It?s not just Sony Entertainment Television that?s finding it tough to hold audiences after weeks of cricket extravaganza. General entertainment channels (GECs), including Sony, which launched four big shows on the weekend after the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, are finding the going tough.
The much-hyped shows include Dus Ka Dum on Sony with actor Salman Khan, Junoon – Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka on NDTV Imagine with Hrithik Roshan, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 4 on Star One with actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, and UEFA Euro 2008 on ESPN, which was flagged off on June 7. According to ratings, none of these shows were able to bridge the void in viewership created by the close of IPL. According to aMap, Dus Ka Dum, Junoon and The Great Indian Laughter Challenge 4, opened with an average rating of 1.65%, 0.82% and 0.54% respectively, and Euro garnered 0.12%, whereas the average rating of the first three IPL matches were between 6-7%.
Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal, said, ?The average rating for an entire week of all the channels is about 50-55%. Peak rating of IPL was between 6-7%. Therefore, the rest 93% were watching other shows.?
Analysts reveal that for Dus Ka Dum, Sony sold 10-second ad spots at Rs 1.5-2 lakh each. They say ?Dus? had a number of advantages as it was on a mainline channel, stars Salman Khan, and was promoted strongly on the back of IPL. CD Mitra, president, Mudra MAX, said, ?However, there is little guarantee that the show would do well in the long run. And still, today Zee and Star remain a far batter platform to launch a new show.?
The format of Laughter Challenge is known and hence has a loyal audience. Mitra said, ?Junoon, which is being promoted by Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador could be a dark horse amongst the three and may do well in the long run.? Finally, analysts feel that in terms of sheer popularity Euro is nowhere close to IPL. The target group of Euro is handful and upmarket, who are more glued to international football. Mitra concludes, ?If IPL was launched during Euro, some of these audiences may have ditched cricket for football.? Advertisers with products targeted at this particular segment would advertise with ESPN and in such cases, ratings don?t matter.