9X, Bindass trump popular TV channels

Start eating into the viewership of MTV, [V], Sony and Star Utsav.

Popular television channels like Star Utsav, Sahara One, SAB TV, Sony TV, MTV and Channel V are, reportedly, losing their viewership to 9X and Bindass, the recently launched channels.

While 9X, within a month of its launch, has managed to penetrate nearly 30 per cent of the 76 million cable homes, Bindass, the youth channel from UTV, is generating higher ratings than MTV and Channel V, the two established youth-centric television channels.

Television ratings are used by media planners and buyers who decide on where the advertisers' money is to be put. Higher viewership ratings for channels result in higher 10-seconds ad-spot rates.

According to online rating generated by Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd for the December 10 (Monday)-December 16 (Sunday) period for the prime-time television (8pm-11pm), 9X is generating comparatively similar ratings at various time bands as Sony TV, the general entertainment channel (GEC) running for nearly a decade.

Similarly, UTV's Bindass has managed to outdo MTV and Channel V on several of the weekdays at prime time shows. For example, on December 14 (Friday) between 9pm-10pm, Bindass generated a rating of 0.21, which is 10 times the ratings generated by Channel V and MTV.

"Hit English movies and other entertainment shows on Bindass are attracting viewers in metros as well as small towns. It is surprising that even the English-speaking viewers tend to spend a good 25-30 minutes watching Bindass, which is now being assessed online," a media planner said.

In the GEC space, 9X generated a rating of 0.41 in the 8:30pm-9pm slot, similar to Sony TV on December 15 (Saturday).

Analysts feel that this is because of a high cable household penetration achieved by 9X within a month of its launch coupled with interesting shows like Missing Ustaad and others.

The higher ratings of these newly launched channels will have an adverse impact on channels like Sahara One, Star Utsav and SAB TV among others in the short run.

In the long-term, these new channels (including Zee Next launched on December 17) may eat into the ad revenue of the big three GECs "" Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony TV, says an industry source.

"Both 9X and 9XM (music channel of INX Media) are visible in all major metro towns. Due to this, consumers are sampling them at the cost of other channels like SAB TV, Star Utsav and Sahara One. Once their ratings stabilise, the advertising spot-rates on new channels like 9X and Bindass will begin to increase too," said a Delhi-based media planner.

Among the big three GECs, Sony TV has been at the third place for a long time both in terms of ratings and channel share, with Star Plus being the numero uno followed closely by Zee TV.

Both Star Plus and Zee TV generate average television ratings of 3.9-5 during weekdays in the prime time viewing band. While Star Plus on most occasions gets the highest viewership ratings, Zee TV has started displacing Star Plus shows on several occasions, says the source.

According to industry estimates, the three GECs together attract over Rs 2,000 crore worth of annual advertising revenue.

However, analysts feel that the next 8-12 months could change the equation drastically as more entertainment channels flood the already cluttered television space.

This will mean that consumers' average time spent on these channels will reduce drastically, resulting in significant drop in advertising spots and long-term rates.