MUMBAI: Kkavyanjali, Star Plus' newest property, has opened with monster ratings, paying rich dividends for Hindi entertainment television's lead channel, which pulled out all the stops ahead of its launch.
The show, which launched on 25 January ( Tuesday), recorded a whopping TVR of 13.91 in the C&S 4+ HSM, according to TAM data. Even on the following days, (13 and 14 January) the show pulled in 10+ ratings thus managing an average debut week TVR of 11.7. Kkavyanjali opened in fourth position in terms of the top shows (behind "golden oldies" Kyunki..., Kahaani... and Kasauti...) and the ninth position in terms of ratings.
Coming to specific target groups, the show fared the best among 15 to 24 females with a weekly average of 15.8 TVR.
Says Star India senior vice president Ajay Vidyasagar, "It's genuinely a reflection of the fact that people want fiction with drama. If you want to really hold audiences, its drama that can really do it. We started building the property eight weeks before the launch. The whole promotion was done with a cohesive mission of ensuring a huge sampling trial. We were also very keen that we drum up the show in the Delhi, Haryana and UP belt considering the Punjabi nature of the show. Also, the show has a solid set up and has all the makings of a well told tale and a very strong semblance of the big screen imagery. This is clearly the fifth K that is entering Plus' domain
Vidyasagar was quick to point out that this showed just how robust the platform was. Whether it was a movie like Mein Hoon Na or the recent Star Screen Awards, Star Plus has demonstrated how solid the franchise of its brand is, he said.
The channel expects the show to stabilise at 10+ and further perk up as the story moves forward. Amrita Singh has also been a significant "plus" factor. The ratings from the Gujarat and MP market were ballistic with Gujarat recording over 21 TVR and MP 29.4 TVR in the C&S 4+ TG.
Eight sponsors have tied up with the show. And according to industry sources, Rs 90 million has been pumped in for marketing alone behind the show. The plan forward is to sustain the momentum for another five weeks in terms of the promotional plan, thereafter allowing habit to set in. In terms of pure GRP's, close to 5,000 GRPs were burnt up in promoting the show.
Star Plus creative director Shailja kejriwal says, "The debut ratings are due to the huge marketing initiative and hence the great response. The real test of a daily comes after three months, and that is when one can actually say how the show will do and gauge its potential."
The show also managed to grow Star Plus' 9:30 - 10 pm slot by 20 per cent with a total tune in of 18 million viewers.
Interestingly, with Kkavyanjali's launch, the hardest hit seems to have been Sony's Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, which has taken a beating in Gujarat 0.1 to 1 million markets where the ratings were 1.24 TVR on Monday and 0.24 TVR on Tuesday, the day of the launch.
While KBC created television history, Kkavyanjali most definitely has created a landmark for the highest launch rating seen for any show in the Hindi general entertainment category.
