Media planners and advertisers are focusing on the success of individual shows rather than the fast-changing ranking of channels.
The action at the top in the general entertainment channel (GEC) space will beat even the sharpest twists in the plot of your favourite television serial. Sample this: in the last two months, there have been three number one channels, Colors, STAR Plus and Zee TV. Two others, NDTV Imagine and Sony TV, were in the fourth and fifth spot almost every alternate week. So channel loyalty is out, and it’s the success of individual shows that media planners and advertisers are looking at these days for buying commercial airtime, instead of the ranking of the channels. This, say industry experts, is a key change from the practice a year ago when genre leaders like STAR Plus always got premium sponsorship rates for their shows as opposed to the number two or a number three-ranked channel. The gulf in the weekly ratings between the genre-leader and the number two channel used to be more than 100 gross rating points (GRPs) earlier. It’s reduced to anywhere between a couple of GRPs and 10-15 GRPs on an average (see table).
The GRPs are the summation of the programme ratings of individual shows that is aired on any channel in a day. The weekly GRPs are arrived at by adding the GRPs for the seven days.
Success of shows like Dance India Dance (Zee TV), Sach Ka Saamna (STAR Plus), India’s Got Talent (Colors) or a Rakhi Ka Swayamvar (NDTV Imagine) not only fetched high viewership ratings (show ratings of 4 or more) for their respective channels, but have also managed to generate returns on their investments, say sources in the television industry.
“Even a reality show like Roadies on MTV, considered primarily a music channel for the youth, managed to get top ratings for some of its episodes compared to the Hindi GEC space earlier this year. And in the process attracted a big chunk of advertising revenue that in turn made money for the channel,” says a Mumbai-based media buyer. Industry sources say the reality shows can cost anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 50 lakh per episode. But if they consistently get ratings of 4 or more, they tend to make money for the channel and also contribute to an overall increase in the weekly rating numbers, say media planners.
“Viewers follow good programming. They do not bother about which channel is ranked top and which is down in the rankings. And that is what the advertisers follow – shows that get higher eyeballs tend to do well for the channels as well,” says L V Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media, the agency that provides the weekly ratings data which is used by both broadcasters and advertisers to arrive at the rankings of the Hindi GEC genre. These rankings also tend to determine the allocation of nearly Rs 3,500 crore of advertising spends of more than 80 brands on television. A show with high ratings gives leverage to the broadcasters to charge more for the airtime from its sponsors.
“Today, the top three Hindi GECs are equal in terms of their weekly GRPs barring the 10-12 per cent fluctuations in their ratings that occur due to various reasons inlcuding programme scheduling, running content without ad-breaks, etc. Advertisers have also taken a note of this. All the three channels are considered equal now even if one is ahead by a few GRPs,” says Star India EVP marketing Anupam Vasudev.
Commenting on the impact of its reality show Sach Ka Saamna on the overall weekly ratings of STAR Plus, Vasudev says: “Each show is launched with a clear objective of what it will deliver to the overall weekly GRPs. Sach Ka Saamna contributes 12-14 GRPs on a weekly basis. It opened with high ratings of 4-plus in a time band that was earlier delivering ratings of around 1 to 1.5. So it has worked well for us.”
Similar is the story of reality show Rakhi Ka Swayamvar on NDTV Imagine. In the launch week of the show, NDTV Imagine saw a 23 per cent jump in its weekly gross ratings. The show got the highest first-episode rating of 4.1 among all big reality shows, claims a senior executive of NDTV Imagine.
Now, courtesy Rakhi Ka Swayamvar, NDTV Imagine is a clear number four Hindi GEC after Zee TV and ahead of rival Sony TV by more than 120 GRPs. Rakhi Ka Swayamvar has pushed the channel’s weekly GRPs from 90-95 to over 130 in just seven weeks. "It has created lot of positive buzz for NDTV Imagine and also got high viewership and reach," says Shailja Kejriwal, EVP, content, for NDTV Imagine. In order to hold on to its lead, NDTV Imagine has announced another reality show Pati, Patni aur Woh that will feature Rakhi Sawant, once again.
According to media planners, 50-55 per cent of the top three Hindi GECs’ overall weekly GRPs come from the prime time (7 pm to 11:30 pm) time band and 10-15 per cent GRPs from the afternoon slot. “It is the weekend band that is mainly responsible for the weekly fluctuations in the ratings of Colors, Zee TV and STAR Plus. And this is due to airing of movies with fewer ad-breaks or running an-hour long episode of popular soaps which gets more sticky viewership that in turn gets higher ratings number, but without much commercial benefits,” says a senior media planner who frequently buys airtime on the Hindi GECs.
Agrees Akash Chawla, vice president, marketing, for Zee TV and Zee Cinema: “We know exactly why someone gets an overall lead of 15-22 GRPs and bags the top spot in the weekly ratings. It is to do with airing content without commercials sometimes. But we have taken a conscious decision to stay away from this practice. Our ratings are not at the cost of advertising revenue, because of which we are doing extremely well.”
With a similar weekly see-saw of ratings expected to continue, broadcasters are gearing up with new shows to attract audience and advertisers alike. Zee TV is looking at launching a new show based in Delhi’s Karol Bagh area while STAR Plus will soon air a new celebrity interview show Tere Mere Beech Mein. Colors is bringing back its hit reality stunt show, Khatron ke Khiladi, while Sony TV is also expected to launch some more new shows soon.
