India-Pak match tosses K-serials for a six

It just had to be. The India-Pakistan encounter on March 1 swept the ratings chart for the week of February 23 - March 1, upsetting the applecart of K-serials, Kyunki and Kahaani on STAR Plus, which till last week maintained their dominating position despite stiff competition from rivals MAX and DD that rode on the telecast of the Cricket World Cup.

For the week under consideration, the India-Pakistan league match notched up a whopping 21.7 in TVR when India were at the crease, only to be followed by the first half of the match when Pakistan were batting. The TVR during that period stood at 17.2. Interestingly, this match upset the previous highest TVR during a cricket telecast, when the NatWest final featuring India and England on July 13, 2002, at the Lord's cricket ground (telecast on ESPN-STAR), lapped up 19.3 rating points.

Apart from the clash of the countries from the sub-continent, the one-dayer between India and England on February 26 came in at Nos 3 and 4 with scores of 13.9 (when India was batting) and 13.8 (England at the crease). The India-Namibia league match also figured in the Top 5 with a TVR of 11.6.

STAR Plus show Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki, which was pushed to No 6 enjoyed a TVR of 10.5 (episode telecast on February 25), while Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is ensconced at No 7 with a score of 10.2 (episode telecast on February 25).

Positions 8 to 15 are a repeat of what happens every week on the Top 10, except that this time the order has been pushed lower down thanks to MAX occupying the Top 5 slots. In total, MAX occupies 18 slots while STAR Plus still has the bulk of the list, namely 53 spots to its credit.

Terrestrial channel DD1 also finds a mention in the C&S Top 100 with a total of six entries. Predictably, it is cricket, cricket and nothing else on Doordarshan. India's league matches with Pakistan, England and Namibia dominate proceedings with scores of 4.5 (No 33) and 3.8 (No 45) for the second half of the India-Pak one-dayer. The first half of the same match is third on the list with a score of 3.5 (No 53), while the India-England and India-Namibia league encounters complete the line-up with scores of 2.8 (India-England when the former were at the crease), 2.8 (India-Namibia when the former was batting) and 2.3 (India-England when the latter were padded up). The matches were ranked at 78, 80 and 100.

Hindi general entertainment channel ZEE remains absent from the list while Sony has a clutch of four shows to its credit. Sony's TVR grossers include the February 28 episode of Heena at 71 with a score of 2.9, February 25 episode of Kkusum at No 74 with 2.9, February 28 episode of CID at No 95 with TVR of 2.4, and the February 24 episode of Kkusum at No 98 with 2.3.

Sisters SUN and Gemini enjoy a total of 19 spots between them with the former walking away with a bulk of 17 while the latter has to be happy with two spots only.

For SUN, the top TVR grosser is Tamil serial Metty Oli at 54 with TVR of 3.5 (episode telecast on February 24). Annamalai, a serial telecast at 9.30 pm, comes second with a score of 3.3 (episode telecast on February 24) and a ranking of 61. In fact, different episodes of Annamalai come in quick succession after the initial penetration with scores of 3.2 (No 62), 3.2 (No 63) and 3.1 (No 64) respectively.

Gemini simply has Telugu serial Ninne Pilladata (telecast at 8.00 pm) on the C&S Top 100. The February 27 and 28 episodes have attracted TVR figures of 2.6 (No 90) and 2.5 (No 93) respectively. © 2003 agencyfaqs!