A. L. Chougule
It may still be in the second position, but Zee is in a celebratory mood as Star Plus' GRPs are on the descent...
aving consistently worked its way up over the last one and half years, Zee TV is in celebration mood. For week 29 of 2007(July 15 to 21), Zee's GRPs (group rating points) stood at 303 against STAR Plus' 351 though in week 28 STAR was ahead of Zee with more than 100 GRPs. Though STAR Plus continues to lead in the all-day viewership share, what gives Zee a solid reason to celebrate is the fact that STAR's GRPs have collapsed from over 500 to around 350 in the last one and half years whereas Zee has climbed its way up from 136 to around 250 GRPs. Also Zee claims to be the leader in the 7 to 10 pm weekday band with an average of 90 GRPs against STAR's 80.
If Zee is jubilant for inching closer to STAR Plus, media watchers have viewed this development as a precursor to the future scenario where the seven-year long leadership of STAR Plus could be more vulnerable to new challenges and competition. Take for instance the channel's all-day and prime time (8 to 11 pm) share. A year ago, it was 51.1 and 53.4 per cent respectively against Zee's 22.9 and 21.6 per cent. Today STAR's prime time share (7.30 pm to 11.30 pm, Monday to Thursday) is 18.29 per cent against Zee's 14.82. In other words, STAR Plus continues to maintain its leadership but the leader has seen a huge dent in its domination and Zee is not far behind in the competition. However, what needs to be mentioned here is the change in the TAM's panel size which has gone up from 4800 PeopleMeters covering 73 cities and towns with one lakh-plus population to 7000 PeopleMeters spread over 151 cities that has impacted the ratings of channels across the board.
But even if one takes into account TAM's new panel that has resulted in greater representation to more regions and regional channels, it's a fact that STAR has lost a huge chunk of viewership. "STAR Plus has seen a reduction in its domination of the Hindi general entertainment space in the last one year but on an average the difference in GRPs of Star and Zee has been between 80 to 100. STAR Plus continues to lead at prime time as well as in the all-day share. But in the last one year there has been fragmentation in viewership because of regional channels and new players. Also being the leader, the impact on Star's TRPs and channel share has been more in comparison with other players," says a spokesperson for STAR.
STAR stands tall in the 10 to 11 pm slots with two of its most successful properties, Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Even in 11 to 11.30 pm slot it leads over Zee with Kayamath. In fact, thanks to the heavyweights like Kyunki and Kahani Star leads in the 8 to 11 pm weekday band with 173 GRPs against Zee's 153. But between 7 to 10 pm it is a neck-to-neck fight between STAR and Zee with the latter marginally ahead of STAR Plus. According to the STAR's spokesperson, normally prime time is defined as 7:30 to 11:30 pm which has the original programming in the evening prime time." STAR Plus has a repeat at 7 pm while Zee has an original show. Hence it does not need comparison. But if you compare 7.30 to 11.30 pm prime time where both channels have original programming STAR Plus is comfortably ahead of Zee," says the STAR spokesperson.
Leaving the 7 pm slot aside, if comparison is done on one-to-one basis, STAR's performance certainly seems to have weakened. For instance, at 7.30 pm Parivaar on Zee is giving a fair fight to Antakshari on STAR Plus and at 8 pm, Zee's Dulhan is far ahead of Antakshari. Similarly Kasamh Se at 9 pm stands tall against Star's Meri Awaaz Ko Mil Gayi Roshni. Kasturi at 9.30 pm on STAR Plus has recently raced ahead of Zee's flagship show Saath Phere. Says Zee's senior vice-president Ashish Kaul, "We are trying to tell good stories and our content is getting good ratings. But STAR Plus is stagnating. There is no innovation in their content." Ashish further says that STAR built its prime time brick by brick. "But today STAR Plus is standing on only two bricks, Kahani and Kyunki," he adds.
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| </> | STAR's spokesperson admits that in certain slots Zee scores lead over STAR Plus. "But we believe in like to like comparisons and evaluating trends/averages and not just snapshot data of one or two weeks," says the spokesperson, adding, "and the average data clearly shows that Zee is substantial distance away from STAR Plus in the prime time rating analysis." However, looking at the average data and evaluating the trends and averages, it is for sure that STAR Plus has lost substantial ground to other players and the major beneficiary is Zee. Media watchers feel that this is not the end but just the beginning. Going forward there is likely to be more fragmentation in viewership of existing general entertainment (GE) channels with new entrants, regional and niche players making a further dent into GE channels' viewership share. STAR Plus is likely to suffer the most.
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