GEC Watch: Colors tops Urban markets while Zee Anmol leads in Rural

BARC India has released separate data for Rural and Urban markets of Hindi-speaking markets for the Hindi GECs in Week 19. As a result, free-to-air channels get their due in rural markets where they have toppled the pay channels. &TV and Big Magic make an entry in the top channels' list

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | May 19, 2016

In Week 19 (May 7 to May 13), BARC India has mapped viewership for Urban and Rural markets separately, listing out respective rankings for the Hindi general entertainment channels.

As a result, interestingly, &TV and Big Magic have entered the top channels list in urban and rural markets, respectively. And Naagin and Kumkum Bhagya are the only shows from the pay channels to have found a place among the top programmes in rural markets.

Top Channels in Urban Markets

As per the mapping of the HSM Urban market {HSM (Urban) : NCCS All : 4+ Individuals}, Colors is the clear leader with 431346 Impressions.

Star Plus, at No. 2, has garnered 413580 Impressions. It must be noted that Star Plus has been a consistent leader of the flock (barring a few weeks), when the data was calculated on Urban 'plus' Rural. It remains to be seen, however, how things pan out in the coming weeks.

Zee TV has come in No. 3 with 311583 Impressions.

Life OK has stood at No. 4 with 287442 Impressions.

Sony SAB, the second GEC from Sony Pictures Networks, is ranked at No. 5 clocking 241700 Impressions.

Sony Entertainment Television has benefited from the Urban rankings as it stands at No. 6 in Week 19 with 207012 Impressions.

&TV, the second GEC of ZEEL, is at No. 7 garnering 119686 Impressions, followed by the free-to-air channels.

Sony Pal, at No.8, has gained 115399 Impressions in the urban market, while Zee Anmol followed at No. 9 with 101704 Impressions. Star Utsav stood last, at No. 10 with 95186 Impressions in the urban markets.

Courtesy the separate mapping of the urban HSM markets, &TV has found a place on the top ten channels list, while Rishtey, the FTA from Viacom 18, has dropped out of the rankings.

Top Programmes in Urban Markets

As per select data {HSM (Urban): NCCS All: Prime Time (1800 - 2330 hrs): 4+ Individuals}, Colors' Naagin remained the most viewed programme with 10374 Impressions.

At No. 2 i Star Plus' Yeh Hai Mohabbatein with 7070 Impressions.

Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya is at No. 3 with 6245 Impressions.

Colors' recently launched reality property, India's Got Talent, stood at No. 4 with 6049 Impressions.

Star Plus' Saath Nibhaana Saathiya is at No. 5 with 5984 Impressions.

Top Channels in Rural Markets

This is the first week (Week 19 of 2016) when BARC India has published viewership data for rural Hindispeaking Markets separately {HSM (Rural): NCCS All : 4+ Individuals}. The rural markets have clearly shown a favourable viewership for the free-to-air channels, for obvious reasons of availability and affordability of the channels.

Zee Anmol came out to be the leader of the Hindi GEC flock amongst rural audiences with 397738 Impressions.

At No. 2, Sony Pal garnered 386861 Impressions.

Star India's FTA Star Utsav, has clocked 355620 Impressions at No. 3.

Zee TV has stood at No. 4 with 283082 Impressions. Zee TV (amongst the pay channels) is the most watched in the rural markets.

Rishtey has found a place at No. 5 with 282625 Impressions.

Colors is at No. 6 with 233354 Impressions.

Star Plus, the flagship GEC of Star India, has stood at No. 7 with 202257 Impressions.

Its sibling, Life OK, follows at No. 8 with 170238 Impressions.

Courtesy the separate data for the rural markets, Big Magic has found a place in the top 10 list with 139427 Impressions, followed by Sony SAB with 109515 Impressions at No. 10.

It must be noted that Sony Entertainment Television could not find a place in the top channels' list amongst the rural viewership.

Top Programmes in Rural Markets

The top five programmes list too has seen a skew towards the free-to-air channels and the shows on these channels have got a strong viewership in the rural markets.

As per BARC India {HSM (Rural): NCCS All: Prime Time (1800 - 2330 hrs) : 4+ Individuals} Jodha Akbar on Zee Anmol has become the most watched programme in the rural markets garnering 7393 Impressions.

At No. 2 is Star Utsav's Saath Nibhaana Saathiya with 6399 Impressions, followed by Bandini on Zee Anmol grabbing 6224 Impressions.

Colors' Naagin has still found a place on the top programmes list in the rural markets too, though at No. 4 with 5872 Impressions.

Zee TV's Kumkum Bhagya is listed at No. 5 with 4941 Impressions.

(All Impressions in '000s)

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