5 August saw the second coming of the TV show that changed the viewing habits of Indians when it made its first in 2000 - Kaun Banega Crorepati.

And what a comeback it has been. In its new avatar as KBC2, it has topped ratings among the ‘1 hour timeslots‘ at an All India level with a 13.8 TVR (CS 4+). The special study from the TAM Analysis Desk exclusive to Indiantelevision.com on the first day of KBC2 highlights the following findings -

• During 2005, KBC2 topped ratings among the “1 hour timeslots” at an All India level.
• The viewership of KBC slot from 10 per cent (absolute) during 4 weeks prior to its launch moved up to 38 per cent at a 6 metros market level (includes Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore & Hyderabad).
• Highest TVR clocked at the Madhya Pradesh 1 million+ towns level while it scored 20 at the Hindi Speaking Market level.
  KBC2 reached out to 20.5 million audiences who walked in on the first day across TAM’s all India market (towns & cities with population size of 100,000 +).
• For Pre-launch phase (July 2005), Star Plus grabbed a PR/media editorial share of 41 per cent among the entire coverage on Hindi Mass Entertainment Channels.
  No change in audience profile when compared with KBC.

JuxtaposingKBC Vs KBC2 - (6 metros)

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Interestingly, the impact of KBC on Star Plus by looking at the viewership share of the channel for the 9-10 pm daypart for four weeks prior to the launch of the programme vis-?-vis the launch day for both the years 2000 and 2005 on a 6 metros level, it is observed that while KBC1 in the year 2000 took Star Plus’s channel share from 2 to 25 per cent during the 9-10 pm daypart (absolute channel shares at a 6-metros level), 2005 saw 10 per cent viewership during the 4 weeks prior to the launch period jump to 38 per cent.

If one were to compare the TVR performance of KBC2 across the markets for the first episode (5 Aug), the chart illustrates viewership of KBC 2 across markets.

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The above chart indicates that while Madhya Pradesh towns with a population of 1 million+ clocked the highest TVR of 38, the entire Hindi Speaking belt struck a TVR of 20. Mumbai stood at 19; Delhi again at 19 while Kolkata at 16.

Content & Loyalty

Coming to product (content) and marketing, which go hand in hand even , the time spent also known as programme loyalty saw a reach of 15 per cent for KBC1 which has moved up to 24 per cent during the first episode of KBC2 (yellow bar chart below). Further, the time spent by viewers moved up from 29 minutes during KBC1 to 35 minutes during KBC2 (green line). The below data is attributed to the impact of on-air promos.

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Word-of-mouth (WOM)/PR Impact

Now, looking at an integral component within the off-air promotions domain, it is increasingly being observed that PR/word-of-mouth generation, especially during the pre-launch phase, works wonders for the product launch and helps sail through a smooth launch and post-launch phase. A special study was undertaken by Eikona PR Track, a division of TAM Media Research, on the July 2005 data to understand the impact of PR/Word-of-mouth on KBC2 viewership. Below is a snapshot:

Of the total 95594 ccms (column centimeters) of editorial coverage that got generated on Hindi mass entertainment channels and its respective programs, Star Plus cornered a major pie of 39138 ccms (about 42 per cent). Zee TV gathered a share of 21651 ccms while Sony Entertainment TV scored 19055. This was followed by Sahara One at 7889 ccms.

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At the programme level, KBC2 scored the highest with 11051 ccms. This was followed by another Star Plus programme Kyunki Saas Bhi at 4818 ccms. Sahara One’s Woh Rehne Wali Mehlon Ki was at the third position with 4409 ccms. Sony’s Fame Gurukul was at fifth position with 3653 ccms while Zee TVs Time Bomb was at the right position with 3171ccms.

From a market point of view, all entertainment channels made sure that the PR initiatives focused across metro markets which included Mumbai as a primary market. No wonder then, Mumbai clocked a coverage chunk of 20871 ccms for all Hindi Mass Entertainment Channels.

Of this, PR initiative by Star Plus topped the charts with 8549ccms. Sony TV scored second with 5090 ccms while Zee TV scored 3826 ccms. This was followed by Delhi at 7172 ccms.

Here again, Star Plus went ahead with its PR initiatives and clocked 3183 ccms; Zee TV second with 1681 ccms and Sony TV with 1342 ccms.

One of the key question for the industry probably could be whether there has been a change in the audience profile between KBC1 and KBC2. Three charts below give insight into demographic profiles across age, male/female and SECs.

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The above charts throw light on the fact that hardly any change can be recorded as the profiles across age and male/female categories are more or less the same.

KBC2, one can safely state, has made a big impact comeback. But, as Star India COO Sameer Nair will himself admit, these opening numbers are hardly surprising. The future story is what is awaited. Will KBC2 help build the weekend block for Star? That is the Rs 2 crore question and there are many more episodes to go before the answer can be locked in.

Still, the initial response has been more than heartening and might well spell a positive spill-off in terms of weekend programming across all the Hindi general entertainment channels. Now wouldn‘t that be great news for the Hindi entertainment space.