I think besides the cricket matches there are other contributing factors, they have been showing a lot of AD. JB fans were fed up of being taken for granted, no JB scenes or badly executed JB scenes with body doubles. In addition SBS has said that there would be AD/Pallavi flashbacks, again no one wanted to see. Also the JB scenes were not promoted, so most JB fans stayed away. Good for them, to show BT and ZT that JB fans matter and should not be taken for granted.
OK I am confused. The Thursday episode showed preparations going on in WM for the Pooja and anticipation of Bani's arrival. The situation was left at who will sit with whom in the pooja on Friday and whether Bani comes or not. That in itself is enough anticipation for people who want to see JB together to tune in to KS. AD had only one small scene on Thursday. From that there was no indication that it was going to be flashback time of his life.
I did not see any thread about a Zee promo saying it was going to be AD/Pallav flashback. What SBS promotes does not happen the next day - it is always something about the future. Also SBS does not air on Zee. So I don think the viewers in India would be influenced by what SBS aired for the future.
Just my 2 cents because I am one of the few who feel that JB have lost their chemistry. The comfort factor is missing and the body language of both actors looks very tense whenever they are in the same frame together.
JBians will beat be down I know, but I had to say what I had to say.😆😆