9X slides to seventh position
From being a number three player a few months ago, it has witnessed gradual decline in its GRPs and relative share. However, the channel is confident of taking on the competition with bigger, better and fresher content. This week 9X has launched two one-hour bi-weeklies and promises to come with more properties
Not really different from other GECs, 9X however claims to be bigger, better and fresher in its content. After all, when you are targeting the same segment of audience, it is unwise to swim against the trend. With challenges and competition coming in from new players as well as existing ones, it makes good business sense to play the game by existing rules. "Why live in a fool's paradise when you know what the audience wants. People are no more watching channels but shows. The audience follows stories and characters. The paradigm is still in the space of home. It is not wise to be brave and do radical stuff," says Kumud Chaudhary, 9X's senior vice president, programming (fiction). Dailies continue to be the staple entertainment for women on weekday prime time. 9X experimented with a weekend one hour drama bi-weekly series Kya Dil Mein Hai, which has worked. Now like NDTV Imagine which has a few one-hour shows on its weekday prime time, 9X is also following the trend by launching two one-hour bi-weeklies. The two shows with which the channel will re-launch its 9.30 pm weekday prime time band from August 25 are Rubi and Ajeeb.
Rubi, to be aired on Monday and Tuesday, is the story of a free-spirited middle class girl from UP who believes that she was made for better things in life and will not allow life to put her in a situation of penury. Torn between family values and desire to achieve her dream for good life, she has no qualms about taking short cuts to achieve her dream. "Ruby is hugely aspirational and determined to be a successful story. The value system is important to her but she will not mind using a different modus operandi to live on her own terms," says the show's producer Anurradha Prasad of BAG Films.
Kumud says Rubi is not a differentiating show. "But it's differently coloured and textured. It is a story that has not been seen on television in recent times. Rubi is a girl next door who is a representative persona of small town girls," she adds. On the other hand, Ajeebthat will be telecast on Wednesday and Thursday is a drama based in a hospital and is full of mystery, emotions and suspense. It is the story of a warm-hearted young woman who aspires to be a resident doctor at a prestigious hospital. However, a rejection from the hospital shatters her dream. But in a twist of fate, she lands up in the same hospital where she witnesses unsavoury goings-on. Says Vikas Verma, 9X's creative head (non-fiction), "It is a great show with good production values. It's not a medical thriller but a show with all normal emotional elements though there is suspense and mystery." According to Kumud, both the shows are in line with the channel's promise of bigger, better and fresher content and are targeted at women viewers in the GE space. Trying asking the channel's programmers whether one-hour bi-weeklies will grab eyeballs when viewers (read women) are hooked on to dailies on weekdays, Vikas says good content always works, be it a half-hour, one hour or three-hour show. "It is not important to be different but it is very important to be good," he reasons. Launched in November last year, 9X had gradually risen in the GE space. Starting with 20 GRPs, the numbers doubled eight weeks later. Till mid-April, it was the fifth GE channel, not far behind Imagine and Sony. In week 17 of 2008(April 20 to 26), 9X marched past Imagine and Sony and in May it also crossed the 100 GRP mark and managed to stay around the century figure for a few weeks before it started sliding June onwards. Stuck between 80 and 90 GRPs over the next few weeks, currently (week 33, August 10 to 16, 2008) it stands at no 7 position with 75 GRPs against 130 of Sony, 128 of Colors, Imagine's 90 and Star One's 93. What explains the downward trend even after the launch of Ekta's Kahani Hamaaray Mahabharat Ki as weekday daily? Incidentally, Mahabharat opened with 2.5 TVR but ratings have been on the decline since then. In week 33, it managed to notch up an average of 1.4 TVR.
Kumud says 9X's weekend band has outperformed the weekday prime time. "But we are proud of our shows. They have been appreciated. We have been making engaging content and traction is growing for our weekday band. Now we are taking the journey forward with the two new bi-weeklies and there is lot more to come in coming months," she elaborates. Commenting on declining GRPs, Kumud says ups and downs are part of television business. "Even Star Plus and Zee experience swings of 30 to 40 GRPs but it doesn't get noticed. But a decline of 5 to 10 GRPs in our case appears humongous," she chuckles.
Elaborating further, Kumud says currently there is lot of traction for the number three GE slot. "It will take some time for things to stabilize," she adds. Talking about the downward trend in Mahabharat's ratings, Kumud says once the story starts unfolding in a linear pattern, rating will improve. Refuting rumours that 9X is not too happy with the making of the mythological epic and it might go off air earlier than expected, Kumud says everything is fine with the show. "It is a finite story and will go on for about seven to eight months," she assures
