Further decline of Sony Entertainment Channel post Hathway switch-off

Ratings for Multi Screen Media’s flagship channel, Sony Entertainment Television, plummeted further post the switch-off on Hathway.

“Latest BARC ratings for Week 32 (Period 8-14 August 2015) are a clear indicator of the huge impact on the channels’ standing due to its wide switch-off on Hathway, primarily in DAS 2 markets. GRPs for Sony Entertainment Television saw a sharp decline from 77 GRP to 72 GRP. This validates the strong position of Hathway across the geographies and MSM channels being off across the platform has created further dent in its ratings, thus, raising questions about MSM’s strength as a bouquet.” said a company spokesperson.

 

All India
GRP %	Wk25'15	Wk26'15	Wk27'15	Wk28'15	Wk29'15	Wk30'15	Wk31'15	Wk32'15
Star Plus	206	195	220	211	190	174	197	194
Colors	173	179	187	170	176	160	157	169
Zee TV	136	146	149	136	122	120	122	121
Life OK	119	115	124	123	107	99	106	107
Sony TV	117	103	95	90	81	78	77	72
Source:  BARC, All India, CS +4

Noteworthy, the switch-off of MSM channels on Hathway took place in the midst of Week 32 (Period 8-14 August 2015) of BARCs released ratings which points to the fact that the ratings dropped significantly post the switch off date.

“We had released BARC ratings for Week 31 in our release on 19^th August 2015 which stated the flagship channel of MSM, Sony Entertainment Television, was witnessing low ratings compared to the other leading GECs like Star Plus, Colors, Zee TV and Life OK. Recent trends clearly show the continuous drop of the driver channel of the bouquet in stark contrast to competitive networks over a long period. They lag far behind competing GECs and do not command prime importance or priority amongst consumers”, he further added.

The story remains similar in HSM markets as well where the broadcaster claims to have had no impact & drop in ratings due to the switch off, according to certain media reports.

 

HSM
GRP %	Wk25'15	Wk26'15	Wk27'15	Wk28'15	Wk29'15	Wk30'15	Wk31'15	Wk32'15
Star Plus	284	272	309	293	264	240	272	266
Colors	246	254	264	242	250	227	222	239
Zee TV	191	208	211	194	172	170	171	167
Life OK	172	166	181	179	155	144	153	154
Sony TV	167	146	136	127	114	111	108	100
Source:  BARC, All India, CS +4

Multi Screen Media has been stating in certain media reports about being consumer-sensitive by not switching off signals of its channels on Hathway in certain markets.

Hathways’ spokesperson commented stating, “It’s rather sad to see that even if the distribution platform wants to do fair trade by being customer centric and logical, the authoritarian approach of content providers by demanding growth despite weak content & consistent drop in ratings push us to operate in parameters not set by us but the brunt of being the first face to the customer is always paid by us. Product and content has to be strong to demand premium or growth, which Multi Screen Media do not possess.”

As a consumer interface, Hathway is one of the biggest cable distribution platforms having a national presence with a current subscriber base of more than 11.8 million­ including the largest digital sub-base of 8.6 million and services in 160 cities across India.

“Content costs are increasing by the day and market is changing drastically. Unless, the broadcasters talk fair and correct their subscription fees, the ultimate burden of cost will fall on the LCOs and further to the consumer. We are aware and sensitive about this fact and hence, have taken this strong route of not renewing the contract with MSM in DAS 2 areas and offering their channels on ala-carte in DAS 1 markets”, as stated by the Hathway spokesperson.

It would be interesting to see the ratings for MSM channels in the coming week factoring the impact in DAS 1 and shift of MSM channels on ala-carte.