DC: Battle of numbers -- SNS

It seems the law of averages is finally catching up with Saath Nibhana Saathiya. After ruling the rating charts as No. 1 show for many months, the show has finally gone down the ladder. Sometime back it lost the leadership battle to Diya Aur Baati Hum, but bounced back to the top slot soon after. But it went down again and the signs of slowing down are quite visible. In recent weeks Saathiya... has fallen quite a bit. Two weeks ago it was down to number four and last week it ranked number six.

Whether it retraces the fall in coming weeks is yet to be seen but it seems the two-year old saas-bahu show which surprised everyone with its rocking performance is probably running out of steam. Or is it Gopi's newfound happiness in the Modi household that is the reason for the fall? After all, the Cinderella story's success was largely because of the piggyback ride on the sympathy factor.

Meanwhile, television czarina Ekta Kapoor's show Kya Hua Tera Vada which was expected to mark her return to late prime time slot has not turned the tide in Ekta's favour. While Bade Achhe Lagte Hain is still notching up 3-plus ratings. Kya Hua Tera Vada which opened with 2-plus TVRs is still languishing around the same levels since its launch six weeks ago.

Both Sony Television and Ekta expected it to perform as well as Ram and Priya's mature love story Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, but the tale of extra-marital affair doesn't seem to have enough takers. Another show Sony had high hopes on is Parvarish which deals with urban parenting issues. However, Parvarish is also stuck at 2-plus TVR. A source in Sony admits that the channel is quite concerned about both shows not creating enough traction. "The channel is worried that the shows are not growing," says the source. As a result, Sony which is overdependent on its weekend shows like CID, Crime Patrol, Adalat and Comedy Circus, is trying hard to maintain its number 2 position.