Instant Khichdi provides instant viewership to STAR One

April 1 was a very special day for STAR One, the newest channel of the STAR bouquet. The channel's decision to run a telethon of 'Instant Khichdi' catapulted STAR One over general entertainment channels Sony and ZEE, and help garner a channel share of 10 per cent in the million-plus cities of Hindi speaking markets

As per TAM Media Research, C&S, SEC AB, 10-44 years) on April 1, between 10 am to 10 pm, STAR One's market share reached 10 per cent in 1 million plus cities of Hindi speaking markets. In metros such as Mumbai and Delhi, the core market for STAR One, the channel's share reached 14.3 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively.

The effect of telethon was not restricted to April 1 alone. In fact, in week 14 (March 27 - April 2) of 2005, STAR One recorded the best ever performance crossing the channel share of 2 per cent.

As per Tam Media Research (C&S AB, 10-44), STAR One's channel share in 1 million-plus cities of Hindi speaking markets was 2.34 per cent. In Mumbai and Delhi, STAR One's share was 3.19 per cent and 3.22 per cent, respectively.

It's apparent that special day programming is working wonders for the channel. Kajal Malik, regional director, Optimum Media Solutions, offers a reason: “Special days on TV are promoted very aggressively across the network. This not only leads to an increased viewership, it also creates interest among the advertisers.”

A Delhi-based senior media planner feels that these special day shows break the monotony for viewers, and it works out well on weekends or holidays.”

Basabdutta Chowdhuri, COO, Madison Media Plus, is of the opinion that the telethon being aired on a Friday must have helped the channel. She says, “Except for Sony, none of the other general entertainment channels have a strong line-up on Fridays. These certainly would have contributed to the spurt in viewership. In addition, 'Instant Khichdi' is a very strong brand and has been one of the popular shows both on STAR One and STAR Plus in its previous avatar.”

Another Bangalore-based media planner points out that one reason behind this growth in viewership is that the loyal viewers may have tuned in to catch up with past episodes they had missed.

Malik of OMS says, “At different day parts, different sets of viewers watch television. So having your biggest property back-to-back for 12 hours certainly helps the channel to cater to and increase sampling among all age groups and cross-section of viewers.”

Media planners also pointed out that these special days help the channels in a long run as they provide a very strong platform for promoting other shows of the channel.

For South Indian channels, special day programming may not be a new concept, but STAR One and MTV have of late woken up to its benefits. © 2005 agencyfaqs!