MUMBAI: The week beginning 21 November was crucial for Sony Entertainment Television as it saw the launch of four new shows - Indian Idol (second season), Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, Deal Ya No Deal and Kudkudia House No 43.
Not surprisingly, Indian Idol was the channel driver, with the opening episode on 21 November notching TVRs of 5.4, according to Tam data.
Incidentally, the first episode of the first season of Indian Idol on 7 January, 2005 garnered 6.8 TVRs. On the other hand, the finale on 5 March touched TVRs of 15.3. Going by this trend, the show should pick up in ratings towards the finale.
Now coming to Sony's other new show Deal Ya No Deal, anchored by R Madhavan. The game show opened with a TVR of 3.57 on its launch day (Wednesday, 23 November) in the C&S 4 + years HSM according to Tam data. After Idol, this was the second most rated show on Sony in week 48 (20 - 26 November). However, the show's ratings dropped in the subsequent episodes to 2.53 and 2.17 TVR.
Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, which too debuted on 21 November along with Indian Idol, opened with a TVR of 2.81. What remains to be seen is how this shows pans out over the course of time, keeping in mind the fact that channels like Sahara One are not sitting idle. It launched Kituu Sabb Janti Hai on the same day as Ek Ladki and to say the least, the former looks promising.
Commenting on the opening numbers of the shows, Sony business head and executive vice president Tarun Katial said, "We are looking at expanding the GE category with our new shows. These are good opening numbers and we are happy with it. Shows tend to develop an arc and then peak as they progress. In a couple of weeks, when live voting on Indian Idol begins, we expect the ratings to surge. Apart from that, we are also satisfied with the average of a 3 TVR of Deal... and Ek Ladki..."
As compared to the week beginning 30 October, Sony's all day channel share was 12.6 per cent in the C&S 4 + years Hindi speaking markets (HSM). While the channel share dipped in the next week to 12.2 per cent, it went up to 14 per cent in the week beginning 13 November and touched 15.2 per cent in the week beginning 20 November, when the new shows were launched.
If one had to delve into the prime time band (8 - 11 pm) share of the channels, Sony's shares increased consistently from that of 13.7 per cent in the week beginning 30 October to settle at 18.6 per cent in the week beginning 20 November in the C&S 4 + years HSM as per Tam. Star Plus, on the other hand, lost ground in the prime time band as its channel share fell from 64 per cent to 59.7 per cent in the above mentioned period. Going by these numbers, Star Plus' loss seems to have been Sony's gain in the prime time band at least.
The shares of all other general entertainment channel more or less remained the same except for the fact that Star Plus' share, which was 55.7 per cent in the week beginning 30 October, rose to 58.6 per cent in the week beginning 6 November and fell to 56.1 per cent in the week beginning 13 November, as per Tam data. On Sony's crucial week, Star Plus' channel share fell further to settle at 55.3 per cent, which was more or less the same as its share towards end October.
