Rating rattler

Star Plus scorched its way up the TRP charts with a film awards show.

The New Year seems to have brought happy tidings for Star India Ltd. For the Hero Honda Star Screen Awards, which was aired on 15 January 2006 on Star Plus, is believed to have been watched by at least 20.4 million people across the country.

Based on the latest viewership data released by TAM Media, the agency that meters TV-watching in India, Star Plus claims the show earned a record television rating of 9.6 points in week three (January 15 - 21).

"It's indeed a pathbreaking rating in this genre," exults Puneet Johar, senior vice-president, marketing, Star India, "While shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) or popular soaps have clocked 13-14, such award shows till now got a rating of maximum 7.5."

The success of the show has helped Star Plus grab a bigger slice of the overall viewership pie, big though its share already was (and has been, ever since it stole leadership away from Zee TV with KBC and its set of K serials).

Johar attributes the success of the award show to a combination of factors, including the performances, the jury's credibility, scale of presentation, the anchors' charm and the way it was all packaged and marketed. Indeed, rarely has India seen such hype around a film awards telecast.

The four-and-a-half hour show had a steady drumbeat for more than a month leading up to the grand finale.

It helped, too, that the cinema of 2005 did a remarkable job of sneaking into people's heartspace and keeping audiences glued. No wonder everyone was in a mood to cheer and clap.