Zee claims to score over Star — thanks to game shows

Alok Agarwal
24 August 2000

The battle for a bigger slice of prime time viewing is truly on!

According to an e-mail reply received in response to some questions from domain-B, Zee TV claims to be reaping the benefits of the game show introduced recently. Titled, "Zee Malamaal", the interactive contest was launched by the channel as its response to the overwhelmingly popular Kaun Banega Crorepati, or KBC, on rival Star Plus channel. KBC had singlularly demolished the advertising revenues of all major channels for the prime time between 9.00 and 10.00 p.m. But, if the company reply is to be believed, the Malamaal contest has had a positive impact on Zee TV's TRP ratings for the month of August.

KBC was launched on Star TV on July 2, 2000 in the prime time band between 9.00 p.m. and 10.00 p.m.. Aired four days a week, this program, with a prize money of Rs 1 crore and Bollywood's legendary superstar, Amitabh Bacchhan, to anchor it, has swept the country off its feet. Based on a similarly hugely successful program in the US, titled "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", this program is, perhaps, the only program after the mythological epics, Mahabharat and Ramayana, to hold such sway over the country.

In the two months that the program has been on, KBC has swept away rival programs much like the storm near the Orissa coastlines! While it sent their prime time TRP ratings of rival channels crashing, its own Star channels saw the TRPs soar high. (TRP, or television rating points, is an industry system of evaluating the popularity of a television channel's program. Usually conducted by an independent agency, the ratings are given after collating data from several respondents across disparate strata of society. In India, there are two organisations, Tam and Intam, who conduct this research and provide television channels with TRPs. While the overall methodology remains the same, the two reports give differing views on the same program. Both reports are used by television channels, depending on their suitability to the channel editor)

Prior to July, when Star TV introduced the KBC program, the Intam report suggested that Star TV was a distant third in the ratings sweepstake, with Zee and Sony accounting for 23 and 24 programs out of the top 50. Star Plus accounted for a mere three in the top 50 list. However, for the first week that KBC was introduced, Star Plus featured in the top 50 on all four days KBC was aired. From 5.96 TVR or television rating point on July 3 KBC's viewership almost tripled to 15.28 TVR on July 27 (Intam eight city figures).

Disguised as a birthday celebration, Zee TV hit back by introducing its own version of the game show, title Zee Malamaal. This format required Zee viewers to watch all Zee programs Monday to Friday from 7.55 p.m. to 10 p.m. and answer questions based on the content of the program. With ten questions and each question worth Rs 1 lakh, the total prize money per ten questions is Rs 11 lakh. Small change, compared to Star's bonanza, but nevertheless, according to Zee, top draw. The channel claims that it receives 7 lakh phone calls each day. Apart from generating viewer interest, this format forces viewers to see the entire program on the channel. The winner is selected by a draw that is overseen by noted auditing firm, Ernst & Young.