Parivaar Awards click for STAR

Who doesn't value a consistent performance? Be it the rating points of a television programme or the sales figures of an FMCG product, executives in charge of a brand will always aim for the best.

For the STAR India programming team, the challenge of doing an encore (in terms of rating points) with the second edition of the Parivaar Awards this year was huge - considering that the show had done well on debut last year, and above all, the novelty of the concept had kind of worn off.

In 2003, the STAR Parivaar Awards -which honours characters rather than actors in various STAR Plus shows - had garnered a TVR of 14.7 in the Hindi-speaking markets, with corresponding reach crossing the 18-million mark.

This year, the much-hyped television awards show, which was telecast on June 19, has delivered ratings points of 14.02 in the crucial Hindi-speaking markets, with reach touching 20.89-million viewers (Base population: C&S 4+, Source: TAM Media Research).

In terms of ranking, the show stands at no.10 in the TAM Top 100 list of programmes (for the week of June 13-19, 2004) just behind prime time favourites Kyunki, Kahaani and Kasauti Zindagi Kay telecast on STAR Plus.

Deepak Segal, senior vice-president, content and communication, STAR India, attributes the success of the show in its second year to the scale on which it was organised. "It was huge," he says. "Last year, we had organised the show in a five-star hotel, but this year the venue was the NCPA auditorium in Mumbai. The presentation, sets, design, dances, choreography, garments contributed to the overall appeal and size of the event. Which had a rub-off on the viewership of the show."

Stretching for a mammoth four hours (from 8.00 pm to 12.00 pm), which Segal says, was the only cause for worry for the programming team, the show delivered ratings points of 16.18, 7.8 and 12.52 in the metros of Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. In towns with a population of over 1 million in the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the average scores were 22.84,17.71, 17.74 and 24.89 respectively, while towns with a population below one million in the above-mentioned states delivered ratings points of 18.84, 5.84, 10.42 and 15.47 respectively.

However, if the channel has reason to cheer with the performance of the Parivaar Awards this year, it will cease to dabble in fictional programming during the weekends, notably Sundays, on account of the lack of loyalty exhibited by viewers, says Segal.

Comedy show Gharwali Upparwali Aur Sunny and thriller Koie Jane Na telecast at 8.00 pm and 9.00 pm on Sundays will make way for a movie at 8.00 pm beginning July 4. The new movie slot called STAR Sunday Magic will come in addition to the existing movie slot called STAR Super Hit on Saturdays at 8.00 pm.

Competition during the weekends is set to hot up with rival ZEE to telecast its talent hunt - India's Best Cinestars Ki Khoj - as a reality show on Fridays and Saturdays at 9.00 pm beginning July 2. The popular Farooque Sheikh-anchored celebrity show Jeena Isi ka Naam Hai, which is telecast on Fridays at 9.00 pm, will move to Saturdays at 8.00 pm to accommodate the new show.

Segal maintains that the channel will not give up innovating during the weekends. "We will definitely come back to original programming, but for now there will be no high investments (in terms of programming) on weekends." © 2004 agencyfaqs!