BARC Wk 29: Zee Anmol displaces Dangal to claim No. 1 spot on free platforms

BARC data for Week 29 (Saturday, 18th July 2020 to Friday, 24th July 2020) saw Zee Anmol cause an upset on Free Platforms, displacing Dangal from its long-held numero uno spot. Meanwhile, the content lifeline during the lockdown months, mythological shows are losing their hold on audience eyeballs as fresh content begins to return to GECs.

All Platform

While Star Utsav (gross viewership of 950,695) and Star Plus (881,884) retained their respective top two positions on All Platforms, there was some rejig in many of the other top 10 positions. Zee Anmol (871,814) climbed up a notch to No. 3 this week, even as Dangal (827,009) slipped a notch to the fourth spot. This week, Sony SAB (692,434) climbed up to the No. 5 position, while Sony Pal (671,995) slid a notch. Colors Rishtey, Colors, Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television make up the top 10 Hindi GECs on All Platforms.

Mythological shows on Dangal and DD National dominated the top three slots of most watched shows – 1) ‘Ramayan’ (Dangal), 2) ‘Shri Krishna (DD National) and 3) ‘Mahima Shanidev Ki’ (Dangal), in that order. India’s current longest running show, sitcom ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma’ (Sony SAB) made a comeback at No. 4. ‘Rakt Sambandh’ (Dangal) is another new entrant in the most watched shows list this week.

Pay Platform

Star Plus (876,813) and Sony SAB (688,642) were the top two channels on Pay Platforms as well. Colors (484,486) showed some growth this week, climbing up a couple of notches to No. 3 in Week 29. On the other hand, Zee TV (434,777) and Star Utsav (428,429) both slipped a notch to be placed at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, this week. Sony Entertainment Television, Zee Anmol, Star Bharat, Sony Pal and Dangal are the other channels in the top 10 list on Pay Platforms.

Comedy trumped drama and mythology this week as ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma’ (Sony SAB) re-entered the most watched shows list after several weeks at No. 1, pushing down Zee TV’s ‘Kundali Bhagya’ to the second spot. ‘Anupamaa’ (Star Plus) is another new entrant in this list at No. 3. ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ (Zee TV) has slipped to the fourth spot this week, and so has ‘Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki’ (Colors) to the fifth spot.

Free Platform

After ruling the numero uno spot for over a year, Dangal (568,310) was pushed to the second spot on Free Platforms by Zee Anmol (579,815), which is the new No. 1 channel this week. Star Utsav (522,266) is placed at No. 3, followed by Colors Rishtey (441,164) and Sony Pal (393,925), constituting the top 5 on Free Platforms.

Dangal’s shows – ‘Ramayan’, ‘Rakt Sambandh’, ‘Mahima Shanidev Ki’ and ‘Do Hanso Ka Joda’ – continue to dominate the most watched shows list on Free Platforms. ‘Kundali Bhagya’ on Zee Anmol is placed in the fourth spot.