Amidst big ticket shows, Maharbharat records good numbers

A quick recall of the pre-Diwali time period and one thing that seize our attention are the big ticket launches that the Hindi GEC space witnessed. Come September 2013, and see mega launches like KBC Season 7 on Sony, Buddha the mythological drama on Zee TV, Bigg Boss season 7 on Colors and India legendary epic drama Mahabharat on Star Plus. The Diwali quarter would undeniably count big for the channel charts with a slew of big launches planned across different channels. Four major broadcasters with four major launches, though fight is inevitable we say! The channels went all out to market and position their new shows in time for the big advertising driven festive season.

But post- Diwali is a litmus test phase. This is when the true results of the efforts for the launch turn to either positive or negative. The latest TVM rating of week 43 showed that Mahabharat as walked ahead as the show's viewership numbers indicate that it has had the high impact with high ratings from the launch itself with 5.5 TVM; closely followed by Big Boss which comes in at second with 4.3 TVM. On the other hand, KBC scored 3.6 TVM, and Buddha 1.0 TVM standing significantly behind.

To get a sense of what has worked for Mahabharat and not for others, Adgully spoke to media experts like Anwesh Bose, Sr. Vice President, DDB Mudramax, Abhinav Bhatt, AVP, Zenithoptimedia, Manish Iyer, Associate GM, Fortune and P.M.Balakrishna, Chief Operating Officer, Allied Media.

Bhatt is of the opinion that, " Mahabharat is like a traditional soap, and on Star Plus other soaps have also done well like Diya aur Bati Hum and others. In this Mahabharat, yes the look and feel is different, with good production quality."

According to Bose, "The show has been made with loads of efforts and needs more of it. It can't be compared with other properties as it's a family weekday show. Advertisers target age group of 15-44 years especially SEC A & B class thorough this show."

Speaking on the brands association with the spic drama, Iyer said, "We have got positive feedback from the market and STAR Plus is the channel which has family viewership and attracts loads of households.  And as the channel visibility is good, our association makes good logic. As of now the show is doing well and this Mahabharat is meant for audiences who 

are watching this epic mythology for the first time. It has the reach along with the crucial stickiness factor”.

"Mythological shows have always had their own fan following and a loyal audience for them.  I bet such shows will always have an edge over all other shows in the league, now with technological evolution the visualisation and the appeal of such shows, in today's era have attracted all the more people including young audiences”, explained Balakrishna.

"The channel should hook their audience through digital and social media platforms like Youtube and Twitter as the concept is globally accepted phenomenon and for these kind of concept these platforms works well”, opined Bose. 

From what the numbers say, Mahabharat has had a quantifiable opening and has stayed comfortably ahead of the other mega launches on TV around the same time; even before the main story involving the Pandavs and Kauravs is yet to start! With the entry of Pandav & Kaurav kids, the show has grown by 10% last week moving it upwards in the list of top 10 shows on GECs space.