MUMBAI: Can the recently launched Shrimad Ramayan give a shot in the arm to the struggling pay TV sector, especially cable TV? The jury is out and opinions are mixed, but there’s some movement afoot. One cannot forget that the earlier Ramyan on Doordarshan in the eighties resulted in India’s streets being deserted and during its rerun during the pandemic it attracted 76 million viewers on DD on 16 April 2020.
According to some cable TV operators, the signs are positive.
“I am glad that the show has launched as it has,” says Nagpur-based MSO UCN director Ajay Khamankar. “Shrimad Ramayan is only showing on TV which is good. I see a lot of potential in it slowing down the cord-cutting that has been plaguing the pay-TV sector.”
Mumbai-based MSO and OTT aggregator Sabot promoter Atul Saraf, however, disagrees. “We are getting some calls, but it’s not ground shifting. One show can’t change the fortunes of the cable TV sector. “
Khamankar contradicts this by saying that his company’s helplines have seen a lot of traction since 1 January when Shrimad Ramayan premiered with viewers asking for their cable TV connection to be restored. “We have been getting an unusual number of calls from subscribers who had earlier cancelled their subscriptions. It cuts across age groups, which is a good sign,” he highlights.
Saraf points out that he would like to monitor the situation for a few more weeks before concluding on Shrimad Ramayan being a standout for the cable TV sector. “Normally, we are seeing disconnections daily,” he reveals. “We will have to see whether the signups are more than the sign-outs over time.”
Shrimad Ramayan has been produced by the Siddharth Kumar Tewary-run Swastik Productions and airs at the premium 9 pm slot Monday to Friday. It stars Sujay Reu as Shri Ram, Prachi Bansal as Sita, and Basant Bhatt as Lakshman. It premiered on 1 January to rave reviews about its quality of production as well as story-telling. This is why it has been enamouring TV viewers at home. In just its first week, it zoomed up to No. 2 on the Sony ratings chart just behind Wagle Ki Duniya (1.1 TVR, TSV 15 minutes) and on the same rank as Pushpa Impossible (0.9 TVR; TSV: 18 minutes) with a TVR of 0.9 and TSV of 31 minutes.
“Obviously, the content is keeping viewers engaged and it can only grow from here,” says a media observer.
Shrimad Ramayan has also got an IMDB rating of 9.3 which shows a high audience approval. Critics too have given it a thumbs up with some like Tellychakkar mentioning “that the deep commitment to authenticity, cultural reverence and a contemporary sensibility is what makes the show a must-watch. “
Will the audience reciprocate as the show builds up in the coming weeks?
