NDTV Imagine debuts at No 3 in weekday prime time

New Delhi, Feb 5 (UNI) Riding on popularity of the mythological series 'Ramayan' and its celebrity music reality show 'Say Shava Shava', NDTV Imagine, the new channel on the general entertainment scene, has notched up a viewership of 55 GRPs in its opening week, making it number three in terms of weekday prime time viewership.

Two weeks after its on-air launch, NDTV Imagine, spearheaded by Sameer Nair, has notched up an impressive 55 GRPs and a 1.7 per cent channel share in the first Week itself as per the latest TAM data.

The viewership levels garnered by the channel in its opening week make it the best launch by a GEC in the past four years, channel sources said.

This viewership levels, the sources said, had catapulted the channel to the number three position in the prime time band (Mon-Thu) in the basket of nine Hindi GEC channels.

The excellent viewership levels notched up by the channel were attributable to the fact that the programming on NDTV Imagine had connected with viewers across the country, the sources added.

Referring in this context to the viewership ratings notched up by 'Ramayan', they said,''the epic, retold on an epic new scale, has received a fantastic response. According to TAM data, the first episode rated 1.8 TVR, the highest rating for any episode on a newly launched channel. In the key Hindi Speaking Markets (HSM) of UP and MP (10mn + towns), Ramayan averaged more than 5 TVR.'' Other shows on the channel have also made impressive debuts.

'Nachle Ve' with Saroj Khan at the 1900-2000 hours slot took the channel to the third position in this time band, they said.

Ratings for the show rose through the week to touch 0.9 TVR on Friday. The period drama 'Dharam Veer' saw its ratings double from day one to the end of first week. On Wednesday and Thursday of the first Week, NDTV Imagine was the number three GEC in terms of All Day GRPs, the sources said.

NDTV Imagine CEO Sameer Nair said the ratings showed that the channel had delivered on its promise of bringing fresh ideas and concepts into Indian living rooms.

'' The ratings are a clear indicator of the connect we have made with viewers across the country. It is a good start and we promise to continue to entertain and delight our audiences with fresh and compelling programming,'' Mr Nair said.

Adds the EVP- Revenue Management and New Ventures, Harsh Krishna Rohatgi,''we appreciate the tremendous support we have received from the advertisers who came on board even before we launched. The viewership in the launch week underscores our programming and marketing strategy backed by strong distribution and delivers great value to our clients from the first week itself. On the back of this, we are hopeful of bringing on-board even more advertisers in the next couple of weeks.'' Launched on January 21, NDTV Imagine offers programming across genres, ranging from light-hearted family soaps to period dramas and from high voltage music and dance entertainers to the most glamorous events in the entertainment business.

The channel has launched four new shows -- 'Dhoom Macha De', 'Radhaa Ki Betiyan Kuch Kar Dikhayengi', 'Ek Packet Umeed' and 'Raajkumar Aaryyan', -- this February.

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