Entertainment - India;Colors is No 2

TAM Media Research has released the data for week 41. For the third week in a row, the newest entrant in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) genre – Colors – has occupied the No. 2 position. While in week 39, it had shared the No. 2 position with Zee TV, in weeks 40 and 41, the channel has been a distinct No. 2 player.

‘Balika Vadhu’ has occupied the top five out of five slots this week. With ‘Jai Shri Krishna’ also continuing its good run, the 8.00-9.00 pm band has kept the channel higher than competition. TAM Media Research data shows that for the target C&S 4+ in the Hindi speaking markets, Star Plus has dropped by seven GRPs to be at 271 GRPs this week. Colors dropped by 17 GRPs, but with a 233 under its belt, it is comfortably ahead of Zee TV, which has 194 GRPs – a drop of 26 GRPs this week.

Amongst the other channels, Sony TV managed 113 GRPs in this week; Star One has 83 GRPs in all; NDTV Imagine scored 74 GRPs this week; SaharaOne is at 71 GRPs; 9X is at 57 GRPs; and SAB is at 39 GRPs.

In the weekday primetime, Colors is just 2 GRPs behind Star Plus. Even as Colors has some really strong points on its side, exchange4media readers would recall that the media fraternity is still cautious while speaking on the long term model of the channel. The first issue raised is that much of Colors GRP supply is coming from repeat programming. Media observers have argued that the 30 GRPs coming from the afternoon band of the channel that currently houses no original show is working just as much for the channel as it is working against the channel.

The second point is that Colors depends significantly on its big ticket format shows. The programming and marketing costs of the channel, too, have been spoken about on the various occasions.

Every point raised leads back to the same question – is this a sustainable model in the longer run? The Colors’ team has surpassed the expectations of many in the last 12 weeks. This is one reason that the next moves from the channel are being closely watched by many in the industry.