It took the combined effort of Dance India Dance (DID) L'il Masters, Ramayan and Gold Awards to push Zee TV to reach the top spot among the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) after a gap of three years, toppling STAR Plus.
Last time Zee TV, the flagship Hindi GEC from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) stable, reached the No. 1 position in 2009.
Zee TV has gained 36 GRPs (gross rating points) during the week to claim leadership with 283 GRPs in the week ended August 18 (Week 33) as per data released by TAM Media Research. It dislodged STAR Plus, the flagship GEC from the STAR India stable, which saw a 15 GRPs drop to close the week with 255 GRPs.
| GRABBING EYEBALLS Gross rating points | |||
| Week 32 | Week 33 | Difference | |
| Zee TV | 247 | 283 | 36 |
| Star Plus | 270 | 255 | -15 |
| Colors | 217 | 238 | 21 |
| Sony Entertainment | 225 | 214 | -11 |
| Source: Data collected by TAM subscribers | |||
However, Zee TV's incremental GRPs have come from its popular dance reality show DID L'il Masters on August 12 that clocked an average TVR of eight over three-and-a-half hour episode. Even the three-hour telecast of Gold Awards got an average of 3 TVR and the debut episode of Ramayan at 11 am on Sunday, August 12 garnered a 2.7 TVR for the channel.
But will Zee TV be able to maintain the lead that it has got? “Zee TV has seen a two fantastic weeks on the back of DID final episodes. However, going forward, it will not be able to maintain the lead... but having said that, it is a tough competitor and the GEC game is now top-four player game now,” said a top executive from a rival channel, on condition of anonymity.
Zee TV will try to keep the momentum going with the launch of its singing reality show Saregama, which it will be launching in a couple of months. During the gap, it will launch a five-week filler programme DID Dancing Ke Superstars.
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A look at the other GECs: STAR Plus is at No 2 with 255 GRPs followed by Colors with 238 and Sony Entertainment Television (SET) with 214 GRPs.
With shows like KBC season 6 (SET), Sur Kshetra (Colors and Sahara One) and Saregama (Zee TV) set to hit the TV screens, the Hindi GEC space is definitely going to see more competition.