The year began with Star Plus at the top with 25 per cent channel share, well ahead of Colors and Zee which were quite behind with 17 and 16 per cent share respectively. Sony was a distant fourth, languishing with 11.5 per cent audience share. But by July Zee had started falling and Sony was almost closing in to topple Zee from the number three position. In August, things changed completely as Sony took the top slot, giving all the other three channels a run for money. Most channels lost their TRPs and their audience to KBC. Star Plus managed to maintain its number one position with marginal lead. But both Colors and Zee suffered. While Colors recovered some lost ground and remained in the race for the number two slot, Zee fell further down to a dismal low of 10 per cent audience share.
While KBC and Bade Achhe… gave Sony robust ratings, Star Plus further loaded its prime time with two new successful shows Diya Aur Baati Hum and Ek Hazaron Mein Meri Behna Hai. As a result, Star Plus finishes the year at the top with its monopoly on fiction clearly established, while Sony remains at number two slot, closely followed by Colors. Zee is a distant number four, closely followed by SAB TV. “It was a year of challenges and surprises. The competition was tough for everyone, and Star Plus and Sony gained the most. But the fight will continue the next year, as we have started our upward journey with new shows like Hitler Didi, Afsar Bitiya and Dance India Dance, which have a fresh look and feel,” says Zee’s fiction head Sukesh Motwani.
Source: Deccan Chronicle?
