MUMBAI: Colors has split its programming unit into two separate teams to bring more focus on content for weekdays and weekends.

Manisha Sharma, who joins from tomorrow, will handle weekend programming with a team size of 10. Prashaant Bhatt, who was earlier in charge of fiction programming, will get the weekdays to nurse.

Colors? programming structure earlier evolved under a fiction and a non-fiction head without a programming head, after Ashvini Yardi quit to pursue film projects as an entrepreneur.

The need to change, effective 1 May, comes under the wake of a forward programming strategy that will include fiction content on weekends with a different kind of appeal. The series that Colors airs on weekdays and runs fresh on the channel on weekends as specials will continue to be looked after by Bhatt.

Effective 1 May, the realignment is aimed at strengthening content for the entire week as the channel strives to improve its ratings so that it climbs in the GEC ratings ladder. For the week ended ended 21 April, Colors ranked fourth, behind Zee TV, Sony and market leader Star Plus, according to TAM data.

Both Bhatt and Sharma will report to Colors CEO Raj Nayak.

Says Nayak, "Given Sharma?s vast experience and thorough knowledge of the industry, I am sure she will bring in the edge and experience in taking weekend programming to a new level. With this dynamic combination Bhatt managing the weekday programming and Sharma taking charge of weekends, we are hoping to make sure that Colors is a strong player throughout the week and, through this realignment equal focus will be laid on both ? weekday and weekend."

Colors hopes to gain from Sharma?s experience with Sony TV where she was non-fiction head. She was also responsible for developing shows like Comedy Circus, CID and Crime Patrol. Sony leads the weekends because of Crime Petrol and CID which figure in the top 10 show list.