Baywatch babe Pamela lifts Bigg Boss' ratings up

By GAURAV LAGHATE
Indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Pamela Anderson's entry into the Bigg Boss house has raised the ratings - some people say even the temperature - of the primetime reality show

The day the Baywatch babe made her appearance, dressed in a saree (India's traditional attire), the show got a boost. Bigg Boss earned a rating of 4.72 compared to the previous day's TVR of 3.46, as per Tam data for Hindi speaking markets (4+, C&S homes).

Next day, the busty babe did the cleaning up in the house, wearing a sarong. And, as expected, neither the ratings nor her sarong fell (4.69 TVR).

Hindi general entertainment channel Colors decided to heat things up further by making Anderson dance to the tune of "Dhak Dhak Karne Laga". And voila, ratings were up again, this time to 4.72 TVR.

Even the day when Anderson bid the show adieu, viewers flocked to catch a last glimpse of her. The Saturday show clocked a TVR of 4.28.

For the week ended 20 November, Bigg Boss enjoyed an average TVR of 4.21. In the two trailing weeks, when Anderson was not there, the show clocked average TVRs of 3.22 and 3.61.

Colors has reportedly paid Anderson Rs 25 million for her four-day guest appearance, which it has recovered in the form of publicity and ratings.

Many media observers debate if the decision of spending big monies on one international celebrity was a wise one. Some say it will not help the show and it is a bad decision, while some counter by saying that the publicity itself was worth millions of rupees.

"The rating of Bigg Boss was falling, which is normal for a show like this. So Colors would have had to put money in promoting the show. Instead, it has invested in Anderson and got a spike in ratings," a media observer said.

The show also helped Colors consolidate its second position in the Hindi general entertainment space. The channel added 11 GRPs (gross rating points) during the week ended 20 November to end at 291 GRPs.

The genre leader Star Plus dropped marginally to 354 GRPs (from 373 GRPs), while Zee TV was at third spot with 208 GRPs (from 205 GRPs in week before).

Sony Entertainment Television shed 20 GRPs during the week and remained in fourth position with 169 GRPs. The threat it may have is from its sister channel Sab, which is steadily growing and has reached 145 GRPs.