Business Standard:Diya Aur Baati Hum - #1 among top ten shows in 2013

STAR India's flagship general entertainment channel STAR Plus continues to have the maximum number of shows in Top 10 properties in 2013 with six shows figuring on the list. Viacom18's GEC Colors and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd's Zee TV figure on the list with two shows each and one show from Sab TV. While shows from Life OK failed to break into the Top 10 list, they did have massive peaks in viewership like in case of Devon ke Dev Mahadev.

Diya Aur Baati Hum is a clear winner with an average viewership of 9.3 million. It shot way ahead of competition as the second highest rated show was Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma on Sab TV. In third place was Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (also on STAR Plus) at viewership of seven million, while Colors' social drama set in the rustic locales of Rajasthan Balika Vadhu comes in at No 4 with viewership of 6.8 million.

Launched in 2011, Diya Aur Baati Hum is a daily soap that follows the life of the lead pair Sandhya (Deepika Singh) and Sooraj (Anas Rashid). While the former wants to break boundaries and become a successful IPS officer, the latter is the owner of a sweet shop. The show portrays the struggles faced by the female lead in achieving her dreams and how her husband supports her at every step. The show has been a consistent No 1 this year with barely any week when its ratings were surpassed by another show.

Two non-fiction properties found themselves in the Top 10 shows this year. The first is extremely popular stand-up comedy on Colors Comedy Nights with Kapil with a viewership of 6.6 million and the second is the celebrity dancing reality show Nach Baliye (Season 5) on STAR Plus with viewership of six million. Comedy Nights with Kapil took the weekend prime time programming by storm with its clutter breaking content.

This was the first season of Nach Baliye on STAR Plus. Up until the fourth season, it was aired on STAR India's erstwhile second GEC STAR One, which closed down in December 2011 to make way for Life OK.

The channel's flagship GEC saw average viewership around 3.9 million. The show which has won many loyal viewers after the launch of the channel saw peak viewership of 12.8 million.

The year also saw its share of big ticket launches like Mahabharat on STAR Plus and 24 on Colors.

While the former broke the ranks of Top 10, the latter has been applauded for breaking the norms of weekend programming with out-of-the-box content.

Mahabharat's average veiwership for the year is 5.6 million, while 24 has managed to retain viewership in the range of 2.7 to three million.

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