15.8 million viewers watch Rakhi Sawant's swayamvar

The final episode of Rakhi ka Swayamvar on August 2 garnered a TVR of 6.3, the highest for a programme on GECs this year

The concept of Rakhi Sawant choosing her life partner on TV was widely discussed in boardrooms as well as chai stalls. As Rakhi Ka Swayamvar came to a conclusion on August 2, aMap data suggests that 15.8 million viewers tuned into the reality show. The show recorded a whopping TVR of 6.3 on the final day, for C&S 4+, NWE audiences. Called 'Rakhi Ka Swayamvar- Faisle Ki Raat', the final episode was almost two-and- a-half hours long.

The show opened with a TVR of 3.5, a first for NDTV Imagine. This is slightly higher than the TVR for the launch episode of Sach Ka Samna (3.4) on STAR Plus, as per aMap data.

The channel officials are overwhelmed at the viewership generated. "It was a huge risk to put a show of this kind on primetime, and to be honest, the ratings have surprised us," says an elated Nikhil Madhok, vice-president, marketing and communications, NDTV Imagine.

The show has, so far, been the highest grosser on GECs this year. In comparison, the grand finale of Dance India Dance on Zee TV clocked a TVR of 6.1 (aMap) in May this year.

Although the TVR showed a downward trend in the middle of the show, averaging at about 2.4, it almost tripled on the day of the finale. Madhok says that even those, who were not regular watchers of the show, tuned in on the final day. NDTV Imagine had also launched a reminder campaign a week prior to the final episode.

This campaign was extended to television, print, radio and the Internet and movie poster-like cut-outs were also used, as a countdown to the final day. "We wanted August 2 to be etched in the minds of the viewers and not let them miss it," Madhok states.

The hype was manifest in the series of OB vans parked outside The Leela Hotel in Mumbai, where the ceremony was held, by news channels on the midnight of August 2.

A huge amount of PR can be credited for making the show talked about. But Madhok says that the most of the discussion and gossip about the show was not facilitated by the channel.

"We constantly interacted with the viewers by way of contests with radio and print partners, discussions on Facebook, Orkut and Twitter and uploading unseen footage," he adds.

A Mumbai-based media planner says that this show has attracted viewers who were not regular watchers of the channel. "There was a general sense of curiosity about whether or not she would choose a guy and then there was continuous press coverage about the show," he says.

After consolidating its 9-10 pm time band, NDTV Imagine will replace the reality show with two fiction shows, one of which is called Meera.