Decoding the weekend fare

When Aamir Khan decided to air his TV debut show Satyamev Jayate on the weekend — Sunday morning slot — it created a flutter among general entertainment channels. The show did not fetch huge ratings but it opened a hitherto dormant slot. Today Zee is airing a new version of Ramayan in that slot and Star Plus has brought another socially packaged show Lakhon Mein EK in place of Satyamev Jayate. The channel has also introduced short romantic films called Teri Meri Love Stories. Sony shifted its big-ticket show Kaun Banega Crorepati from a daily to weekend fare, adding to its existing line-up of CID, Adalat and Crime Patrol.

Colors has Jhalak Dikhla Jaa and the recently launched Sur Kshetra while Zee has been presenting its hit property Dance India Dance in various formats for a couple of years now. A few months ago it added the scare fest Fear Files. The question is: what really works on weekends?

While programming for weekdays is clearly skewed towards fiction, the weekends are a challenge as the channels have to cater to a wider audience. Says Danish Khan, Senior VP & Marketing Head, Sony, “Weekend is one of the most fertile slots as it has a family audience. That was the reason we decided to shift KBC to weekends as it’s a family show.” And it has worked for the channel with the show delivering around 4 plus ratings. Other shows doing well on weekends include Dance Ke Superkids with 4 plus ratings and Jhalak.. averaging at 3 plus. However, Teri Meri... hasn’t clicked with the audience with ratings barely reaching 1 (ratings sourced from TAM subscriber).

Does that mean only talent hunts and reality shows are the preferred fare? “Historically, fiction has worked on weekdays but there’s no reason for it to not perform on weekends as long as it’s a family show. CID has been running successfully on the weekend band for 15 years,” points out Danish. That crime and horror shows have a draw is evident from the fact that even the newly launched Arjun is garnering a rating of around 2 on weekends while CID and Crime Patrol are registering 3 plus, and Fear Files is delivering TRPs close to 3. Another genre that also works on weekends are Maha episodes of daily soaps points out TV producer Rajan Shahi.

However, Manisha Sharma, Weekend Programming Head, Colors, feels that shows like Jhalak and India’s Got Talent work better on weekends as the content enables family viewing. Agrees viewer Kshama Rao, who prefers watching song and dance shows as it’s relaxing and “one doesn't have to think much”. “If not for for these shows, I would prefer movies,” she says. Are the channels tuned in?