MAM
Special events & Movie telecasts shuffle GECs’ top ranking in 2013
MUMBAI: 2013 is turning out to be a fluid market for the Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs). With the fight for the top position becoming tougher, the leading GECs are betting on big-ticket properties to give them spikes to surge ahead of competitors on a weekly basis.
Bollywood awards shows, big movie premieres or shows hosted by Bollywood stars are proving to be critical ingredients for a channel to occupy the top chair. Sans this kind of content, the top four Hindi GECs are in a very closely contested race.
In week five ended 2 February, the premiere of Son or Sardar propelled Star Plus back to the number one position by a big lead. Star was similarly the leader in Week 1 because of the Big Star Entertainment Awards.
In week 2, Colors was the leader as the finale of Bigg Boss 6, a reality show hosted by Bollywood star Salman Khan, gave it a spike in gross rating points (GRPs). Without this tent pole property, Colors slipped to the third position in the third week while Star Plus regained the No. 1 spot.
Zee TV was at the top in week 4 as Zee Cine Awards gave it a sharp rise in viewership.
Madison Media Infinity SVP Monaz Todywalla agrees that January has become the season of specials. “One of the reasons why competition is this close is because the proportion of time on fiction has reduced from the same period last year. Clearly channels are using specials to maintain their positions even as programming executives get time to evaluate their fiction offerings.”
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Channels
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Wk 1
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Wk 2
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Wk 3
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Wk 4
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Wk 5
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Leading Show
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| Star Plus | 287 | 241 | 241 | 228 | 281 | Week 1: Big Star Entertainment Awards (41 GRPs) Week 5: Premiere of Son Of Sardar |
| Colors | 253 | 245 | 210 | 204 | 210 | Week 2: Bigg Boss 6 Finale hosted by Salman Khan (22 GRPs) |
| Zee TV | 211 | 195 | 215 | 237 | 214 | Week 4: Zee Cine Awards (31 GRPs) |
As per TAM data (HSM including 5 new LC1 markets, C&S, 4+) for week five, sourced from a Hindi GEC, Star Plus got back to the leadership position with a wide lead of 67 GRPs over the second GEC. The GEC in the second position was Zee TV with 214 GRPs.
Star Plus notched 281 GRPs in week five with an addition of 48 GRPs to the previous week’s ratings. The channel had telecast ‘Son of Sardar’ for three hours each at 1 pm and 9 pm on 27 January that clocked 3.9 TVR and 4.5 TVR, respectively. The movie airings collectively contributed 50 GRPs to the channel’s viewership.
Taking the second spot in week five is Zee TV, which lost 31 GRPs from a week earlier at 214 GRPs. It wound up Sa Re Ga Ma Pa on 27 January that clocked 2.2 TVR for a three-and-a-half hour telecast contributing around 15 GRPs to its viewership. The other shows of the channel have seen marginal difference in the viewership.
Just four GRPs away from Zee TV is Colors that added 15 GRPs to close the week with 210 GRPs. The channel’s new reality comedy show ‘Nautanki the Comedy Theatre’ made a debut with 2.9 TVR on 2 February. It’s shows like Balika Vadhu (4.7 TVR), Sasural Simar Ka (4 TVR) and Madhubala (3.9 TVR) have seen increase in viewership.
Sony Entertainment Television (Set) lost 27 GRPs in week five compared with a week earlier. Its total GRPs in the week totaled 159. In the previous week, Set had premiered Karan Johar’s ‘Student of the Year’ that notched a 4.2 TVR and had also telecast the finale episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati-6 that fetched a TVR of 3.1 TVR.
Sab clocked 134 GRPs (previous week 145) and Life OK 121 GRPs (previous week 114).
Sahara One with 24 GRPs (last week 25 GRPs) remains at the bottom of the ladder.
The data includes the five new LC1 (Less than Class I) markets: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh (including Uttaranchal), PHCHP and Rajasthan.
With the release of these markets, TAM now covers 92 per cent of the HSM urban market from the earlier 74 per cent.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
