network changed the programming line-up of the channel. But, it seems the revamp of the programming strategy did not work.

According to sources, shows such as “May I come in Madam,” “Sher-E-Punjab Ranjeet Singh” and “Chandrakanta” will go off air, and shows including Savdhaan India and Ghulam will continue. Shows like Kya Haal Paanchaal, Ayushamaan Bhava and Shatranj will be launched on Star Bharat shortly.

‘Shatranj’ is basically an Indian adaptation of the English show ‘House of Cards’ that features Sonal Vengurkar, Akshay Anand and Bhanu Uday. Another show called ‘Kya Haal Paanchal’, produced by Optimystic, is based on polygamy, starring Maninder Singh in the lead and five girls.

At the time of filing this report, an official confirmation did not come through. It is hoped that the second rebranding works for Star.

July 21, 2017