KBC 4 Breaks Record - Article

New Delhi, Oct 12, 2010 (IANS) Bollywood's Big B, Amitabh Bachchan, is the biggest on the small screen - so indicate the ratings of the debut episode of the fourth season of his mega reality quiz show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC).

The one-and-half-hour first episode of the season kickstarted on Sony Entertainment Television Monday with an average Television Rating Point (TRP) of five percent, according to data provided by data overnight television viewership tracker Audience Measurement and Analytics (aMap).

It is the highest average rating recorded by the top general entertainment channels (GECs) in the time-band of 9 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Monday.

KBC even pipped Salman Khan's big-ticket show 'Bigg Boss 4' on Colors, which was telecast 9 p.m.-10 p.m. The latter recorded an average rating of 3.4 percent rating Monday.

The opening episode of 'Bigg Boss 4' on Oct 3, clashed with the Commonwealth Games (CWG) opening, and had still managed to grab eyeballs. But it couldn't sustain the competition from KBC.

Other channels like Star Plus, Zee TV and Imagine TV that telecast fiction shows during the time-band, too failed to match KBC with average ratings of 3.2, 2.9 and 1.1 percent, respectively.

KBC changed the face of Indian television when it was first launched in 2000. Amitabh's entry on the small screen created waves in the film and TV industry. He even hosted the second season of the show in 2005, and is now back to it - with equal enthusiasm.

The opening episode of this year saw cricket commentator Charu Sharma and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, apart from a contestant, who were all smiles after facing Big B. The contestant took home Rs.3,20,000.