Posted:
ET: ON A NEW COURSE
In October 2015, SET garnered its lowest GRPs, 70, and was at sixth position in a cluster of seven GE channels. From getting the right people on board to laying down the future course of action and executing it, Singh says that SET has built a strong base of viewership, and gained significant traction, resulting in overall growth of the channel. This is on the back of non-fiction shows such as Super Dancer Chapter 2, The Kapil Sharma Show and fiction shows Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi, Beyhadh and Ye Un Dino Ki Baat Hai, Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan, PeshwaBajirao and Mere Sai. But, it was bringing back the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) Season 9, after a three-year hiatus with actor Amitabh Bachchan, that gave a big fillip to the channel, propelling it to No. 1 position while the show was on.
With KBC now off air, the channel has launched four new shows in the slot of KBC and a concerted effort has been made to ensure that the shows are inclusive to build reach in small town India. Singh says, "I feel very confident, given the content that we are offering to viewers, that they will do well with the core audience of the channel and we should be able to maintain our strong position in the Hindi GEC genre. However, it's wait and watch for the moment, as to how SET makes good on the gains made on the back of KBC; this at a time when Zee TV is in resurgence mode and Colorsand Star Plus go all out to retain their position. The other GEC in the SPN stable, Sony SAB, was rebranded in June this year to give it a more vibrant, youthful, and contemporary feel, and Singh states that the slew of new shows, such as Tenali Rama and Sajan Re Phir Jhoot Mat Bolo (and the perennial favourite, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah) have helped gain new viewers.
Looking at the broader Hindi GEC space, it has witnessed a metamorphosis over the last one year after BARC started measuring rural data, thereby leading to a growth of Free-To-Air (FTA) channels. With Star India pulling the plug on its GEC Life OK and revamping it to Star Bharat, an FTA channel with original programming, one wonders what is SPN's blueprint? "We will explore original content on Sony Pal sometime in the future. At this stage, it will be too premature for me to discuss it. Right now, the archive content of SET and SAB has been doing extremely well, says Singh. While it's work in progress for the GECs, the Hindi movie channels of SPN Sony Max, Sony Max2, Sony Max HD and Sony Wah have consistently been topping their category across both the rural and urban markets.
In October 2015, SET garnered its lowest GRPs, 70, and was at sixth position in a cluster of seven GE channels. From getting the right people on board to laying down the future course of action and executing it, Singh says that SET has built a strong base of viewership, and gained significant traction, resulting in overall growth of the channel. This is on the back of non-fiction shows such as Super Dancer Chapter 2, The Kapil Sharma Show and fiction shows Kuch Rang Pyaar Ke Aise Bhi, Beyhadh and Ye Un Dino Ki Baat Hai, Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan, PeshwaBajirao and Mere Sai. But, it was bringing back the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) Season 9, after a three-year hiatus with actor Amitabh Bachchan, that gave a big fillip to the channel, propelling it to No. 1 position while the show was on.
With KBC now off air, the channel has launched four new shows in the slot of KBC and a concerted effort has been made to ensure that the shows are inclusive to build reach in small town India. Singh says, "I feel very confident, given the content that we are offering to viewers, that they will do well with the core audience of the channel and we should be able to maintain our strong position in the Hindi GEC genre. However, it's wait and watch for the moment, as to how SET makes good on the gains made on the back of KBC; this at a time when Zee TV is in resurgence mode and Colorsand Star Plus go all out to retain their position. The other GEC in the SPN stable, Sony SAB, was rebranded in June this year to give it a more vibrant, youthful, and contemporary feel, and Singh states that the slew of new shows, such as Tenali Rama and Sajan Re Phir Jhoot Mat Bolo (and the perennial favourite, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah) have helped gain new viewers.
Looking at the broader Hindi GEC space, it has witnessed a metamorphosis over the last one year after BARC started measuring rural data, thereby leading to a growth of Free-To-Air (FTA) channels. With Star India pulling the plug on its GEC Life OK and revamping it to Star Bharat, an FTA channel with original programming, one wonders what is SPN's blueprint? "We will explore original content on Sony Pal sometime in the future. At this stage, it will be too premature for me to discuss it. Right now, the archive content of SET and SAB has been doing extremely well, says Singh. While it's work in progress for the GECs, the Hindi movie channels of SPN Sony Max, Sony Max2, Sony Max HD and Sony Wah have consistently been topping their category across both the rural and urban markets.
Hindi TV Shows
Mangal Lakshmi
