BARC Wk 18: Most channels maintain rankings; Zee TV’s shows create an upset

BARC India data for Week 18 (Saturday, April 27 to Friday, May 3) of 2019 [HSM (U+R) : NCCS All : 2+ Individuals], shows yet another week of no major changes in the rankings of the top 10 Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban, barring Sony Pal and &TV, which swapped places this week. However, there was quite some upheaval among the top 5 shows. 

Dangal TV continued to lead the Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban in Week 18 as well. However, the channel witnessed a decline in its gross viewership to 991,777, from 1,081,105 recorded last week. 

Big Magic, too, saw a decline in its gross viewership this week at 738,764, compared to 797,198 recorded in Week 17. The channel remained unchanged at No. 2. 

With a gross viewership of 629,829, Star Plus, too, saw a decline in Week 18, compared to 692,226 recorded last week. The channel continued to be placed in the third spot this week as well. 

Continuing in the fourth spot, Zee TV, too, saw a slight decline in its gross viewership in Week 18 at 568,807, compared to 573,404 recorded last week. 

Colors remained unchanged in the fifth spot in Week 18 as well. The channel, too, saw a slight decline in its gross viewership at 505,729, as against 508,602 recorded last week. 

There was no change in the ranking of Sony Entertainment Television as well, which continued at No. 6 in Week 18, garnering a gross viewership of 464,962, a marginal increase from 461,837 recorded last week. 

There was no change in the rankings of Sony SAB and Star Bharat, which continued at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, in Week 18 as well. Both the channels saw an increase in their gross viewership this week. 

Sony SAB garnered a gross viewership of 436,032, an increase from 424,347 recorded in Week 17. Star Bharat saw an increase in its gross viewership for this week, which stood at 290,154, compared to 288,020 recorded in Week 17. 

Sony Pal and &TV swapped places this week – the only changes in rankings seen among top 10 Hindi GECs in Week 18. Sony Pal climbed up a notch to the ninth spot with a gross viewership of 151,890, a further increase from 127,987 recorded in Week 17. On the other hand, &TV slid a notch to the tenth spot, but still recorded an increase in its gross viewership at 140,051, as against 137,654 recorded in Week 17. 

Top 5 shows of Week 15 

There was quite some upheaval in the top 5 most watched shows on Hindi GECs in Rural+Urban this week. Displacing Dangal TV’s shows were the two long-running shows from the Zee TV stable. 

Zee TV’s ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ climbed up a couple of notches to the numero uno spot with 10,851 (000) Impressions. ‘Kundali Bhagya’, the spin-off show of the long-running ‘Kumkum Bhagya’, also climbed up a couple of notches to the second spot with 10,048 (000) Impressions. It may be recalled here that these two shows had continuously claimed the top 2 slots for several weeks before TRAI's new tariff regime came into force. 

‘Mahima Shanidev Ki’ on Dangal TV, meanwhile, slipped a notch to the third spot with 9,568 (000) Impressions. 

Colors’ supernatural/ fantasy show ‘Naagin 3’ made a re-entry in the list of top 5 shows yet again, this time at No. 4, with 8,939 (000) Impressions. 

There is new entrant at No. 5 this week – ‘Kasauti Zindagi Kay’ on Star Plus, which is featuring for the first time among the top 5 shows in Rural+Urban ever since its launch. The show garnered 8,817 (000) Impressions.