Colors responds to “lower” UK ratings

With Colors dominating ratings in India, one would expect the ratings to be of a similar nature in the UK/Europe territory.

However, the channel has been finding it an uphill task to attract a big enough audience to overtake the likes of market leader, Star Plus and other competitors such as &TV, Hum TV and even sister channel, Rishtey. Despite premium content, big movie blockbusters and huge reality shows, Colors’ weekly reach in the UK hovers around the 450,000 mark, compared to Star Plus, which regularly delivers around 900,000 viewers and UMP Movies, &TV, Hum TV and Rishtey performing well too.

Talking exclusively to BizAsiaLive.com on his recent UK visit, Raj Nayak, CEO of Colors said, “That’s the nature of the beast. You keep going up and down. You can’t be bothered about week on week ratings. Its good for you media guys to put headlines of a channel being No.1 and No.2 but as a responsible broadcaster and a business we run, we are here for the marathon and the long haul. The nature of the beast is sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you catch up and you have to live with it. I don’t get bothered on week on week for sure.”

A spokesperson for Colors’ feed in the UK said it was experimenting with various time slots, with the recent addition of old Colors shows being re-run in an afternoon slot. Furthermore, the channel has moved away from broadcasting shows concurrently with India. Time slots for shows such as ‘Sasural Simar Ka’, ‘Ishq Ka Rang Safed’, ‘Udann’ and ‘Ashoka’ air in different slots suiting to viewing habits for UK viewers.

Colors parent company, Viacom18 will soon be launching a new film channel in the UK, Rishtey Cineplex. As revealed first on BizAsiaLive.com, it will replace UMP Movies on Sky and Virgin Media from September-end. Read the full story here.