GECs
After Ramayan, Dangal back as most watched channel across genres
BENGALURU: Enterr10 Television’s flagship free to air (FTA)-cum pay TV Hindi GEC Dangal had to normally battle it out with either the Sun Tv Network’s flagship Tamil GEC Sun TV, or with the Hindi sports channel that aired India’s cricketing bonanza – the Indian Premier League or IPL live since the implementation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO) in early 2019. The lockdown during Covid2019 changed all that. The edition of the IPL for 2020 has been postponed with no firm date of its playout being announced until the writing of this paper. However, Lockdown 4.0 may provide some relief to the public and the broadcaster – sports grounds will be opened with restrictions and without spectators.
Further, pubcaster network Doordarshan started airing is library Mythologies and classical programmes on its Hindi GECs’ DD National and DD Bharti with the advent of lockdown 1.0. Even during their initial weekend runs on Sunday’s in the previous century, roads across the countries emptied as people across languages, religions and faiths had eyes glued to their television sets. Now, suddenly a new generation of the country along with their parents were exposed to these magnum opuses – and note – not once a week, but every day. Viewership of DD National and DD Bharati and along with them, viewership of Hindi GECs’ shot up to all time highs’.
Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) weekly data for week 18 of 2020 (Week 18: Saturday, 2 May 2020 to Friday, 8 May 2020) reveals that the Top 10 Channels on All Platforms Across Genres comprised of six Hindi GECs’, and one channel each from the Hindi Movies, Kids, Tamil and Telugu genres. From the networks’ perspective, there were two channels each from DD, Sony Pictures Network India (SPN) and Sony Star India, and one channel each from Enterr 10 Television, the Sun Tv Network, Viacom 18 and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (Zeel). While DD National, DD Bharti and Dangal are available on both the pay TV and FTA platforms, Zeel’s acquired Hindi GEC Big Magic is FTA. The other six channels were Pay TV.
Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly top 10 channels on all platforms across genres list in week 18 of 2020 were same as the previous week with some shuffling of ranks. One channel – the Sun Tv Network’s Telugu GEC Gemini TV exited the list in week 18 0f 2020 to make way for the Star Network’s flagship Telugu GEC Star Maa. Please refer to the chart below:
Top 10 Pay TV channels Across Genres
Nine of the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay Channels Across Genres in Week 18 of 2020 were same as in week 17 with some shuffling of ranks. As above, Gemini TV exited the list in Week 18 of 2020 only to make way for Zeel’s Hindi Movies channel Zee Movies.
There were four Hindi GECs’, three Hindi Movies channels and one channel each from the Kids, Tamil and Telugu gernes in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Pay TV Channels Across Genres in week 18 of 2020. There were three channels from Star India, two channels each from DD and SPN and one channel each from the Sun Tv Network, Viacom18 and Zeel in the list.
Please refer to the chart below:
Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres
All the channels in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 18 of 2020 were the same as in the previous week with some shuffling of ranks. Four of the channels were Hindi GEC, there were three Hindi Movies channels, two were Bhojpuri channels and there was one Youth channel in BARC’s weekly list of Top 10 Free Channels Across Genres for Week 18 of 2020, There were three channels each from Enterr 10 Television and Zeel and two channels each from DD and B4U Network. Please refer to the chart below:
GECs
Asianet Television Awards 2026 celebrates women power in Malayalam TV
“She is the Colour” theme honours icons as ceremony airs on March 14 and 15 at 7 PM.
MUMBAI: If television lights up living rooms, this year Asianet decided to let women provide the colour. The Asianet Television Awards 2026 turned the spotlight firmly on women empowerment with the theme “She is the Colour”, celebrating the strength, resilience and achievements of women who continue to shape society and the Malayalam entertainment industry.
The ceremony honoured several distinguished personalities whose journeys have left a lasting cultural imprint. Among them was legendary playback singer Vimala Varma, widely recognised as the first Malayalam playback singer. The evening also paid tribute to Padma Shri awardees Devaki Amma and Vimala Menon for their exceptional contributions in their respective fields.
Leading women from the Malayalam film industry were also recognised during the event, including actor Shweta Menon, who currently serves as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, and National Award winning actor Surabhi Lakshmi.
The awards ceremony brought together a glittering lineup of actors and industry figures, including Jayasurya, Vijay Babu, Asha Sarath, Lena, Esther Anil, Anumol, Akhila Bhargavan, Sarayu Mohan, Prajod Kalabhavan, Gayathri Suresh, Sabumon Abdusamad, Swasika, Tini Tom, Sijoy Varghese, Kailash, Veena Nandakumar, Sabareesh Varma, Ansiba Hassan and Dinesh Prabhakar. Kishan Kumar, executive vice president Malayalam at JioStar, was also present at the event.
Beyond individual recognitions, the awards celebrated excellence across Malayalam television, acknowledging artists and technicians whose work continues to drive the industry forward.
The evening also offered plenty of spectacle, with elaborate dance performances, stunt acts and comedy skits performed by popular television and film personalities, turning the ceremony into a full fledged entertainment showcase.
Viewers will get to watch the celebrations when the Asianet Television Awards 2026 air on Asianet on March 14 and 15, Saturday and Sunday, from 7 pm onwards, bringing the star studded tribute to homes across Kerala and beyond.
