Zee TV wins back viewership crown

It was a long wait, but finally Zee TV has regained the top slot that it relinquished almost a decade back.

The comeback has been nothing less than metamorphic, Phoenix-like for the country’s oldest private general entertainment channel (GEC), as it outdid competition from at least half-a-dozen new players in addition to old horses like STAR Plus.

For Week 26 ended June 30, Zee topped the GEC chart with 243.1 GRPs, trumping Colors (242.8 GRPs) and Star Plus (218.5 GRPs).
Zee as has been in the fray for the top slot for the past few weeks, breathing down market leaders’ neck. “It’s very pleasant to see Zee making a comeback. It was long overdue,” said Manish Borwal, a media expert for over a decade.

Experts point at how the GEC market has opened up in the past few years especially with inclusion of a few new GEC channels in the space.

“Zee’s rise defying old and new competition is almost inspirational. It’s nice in a way to see three players fighting for the top position, depolarising the space,” said Borwal, who has tracked the company over the past ten years.

Interestingly, Zee is riding high on the back of non-film programming — something that was its core strength a decade ago, when it ruled the waves.

As per TAM ratings, Zee leads the non-film programming with 212 GRPs where as Colors and Star Plus could only manage 203 and 195 GRPs, respectively.

Nitin Vaidya, COO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, and business head, Zee TV, said: “What’s most pleasing is that Zee’s performance is based on its non film content; hence we never felt compelled to attempt gimmicks like running break-free movies unlike others. Shows like Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Pavitra Rishta and Choti Bahu are continuing to do well consistently.” 

Harish Shreyan, managing partner, OMD, concurs. “True, one can spend bucks and buy big properties in film-programming but the real winner is the one that does well in non-film programming —- as shown by Zee,” Shreyan said.

On their part, media planners and advertisers are enjoying the new competition for the top GEC spot.

“It’s a perfect scenario for advertisers. You have various channels to choose from. The top slot isn’t what it used to be some years back when you would have one clear leader and others would be distant second or third. Now, anyone with 200+ weekly GRPs is a winner. Zee has achieved 200+ GRPs on weekly basis constently over a long period of time. It has trule arrived again,” said Borwal