Rumble in the music talent show jungle

The battle for the top slot in the music talent show race is heating up, with the three shows locked in a roller-coaster race for the most eyeballs

Three general entertainment channels, three reality music shows (each one with a different set of judges and rules) and, of course, the three-way fight for the No. 1 slot. This has been the story with the top three – Star Plus, Zee and Sony – general entertainment channels in the country. Although Star has a considerable lead over the other two channels in terms of relative market share, with Zee a distant second and Sony a poor third, for now, the battle is focused on the three musical talent hunt shows launched by each channel in the last two months.

Sony’s ‘Indian Idol 3’ was the first musical talent hunt show to hit the screens this season and expectedly made a decent start with a TRP of 3.66. But soon after the launch of Zee’s ‘Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ (sans Gajjendra Siingh) and, more recently, Star’s ‘Amul Voice of India’ (‘AVOI’), ‘Indian Idol’ has taken a beating. After the launch of ‘AVOI’, ‘Indian Idol’ has recorded a TVR of 2.68, 2.28 and 3.19 for Weeks 21, 22 and 23, respectively (TAM Media Research C&S, 4+, HSM, weekly average).

Albert Almeida,
SET

“Today’s reality is all about fighting judges and crying contestants – that is what other shows are doing for TRPs. Unlike others, we are concentrating on music and not jury fights. ‘Indian Idol’ is the most superior of the three shows as we are carving an idol out of untrained young boys and girls. Moreover, things will look better once the gala episodes begin this month end,” says Albert Almeida, executive vice-president and business head, Sony Entertainment Television, when quizzed about the falling TRPs of ‘Indian Idol’.

Ashish Kaul, Zee

For over a decade, Zee has been the leader as far as the reality music talent hunt is concerned; ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ has set many records in the last decade. But this year, things have changed. First, Zee TV’s good old warrior, Gajjendra Siingh, is now with Star and, in the process, has taken the show’s host, Shaan, and judges with him. So, in a way, it was a new start for Zee’s talent hunt show, with a new director, host and judges.

Keeping these factors in mind, the show did really well from the start and always kept its head above ‘Indian Idol’ throughout the season. But after the launch of ‘AVOI’, the ratings of the show have slid. In Weeks 21, 22 and 23, ‘Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’ managed TRPs of 4.41, 3.94 and 4.12, respectively (TAM Media Research C&S, 4+, HSM, weekly average).

Ajay Vidyasagar,
STAR

“Surely Star has outplayed us marginally in Week 23, but that doesn’t mean we have lost the battle. Next week, the picture could be complete opposite. I pity Star as they have copied our concept, our name and our theme,” says a furious Ashish Kaul, executive vice-president, Zee Network.

The star is, of course, ‘Amul Voice of India’, which has outplayed both of its competitors within the fourth week of its launch. Star India president for content and new media Ajay Vidyasagar asserts, “Reality is all about content and people watch one show and skip others on the basis of the talent in the show. Our show has the superior talent, and we have the advantage of Gaj, who has been creating such masterpieces for over a decade now.”

‘AVOI’ has recorded TVRs of 3.07, 3.03 and 4.3 for Weeks 21, 22 and 23, respectively (TAM Media Research C&S, 4+, HSM, weekly average).

Of course, the last note has not been played in this intense three-way battle – it promises to be a scorcher of a summer.

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