Possibly DD's low trp is 50% because of the strong competition at that time from other channels. But for 50% it is definitely because of the show itself.
I just finished seeing this last weekend's show and - again - I found I could only watch it for Mani's scenes, that too, up to a point. For he is made to behave in such dumb ways, at times, as a policeman. When a baby is kidnapped from a nursing home, isn't one of the first things he should be doing is to interrogate the staff there?? But no, one has to wait till well into the second part for this to happen.
And so on and so forth.
To be sure, Sonia is slowly finding her feet, but still Mani takes the cake in whatever scenes they have together. It's just that the producers, writers, whoever else (?) do not still give him the chance to show his full potential, and that may be why people may watch the show off and on only.
Obviously it's more difficult in a weekly show, for in TPK he had ample opportunity to portray such a vast array of emotions; reason for which we call him the King of Expression!
But, then, we hope to see him on screen for a lonnng time - and then, surely, somehow, those TRPs will reflect the true shine 😆