Alokananda Chakraborty
Media

Weekends pick up for mass channels

After STAR Shanivaar, the trail-blazer for serious weekend programming, Sony, has bounced back with Kkoi Dil Mein Hai, a one-hour show at 9.00 pm on Sundays

A once dormant slot is today the hotbed of activity for mass channels. Not so long ago, fictional programming on weekends was relegated to the one-hour thriller block on Sony Entertainment Television at 8.00 pm on Saturdays.

Then followed ZEE with its switch in time line from Sunday to Wednesday and the otherwise passive Sunday evenings with Hindi movies or events dominating prime time, was suddenly choc-a-bloc with fictional programming.

Not to be left behind, numero uno channel STAR Plus too jumped on to the bandwagon with STAR Shanivaar in October this year. Meanwhile, ZEE continued to innovate with Kabhi Kabhi, a three-part short series extending from Thursday to Saturday at 8.00 pm.

After watching rivals populate the weekend time band with fictional shows, Sony Entertainment Television has bounced back with a new weekly show titled Kkoi Dil Mein Hai from Balaji Telefilms. To be launched on December 21, the one-hour show has been strategically slotted at 9.00 pm, bringing it in direct confrontation with ZEE's Astitva, which begins its run on Sundays at the same time.

Sunil Lulla, executive vice-president, Sony Entertainment Television, would like to believe that Kkoi Dil Mein Hai is one more show in Sony's "sharply focused, differentiated programming". "Sony has significantly strengthened its daily prime time programming and has established its supremacy over weekends with the Friday line up of Devi, Heena, CID and Crime Patrol along with Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat," he claims. "Kkoi Dil Mein Hai will further captivate soap addicts among other viewers with a staple diet of drama, excitement and entertainment," he adds.

To zero in on the Top 100 shows for week 48, that is, November 23-29, 2003 (in the base population of four-plus-age group in C&S households across India), Sony's Devi registered a score of 2.8 while Kya Hadsaa and CID Best of Best were at 2.6 and 2.5 respectively. Weekday shows Jassi and Kkusum stood at 4.8 and 2.6 respectively.

Though comparatively lower down in the order when compared with the performance of STAR, what is of significance is the fact that not a single show from the STAR Shanivaar programming block makes it to the hallowed list in week 48.

In week 47, that is, November 16-22, 2003, the Aman Verma-hosted Jaaduu and Gharwali Upparwali Aur Sunny, two shows from the STAR Shanivaar block, notched up TVRs of 3 and 2.4 while Sony's Devi and Kya Hadsaa stood at 3.1 and 2.9 respectively.

In week 46, that is, November 9-15, 2003, Devi, CID and Kya Hadsaa were fixtures again at TVRs of 3.3, 2.9 and 2.7 while STAR's Gharwali Upparwali Aur Sunny got 2.4.

With weekends emerging as a significant programming block for mass channels, especially Sony, it would be interesting to see how Kkoi Dil Mein Hai performs on the ratings chart. © 2003 agencyfaqs!

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