The GRP game - An article - WARNING PAGE 3

The GRP game

Chaya Unnikrishnan

With 356 GRPs, Colors has firmly established its position as the numero uno channel even as STAR Plus is trying out new strategies to reclaim its position
A fierce battle for GRPs is on in the Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) space and since the last four weeks Colors has emerged as the winner. It crossed the 300 mark for the first time in the week ending October 17 and in the following week reached a high of 356 GRPs leaving behind STAR Plus at 229.

Clearly, Colors which had reached the No.1 spot within six months of its launch last year is now in a dominant position. "I am not complaining," smiles Ashvini Yardi, Programming Head, Colors. Obviously not. Theirs has been a success story from day one. "We came in at a late stage, and were the 11th player in the space. We realised that there was a lot of viewer fatigue with the existing shows and brought subjects that catch attention," explains Ashvini. Their two-pronged strategy included disruptive scheduling and differentiated programming, which panned out successfully for the channel. For the first time, a reality show Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi was slotted as a daily and that too at primetime, which was hitherto reserved for soaps. With Akshay Kumar as the host and 13 glamorous girls as contestants, the serial was a huge hit and recently had a second season. Now, Bigg Boss 3, for which the channel roped in none other than Amitabh Bachchan as the host with a fancy title of a pop philosopher has got in the numbers. This time the show is aired seven days a week. "Both these shows work as perception programmes for the channel. They have brought in new viewers in the form of news and male audiences as also the youth, which form the non-GEC viewers," explains Ashvini. As for the reports that the shows are not raking in the moolah vis-a-vis the huge investment in the form of the stars' fees and high-blitzkrieg marketing, Ashvini points out that the two shows are premium properties and have a higher ad rate. However, what has really clinched it for the channel is the popularity of its fiction shows. Balika Vadhu took on the number one show Bidaai on STAR Plus and zoomed past it taking Colors to the top. When the serial meandered with its sob story, it took a slight beating. Fortunately for the channel, that was offset by its other show Uttaran, which last week reached a TRP of 8.22. Even Na Aana Is Des Laado, garnered a TRP of 6.22, which is higher than STAR Plus' No.1 show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai at 5.18. Incidentally, the channel has been airing special one-hour episodes of each of its popular soaps with a highpoint on Saturdays. Consequently, every week they have a different show notching high TRPs. "These one-hour specials comprising a twist or turn is a new thing which we have started and it is working very well for us," informs Ashvini.
Even as the channel strategises to consolidate its position "with a couple of surprises" in the near future, there's a flurry of activity in rival STAR Plus' office. There has been a major reshuffling of the top officials. Keertan Adhyanta, EVP, STAR Plus has been shifted to take charge of their English channels STAR Movies and STAR World. Prem Kamath, VP & Marketing has been brought in as advisor for rebranding STAR Plus with the COO Sanjay Gupta overseeing the channel. The programming will be handled by Gaurav Banerjee, VP and Content Head, STAR Jolsha and Pravah. The change in all probability a result of the non-performance of some of its recent shows including the marriage reality show Perfect Bride, which airs seven days a week like Bigg Boss. In fact, the channel had started airing its top-rated soaps Bidaai and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai seven days a week but they have failed to find a viewership on the weekends. Consequently, the shows will go back to its original five day week schedule. The clamour for GRPs has every channel strategising behind the scenes. From turning half-an-hour dailies to one hour, airing shows without a break, extending five-day week shows to seven days, repeat telecasts of popular shows, anything and everything is being tried just to get that extra GRP. For instance Sony has multiple airings of its top property CID. Says Danish Khan, VP - Marketing, Sony, "Repeat is a reality and it depends on how many shows are working. Today the viewership is fragmented and to reach viewers we have to repeat the shows." While Shailaja Kejriwal, EVP Content, NDTV Imagine feels it is good for a broadcaster to garner better TRPs she points out that this clamour for TRPs from repeats is a unique scenario. " I am curious to see if advertisers buy repeat GRPs." However, both Danish and Shailaja are one in voicing that the days of one show running for 4-5 years are gone. Says Danish, "With new launches new configurations will take place depending on their acceptance." Agrees producer-director Rajan Shahi (Bidaai, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai) who sees a period of confusion "as you never know which will be the next channel driver as shows are having a shorter life span now". And yet, Sony, which underwent a makeover after being edged out of its No.3 position hasn't come up trumps with any of its new launches. Even Dance Premiere League, which has Rani Mukerji making her TV debut as judge has not delivered high TRPS, just 1.9. "One or two properties haven't done as expected but it is a new format and we have to give it time," defends Danish pointing out that pre-makeover Sony had 70 GRPS and since then has increased to 160. "It's been a 100 per cent growth," he states. So why is, Gurdip Bangoo, who was the programming head and under whom the revamp happened being replaced by Zee's ex- programming head Ajay Balwankar? What's more the channel is bringing its past channel-driver Aahat back in a new avatar in a bid to reclaim its position among the leading channels.

In the whole Colors-STAR Plus face-off, one channel which has stuck to its programming mix and not shown any knee-jerk reactions by roping in big stars is Zee, which is steadily growing its numbers. "We are driven by content and all our launches since March this year from Choti Bahu, Dance India Dance, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Aap Ki Antara, Pavitra Rishta and recently even Karol Bagh are generating good enough TRPs. Our GRPs are equally spread and the success of all our launches have consolidated the position of Zee," says. Nitin Vaidya, COO, ZEEL & Business Head, Zee. Interestingly, they were the first ones to start the trend of extending half-hour soaps to one hour specials!