Top header Banner
Top header Banner
Middle top Banner

TV Impact: 5 Indian fictions proving a letdown in UK

BizAsiaLive.com continues with its series of TV Impact specials. After a trilogy of reports for the media industry, we now turn our attention to consumers likes and dislikes, starting with Indian TV fictions.

With the four big Indian TV giants (Star Plus, Colors, Sony TV and ZEE TV) now officially BARB reporting, BizAsiaLive.com focuses on the fictions that have proven a let down in UK ratings recently. Based on perception and official viewing data, BizAsiaLive.com has compiled the following featuring the five big let downs amongst Indian TV shows.

Kumkum Bhagya
on ZEE TV

It may be India’s No.1 Hindi fiction, however, ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ has failed to strike the same chord with British Asian audiences. The fiction is regularly beaten by shows on rival channels. Interestingly, spin-off series ‘Kundali Bhagya’ is doing marginally better than ‘Kumkum Bhagya’. To make matters worse, ZEE TV UK recently changed time slots from 21:00 to 20:00, which has so far not been able to make any difference in numbers. ‘Kumkum Bhagya’ has recently been averaging with an audience of around 8,000 viewers.

Ishqbaaaz
on Star Plus

Once touted as one of the biggest shows on Star Plus, ‘Ishqbaaaz’ has been suffering on the channel of late. Even though its ratings are much bigger than some fictions on other channels, it is considerably low for Star Plus standards. The show has also slipped behind the recently launched fiction ‘Dil Sambhal Ja Zara’. The audience of ‘Ishqbaaaz’ may have been dented over two factors – Its shift in time slots over the past few months and/or the rise of Internet piracy where UK viewers are watching ‘Ishqbaaaz’ episodes online as oppose to Star Plus UK. Despite this, the show has a huge cult following with Shivaay and Anika proving to be one of the most loved pairings on Indian television currently. The show recently has been averaging with an audience of around 30,000 viewers.

Zindagi Ki Mehek
on ZEE TV

Another popular show on ZEE TV India, has not been able to recreate the same spark in UK ratings. When ZEE TV UK went BARB in August, ‘Zindagi Ki Mehek’ was considered as one of the dependable shows on the channel, along with ‘Woh Apna Sa’ and ‘Piyaa Albela’ but ZEE TV UK switched the show from 20:30 to 18:30, which has since impacted its ratings. ‘Zindagi Ki Mehek’ on most days is registering a near-zero rating, a surprise for a show, which has solid viewership in India.

Udann
on Colors

The show was one of Colors’ regular ratings puller before it was switched to an earlier time slot of 19:30 to make way for ‘Tu Aashiqui’ at 20:30. With intense competition from Star Plus’ ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ in the 19:30 slot, which is the biggest show on UK Asian television, it is unlikely ‘Udann’ will be able to make any headway in its current form. The show has recently been averaging with around 10,000 viewers.

Haasil
on Sony TV

Sony Entertainment Television gave ‘Haasil’ a huge launch as one of its big thrillers featuring Bollywood actor, Zayed Khan. It may be early days for the show but so far it has failed to leave a mark. The show should be taking advantage of the weaker performance of ‘Ishqbaaaz’ on Star Plus in the same time slot but so far has been unable to. Thrillers generally have a slow pick-up in UK ratings, with viewers being much more receptive towards family shows, romantic series’ and social series’.

With competition amongst UK Asian TV channels intensifying, broadcasters are adopting clever schedule tactics to win audiences – A similar ploy used by broadcasters in India and Pakistan. While some schedule tweaks are proving fruitful, others have fallen to deaf ears, leaving broadcasters in a kerfuffle over their next move.

Disclaimer: Star Plus and Colors begun BARB reporting much before Sony TV and ZEE TV after the latter two channels joined the Sky Original Pack in August 2017.