MAM
Salman’s Dabangg scores on TV behind 3 Idiots
MUMBAI: India‘s Hindi general entertainment channels are riding high on Bollywood. Salman Khan aka Chulbul Pandey, the corrupt police officer from Uttar Pradesh, has inched closer to Aamir Khan‘s 3 Idiots in performance on television, recording the second-highest ratings for a Hindi movie in recent times.
Dabangg, the biggest blockbuster of 2010, clocked a 9.2 TVR as Colors added 64 GRPs (gross rating points) from the movie premiere on 28 November. It drew in 35 million viewers in the Hindi speaking market, as per Tam data.
3 Idiots, a more popular film, had clocked a record 10.9 TVR on Sony Entertainment Television.
Dabangg enabled Colors to cross 300 GRPs after a gap of 11 weeks. The Viacom18 channel closed the week ended 4 December with 345 GRPs. The channel, however, remained at its second position as the genre leader Star Plus gained 37 GRPs to end the week with 415 GRPs.
Dabangg also raced past popular soaps to become the top-rated show across the GEC space for the week. The closest rival, Saathiya Saath Nibhana, on Star Plus earned 6.4 TVR, a glaring gap that is rare in today‘s highly competitive and fragmented GEC space.
So will Colors be able to sustain the GRP spike?
“Colors has got a huge spike due to the Salman Khan movie. It will, however, be interesting to see what the channel offers in the 9-10 pm slot once Bigg Boss gets over,” says a media observer.Meanwhile, Star Plus‘ growth in the week ended 4 December has come from weekday primetime (+7), weekday others (+3), weekday afternoon (+2), weekend original programming (+22), weekend others (+7), and weekend movies (+13). However, the channel saw a decline in weekend events (-17) as in the previous week, a television award show event had fetched a TVR of 4.
Zee TV (183 GRPs) and Sony Entertainment Television (181 GRPs) slipped by 23 and 20 GRP points respectively. The two channels maintained their third and fourth positions even as the gap between them is narrowing.
Brands
33 per cent of women believe the salary scale is rigged: Naukri report
Voices @ Work study finds rising calls for equal pay audits and lingering bias
MUMBAI: Progress may be visible in India’s workplaces, but many women still feel the need to tread carefully. A new report by Naukri reveals that one in two women hesitate to disclose marriage or maternity plans during job interviews, worried that such information could influence hiring decisions.
The findings come from the second edition of Naukri’s annual Voices @ Work International Women’s Day report, titled “What Women Professionals Want.” Drawing insights from more than 50,000 women across over 50 industries, the survey sheds light on evolving workplace aspirations alongside the biases that continue to hold women back.
One of the report’s most striking insights is the growing demand for equal pay audits. The share of women calling for regular pay parity checks has climbed to 27 per cent this year, up from 19 per cent a year ago. The demand now stands alongside menstrual leave as the most sought after workplace policy.
Interestingly, the call for pay transparency grows louder higher up the income ladder. Nearly half of women earning between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore annually say equal pay audits are a priority, suggesting that pay gaps become more visible as women move up the career ladder.
At the same time, confidence and ambition appear to be rising. About 83 per cent of women say they feel encouraged to pursue leadership roles, a significant jump from 66 per cent last year. Cities in southern India appear particularly supportive, with Hyderabad leading the way as 86 per cent of respondents there reported encouragement to step into leadership positions. The education sector recorded the highest sense of encouragement at 87 per cent.
Yet the report also highlights a growing trust deficit around pay equity. Nearly one in three women, or 33 per cent, say they do not believe men and women are paid equally at their workplace. That figure has risen from 25 per cent last year, pointing to widening perceptions of disparity as careers progress.
Bias in hiring and promotions continues to be the biggest hurdle. About 42 per cent of respondents say workplace bias is the main challenge for women from diverse backgrounds. The concern is consistent across major metros, with Chennai and Delhi NCR reporting similar levels.
Reluctance to discuss personal milestones during hiring processes is also widespread. While 34 per cent overall said they hesitate to share marriage or maternity plans in interviews, the anxiety increases with experience. Among professionals with 10 to 15 years of work experience, the figure rises to 40 per cent.
Info Edge group CMO Sumeet Singh, said the data reflects both progress and unfinished work. “Behind every data point in this report is a woman who is ambitious. The fact that 83 per cent feel encouraged to lead is something to celebrate. However, the fact that one in two still hide their marriage or maternity plans in interviews tells us the work is far from done. As India’s leading career platform, it felt not just important but necessary for us to shine a light on these gaps through the second edition of our report,” he said.
The report suggests that while ambition among women professionals is growing, structural changes around pay transparency, fair hiring and supportive policies will be key if workplaces hope to keep pace.
