Mumbai: Star Plus trumped close rivals Sun TV and Star Maa to emerge as the most viewed channel in Barc week 38 (between 18 and 24 September). The three channels have been fighting it out for the top position for several weeks, with the regional GECs dominating the list for the past three weeks.

This week Star Plus clocked 2744.83 (‘000s) AMAs as against 2719.62 (‘000s) last week when it was at the second position. Tamil major Sun TV was next with weekly AMAs of 2650.54 (‘000s). 2512.05 AMAs secured the third spot for Telugu GEC Star Maa.

Colors and Star Utsav clinched the fourth and fifth position. Riding high on IPL viewership, Star Sports 1 Hindi made a direct entry as the sixth most-watched channel in week 38. Sony SAB, Star Vijay, Star Pravah, and Zee TV grabbed the remaining four spots.

Sun TV led the tally in the mega cities with 459.74 AMAs. Star Plus, Colors, Star Vijay, and Sony SAB followed. With weekly AMAs of 2644.6 (‘000s), Sun TV was the top performer in the South Market as well. Star Maa, Star Vijay, Zee Kannada, and Zee Telugu were at positions two, three, four, and five respectively.

Maharashtra/Goa showed a clear preference for Star Pravah which bagged 1507.05 AMAs. With 1076.13 AMAs, Zee Bangla toppled long-time leader Star Jalsha to clinch the top spot in West Bengal. The latter slipped to the second spot.

At 419.59 AMA, Tarang was the most viewed channel in Odisha, Zee Kannada in Karnataka (1461.09), Star Utsav in Rajasthan (245.59), and Zee Anmol (355.23) in UP/Uttarakhand.