Aired on Saturday May 4 at 9 pm, the finale of Uttar Ramayan on Doordarshan fetched 6.74 crore million impressions, recording a 147 times rise in week 18 (Starting May 2, 2020) as opposed to the same time in pre-covid period (January 11-31, 2020), according to the exclusive preview data provided by TV audience measurement body, Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) along with Nielsen. The report also highlighted how the launch of Shree Krishna, which started on Sunday, May 3 at 9 pm, saw 62 times rise in impressions as opposed to the pre covid era during the same time slot.
Mythological shows continue to draw eyeballs as Star Plus, which launched Ramayan on Monday May 4, saw 65% increase in impressions, that is 95 lakh impressions in week 18 as opposed to 57 lakh impressions that channel received in week 17. Similarly, Viacom18’s Colors TV brought back Mahabharat on May 4 and saw 24% rise in impressions, garnering 35 lakh impressions.
According to the latest BARC-Nielsen report, mythological shows’ share of duration increased by 20% while its share of viewing rose 44% in the week ended May 1.
With over 52,900 people infected by the Coronavirus, the consumption of television has increased over the past month as the nation is under lockdown. Addressing the people’s need to consume content, the public service broadcaster Doordarshan began the re-telecasting of Ramayan, Mahabharat, Byomkesh Bakshi, Hum Hain Na, Tu Tota Main Maina, Circus, Shaktimaan, Shriman Shrimati, among others. Following their lead, private broadcasters such as Star Network and Zee Entertainment have also started telecasting their old shows in order to retain their audience since the broadcasters have run out of fresh content to air. Currently, Star Plus is running repeats of Mahabharat and Siya Ke Ram and the time bands have seen an increase in viewership as compared to the preceding week. Zee’s entertainment channel &TV also saw a spike in viewership for the time band airing a rerun of its version of Ramayan.
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