How 'Anmol' is Zee Anmol?

Zee Anmol has been buzzing since the times BARC came up with the ratings that are a mix of urban and rural numbers. While everyone was anticipating disruption – disruption of this magnitude was not expected.

There are four FTA channels in the top 10:  Zee Anmol (number 1 in week 49), Star Utsav (number 5 in week 49), Rishtey and Sony Pal (at number 9 and 10 respectively). It is Zee Anmol which has taken the biggest leap – from nowhere to right at the top! (Number 1 GEC in HSM Urban + Rural in Wk 49 ’15: 780 GTVM).  One of its shows is the last in the top five, proving effectively that it is not a one show wonder but its ranking is an outcome of the entire fare being served by the channel.

One quick mention here, that audience viewing habits in rural areas would not have changed after BARC made rural ratings a part of its universe – hence any doubts about the stability of data might need to be debated upon. If it was the launch of a new channel in rural areas, we would buy the logic that audience measurement needed to settle down – as people would be exploring newer options.

Relevance of these numbers to the marketers a bit later in the article. Let us first have a quick look at the Zee Anmol’s numbers in the last few weeks:

BARC Rural Started from Wk 41 – Zee Anmol was on 476 GTVM (Wk 41 HSM Rural) and Which increased to 612 (Wk 48 HSM Rural), continuous rise in Rural GTVM

An interesting observation is that channel must have spruced up its act since the rural markets became a number game from being a perception one. A steady rise from 476 GTVM in week 41 to 612 in week 49 in rural markets with a minor blip in week 48 can only be an outcome of a well thought out strategy. The blip in week 48 can be attributed to the fact that the channel started Monday to Sunday programming and the audiences took some time to adjust to that.

The best performing shows on the channel include: Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke (7pm), Choti Bahu (7:30pm), Ek Se Bhale Do (8pm), Jodha Akbhar (8:30pm), Bandini (9pm) and Doli Armanon Ki (9:30pm). Almost the same prime time as we are accustomed to in the urban areas.

Back to the brands and the relevance of these numbers to them. The top 10 brands on TV for week 29, as per BARC data, are:  Cadbury, Dettol, Airtel, Fair & Lovely, Colgate, TVS, Pond’s Harpic, Aircel, and Ayurwin. In our assumption, while a brand like Harpic or Pond’s might not be too keen to connect with the rural audiences, same might not hold true of others in the list.

The second question is would we see a newer category of brands venturing on TV now? A look at the data from AC Nielsen just might give an indication:

The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector in rural and semi-urban India is estimated to cross US$ 20 billion by 2018 and US$ 100 billion by 2025

• The rural FMCG market expanded at a CAGR of 13.2 per cent to US$ 100 billion during 2009–15

• In rural markets, durables like refrigerators as well as consumer electronic goods are likely to witness growing demand in the coming years as the government plans to invest significantly in rural electrification

Mckinsey report too corroborates the same. It states that rural customers will account for nearly two-fifths of total consumption in 2025, and more than half in some important categories, such as food, beverages and tobacco. And that may understate matters: Many rural consumers travel to towns and cities to make purchases.

Does it thus mean that Zee Anmol would become the marketers’ blue eyed channel in times to come? Too early to comment on that. The biggest contention now is the SECs that watch FTA channels vs the ones that watch the pay ones. And whether the FTA channel watchers indeed have the buying powers to lure the marketers.

Our efforts to lay hands on data sliced by SEC did not prove very productive this week – hence the story continues!

Ritu Midha