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
Samsung TV Plus launches Kings of Comedy channel
New free FAST channel brings iconic Hindi comedy shows to millions of Samsung Smart TV owners.
MUMBAI: Samsung TV Plus has just turned up the laughter volume and it’s completely free. The leading free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service in India has launched Kings of Comedy, a premium comedy channel featuring some of the country’s most beloved primetime shows. Available exclusively on Samsung TV Plus, the channel delivers back-to-back hits including Comedy Nights with Kapil, Khatra Khatra Khatra, and Comedy Nights Bachao, with no login or subscription required.
The launch marks a milestone for free streaming in India, offering audiences a dedicated comedy destination directly from their Samsung TV home screen. It arrives as Samsung TV Plus India celebrates its 5th anniversary, during which the service has grown its monthly active users by 42 per cent and more than doubled its total viewing hours. The platform now offers over 180 free channels across 14 languages.
Samsung TV Plus India general manager and head of business development Kunal Mehta said, “Comedy is the heartbeat of Hindi entertainment, and Kings of Comedy brings together the shows Indians already love, completely free on their Samsung TV. Our focus remains the same take the content people know and make it effortless to access.”
Globally, Samsung TV Plus has surpassed 100 million monthly active users across more than 4,500 channels, solidifying its position as one of the world’s leading free streaming services.
Kings of Comedy is now available on all compatible Samsung Smart TVs. For viewers seeking non-stop laughter without any cost, this new channel delivers a royal treat proving that sometimes the best entertainment really does come with no strings (or subscriptions) attached.
