Jan 2, 2009

Entertainment - India;Colors may soon replace Star on top

Leena Mulchandani

MUMBAI: The pecking order in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space is all set for a makeover as Colors has emerged as a strong
contender for the top slot.

For the last week of 2008 (week 52), only 40 GRP (gross rating points) separates Colors from the current leader Star Plus. This is according to data by TAM media research data covering C&S 4+, Hindi speaking markets.

Star Plus is at 295 GRP while Colors is at 255 GRP. Zee TV comes in third with 191 GRP after being placed in the second position last week. The channel’s GRP fell from 230 last week to 191 this week. Sony occupies the fourth position with 81 GRP. Star One is fifth while NDTV Imagine is at sixth spot with 80 and 65 GRP, respectively.

Colors’ reach is higher than that of Star Plus this week at 61.3%. The channel reached 54.8-mn viewers while Star Plus reached 53.5-mn viewers. Colors chief executive officer Rajesh Kamat said: “In less than six months, we have firmly established ourselves as the number two GEC. We believe our shows still have a lot of potential and we will continue to push them in 2009 too.”

Colors will concentrate on increasing the number of programming hours in 2009. “Currently, we have about 25 hours of original programming per week while the others have about 35 hours. To step up our programming, we will focus on afternoon and weekend programming,” he added.

The relative market share of Colors stood at 23%, which is 4% lower than that of Star Plus (27%). The channel share of Colors increased by 3% over last week. Star Plus, in turn, will launch new shows in the early months of 2009 to spice up its programming.

“When we add new shows or plan our way forward, we don’t do so in reaction to competition. In the New Year too, we will continue to bring in innovative and new programming,” a spokesperson for Star India said.

No comments: