MUMBAI: The first report card is out. The 9 PM slot for Star Plus, which saw the launch of Miilee to break away from the clutter of the Saas-Bahu fare, has had an encouraging start.

The show debuted on 4 April with a rating of 10. 67 TVR in the Hindi speaking markets (HSM) in the C&S 4+ TG, according to TAM data. The four-day average TVR that Miilee recorded in its first week of launch was 9.2 TVR, up from 8.8 TVR which the channel used to garner in that time band.

Star Plus officials believe the show has worked positively for the channel in two areas - growing the 9 PM slot share by six per cent and, moreover, achieving this with a daily format.

Star Plus 9 PM slot shares:

Miilee has also managed to deliver strong ratings across SECs and all age groups hence accomplishing the aim of having a wide mass appeal of the show. A 14+ TVR was recorded among 10 - 34 females, while the highest affinity for the show came from SEC C with a 12 TVR. Other SECs delivered 10 TVR.

The 9 PM slot Mondays to Thursdays pre Miilee showcased four weeklies, which earlier followed an hourly format and was recently changed to half hour formats. The four being - Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand, Kehta Hai Dil, Saara Akaash and Sanjivani.

The show has marginally affected Sony.

Sony 9 PM slot shares:

An point in note here being that week 14 where Sony recorded 27 per cent in the 9 PM slot was due to an Indian Idol special that was showcased called Abhijeet ka Safar.

According to Sony channel business head Tarun Katial, "Every show and competition takes about six to eight weeks to stabilise. We are very confident about Kkusum as a property."

Kksusm, which airs on Sony, is directly pitted against Miilee at 9 pm.

The launch episode (4 April) of Millee grew the slot share on that particular day by 34 per cent, allowing a significant TV viewing population to actually sample the show.

Points out Star India senior vice president Ajay Vidyasagar, "This was also the direct impact of the marketing effort that went behind the show for a month prior to launch. Also, the attempt was to better the ratings for the 9 PM slot where we were doing reasonably well. I think the off air and on air marketing promotions has really paid off."

The overall channel shares in the Hindi general entertainment space, when one looks at week 14 Vs week 15, Star Plus has grown by two per cent from 55 to 57. Interestingly, Sony grew by one per cent from 18 to 19, while Zee TV took a beating and has dropped by four per cent from 19 to 15 per cent.

Says Star Plus creative director Shailja Kejriwal, "We are bang on target with this offering, as every age group is watching it. This, in a way, was a risk as it could have gone either way. We were breaking away from the conventional mould of story telling on Star Plus. Our hope is that it would engage viewers from 6 - 60 years age group has worked."

Kejriwal, however, admits that the real test for Miilee would be in the coming three months, after the story line takes priority and the marketing endeavours take a back seat.

Miilee is a format show adapted from an Argentinean telenovella called Wild Angel. Produced by Vinita Nanda and Moses, the real task at hand for the channel will be further broad basing their viewership base with this new programming initiative.