Star invades Zee slot... races ahead of S

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Posted: 18 years ago

Star invades Zee slot... races ahead of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Saath Phere

Chaya Unnikrishnan

wo weeks ago STAR Plus was in the news thanks to Tulsi's death and Gautami Kapoor replacing Smriti Irani. Even as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi remains their numero uno show, the channel is now eating into Zee's time slot and inching ahead of its flagship shows. The two shows Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Saath Phere pitted against STAR Voice Of India and Kasturi have taken a drop in the ratings in the week from June 4 -9.

Says, Prem Kamath, Head of Communications & Marketing, STAR Plus, "Voice Of India has seen a phenomenal growth of 60 per cent in the four weeks since its launch, and Kasturi which came on a slot dominated by Zee's flagship Saath Phere has overtaken the soap within seven weeks of its launch." For the week ending June 9, STAR Voice has a rating of 4.3 while Sa Re Ga Ma Pa has 4.1. Kasturi has averaged 3.8 while Saath Phere has averaged 3.6 for the week between June 4 - 9. But isn't it jumping the gun too soon? Aren't they making noise over just a week's ratings? "It's not about making a noise, but correcting the perception people of these two properties of Zee," argues Kamath, adding that it's not a flash in the pan. "It shows a trend that has been slowly gathering momentum," he avers. Zee however, has a different take on the issue. Ashish Kaul, Executive VP, Zee agrees that STAR is ahead but the difference is in "decimal points and it's only for a week. But if they are happy over a week's performance then I wish them all happiness," he quips. However, Kamath points out that unlike Zee's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, STAR Voice Of India started from the auditions stage. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa came on air directly with the finalists. "Despite that, our ratings are promising. Now that it has entered the studio rounds it will only get better," he explains.

Where does that leave Sony's Indian Idol? "We did phenomenally well in the week when it was aired daily from June 1 - 9 and touched a rating of 4," informs Sandip Sikcand, Chief Creative Director, Sony. Though it is getting them high numbers and is currently the top-rated show on Sony Sandip refrains from making comprisions. "All the three shows are different and the positive thing is that the country will get some great singing talent out of them," he reasons.

https://www.screenindia.com/fullstory.php?content_id=16222

Edited by anishma24 - 18 years ago