Register for insights into understanding India's markets beyond the metros.
Grab the best offer to register
for India's premier TV and broadcasting industry event.
The success of the launch episode of Dus Ka Dum on Sony Entertainment Television hasn’t really left media watchers ‘dum’bfounded. Such was the scale of marketing and promotion that it was almost certain that it would rake in high sampling. For starters, the show brings a new ray of hope for SET India, which was dethroned from its No. 3 position by new entrants NDTV Imagine and 9X.
According to TAM Media Research, the launch episode of this Salman Khan hosted game show garnered a TVR of 3.35 (C&S 4+, HSM), a rare feat for SET India. But before the victory bells could be rung, the TVR fell to 2.7 in the subsequent episode. In Week 24, the highest TVR for the show was 2.39. But still, there is no reason for the channel to mourn. Its share in the overall GEC pie has increased to 9 per cent in Week 23, from 8 per cent in Week 22, leaving 9X behind and getting it the No. 3 position once again. It has maintained its position in Week 24.
 |
Jyoti Bansal |
 |
Sandeep Lakhina |
Danish Khan, assistant vice-president, marketing, SET India, attributes the viewership to strong word of mouth and Khan’s sense of humour. The viewership of CID, he says, has doubled thanks to Dus Ka Dum. Comedy Circus, too, has added more viewers.
Salman Khan has managed to appeal to the masses with his charisma. Sandeep Lakhina, managing director, India, West and South, Starcom, says that his impressive charm has worked more on the masses than the classes. “Unlike Shah Rukh Khan, whose appeal is more upmarket, Salman Khan has mass appeal,” he observes.
The channel is doing all it can to promote its other shows by riding on the new reality show. “We are launching a few image campaigns, implying that Sony has ‘dum’ (power), whereby we will promote our other properties, Sujata and Baabul, and make the line-up look robust,” Khan says. The channel is also planning a few celebrity episodes for Dus Ka Dum, like the one featuring cricketers Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
Media planners are of the opinion that if Dus Ka Dum manages to settle at an average TVR of 2, it would mean good news for SET India. “This was SET India’s one chance to come back into the reckoning as the third GEC after NDTV Imagine and 9X came in. If the channel plays it right, it can regain its lost glory,” says Bansal.
For now, it seems like Salman Khan has added some ‘muscle’ to Sony’s programming.
© 2010 afaqs!
