The ratings may have been affected by the cricket World Cup which was played between mid-May and June 20. The TRPs, however, did not show any significant improvement even after the event as 1942-A Love Story was shown on June 27. Sholay, though, got a TRP of 10 per cent in Mumbai and 4.6 per cent in Delhi.

Said PRP Nair, senior vice-president, RK Swamy/BBDO, "one of the reasons why Zee moved out of blockbusters may be because they couldn't get the expected TRPs."

Zee TV, in fact, was not prepared to spend hugebudgets on movies since the commencement of the World Cup. While Zee acquired satellite telecast rights of Dil Se (aired on March 28) for Rs 1.7 crore and Kareeb (April 25) for Rs 65 lakh, the network paid around Rs 40 lakh for 1942-A Love Story (June 27) and Rs 20 lakh for Sholay (July 11), industry sources said.

Since March, Zee started airing blockbusters on Sundays at prime-time. The idea: To develop a new time slot on Sundays and increase its channel audience share.

Said Zee Network spokesperson Ranjan Bakshi, "the introduction of movies on Sundays, normally considered a weak band, was to create a strong slot for the weekend. Having done that, we are putting one of our strong shows there."Zee TV is airing a stand-alone, hour-long popular show called Rishtey in that time band, followed by Mano Ya Na Mano. After 11 pm, the channel will have repeat telecasts of other shows.

Said a senior Zee TV official, "by putting stand-alone shows, we are keeping the slot flexible. We will air blockbusters if andwhen necessary."

Zee Network could also be sprucing up its movie channel, Zee Cinema. Said Satish Menon, deputy chief executive officer, Zee TV and Zee News, "we are creating strong shows for Zee TV. We will use blockbusters for Zee Cinema."Media analysts, however, are not convinced that Zee has been able to fertilise the Sunday prime-time slot through the use of blockbusters. Said Nair, "they have failed to build a time slot. The ratings in that band depend on the popularity of the shows or the movies."

In fact, the ratings of Sunday programmes before the blockbusters varied between 1.1 per cent in Mumbai for Hasratein (four-week average beginning January 25, according to Intam) and eight per cent for Anhonee. The TRP of Sunday movies varied between 1.6 per cent in Mumbai and 17.7 per cent in Delhi.

Sony Entertainment Television and STAR TV have acquired bigger movies. While Sony has Border and Duplicate, STAR Plus has aired Dil To Pagal Hai and Satya. STAR Plus, however, has moved out of blockbustersin prime-time and is airing an hour-long telefilm on Saturdays. The channel, however, has a strong afternoon movie slot on Sundays.

Said Nair, "Zee has not been acquiring big movies consistently. The channel will have to put up quality shows to create a strong Sunday prime time slot."