Media - BARC rating - Sun TV continues to lose share in Tamil GEC - ICICI Securities

BARC has released its viewership data for week 50 of CY20 (12-18th Dec). Dec has seen new show releases by Star Plus and Colors in Hindi primetime GEC, but Zee Entertainment (ZEEL) has held on its viewership share; expectation is completion of KBC-12 should help drive its share higher from week 1 of CY21. Sun TV has launched four new shows since Nov'20 in Tamil primetime GEC, but its viewership share erosion continues with new low in week-50 at 33.8%, which is disappointing. Sun TV viewership share has been partially hurt by Big Boss Tamil-4. The moot question is how will Sun TV drive viewership share? Can movie premiers aid viewership share?

- Hindi primetime GEC - Zee TV viewership share stable. Zee TV's Hindi GEC primetime Q3FY21-TD viewership share stood at 18.2% (vs 17.6% in Q3FY20). Zee TV's top two shows Kumkum Bhagya and Kundali Bhagya has been hurt by KBC-12; and completion of KBC-12 (probably on 1st Jan, 2021) should help Zee TV boost its viewership share. Star Plus continues to hold strong viewership share gain at 25.2% in Q3FY21-TD (up 470bps YoY). In Dec'20, Star Plus has released new show Shaurya Aur Anokhi Ki Kahani at 19:00-19:30hrs; and Colors launched two new shows Namak Issk Ka (21:00-21:30hrs) and Molkki (22:00-22:30hrs).

- Tamil primetime GEC - Sun TV's viewership erosion continues. Sun TV's impressions in Tamil GEC primetime for Q3FY21-TD dip 7% YoY. Its viewership share for Q3FY21-TD was 36% (down 980bps YoY), and for week-50 it was just 33.8%. Star Vijay's viewership share was 35.1% for Q3FY21-TD (up 800bps), and c39% in week-50. Star Vijay is partially benefiting from Big Boss Tamil - 4. Z Tamil viewership share is stable at 23.4% for Q3FY21-TD.

This is despites Sun TV's efforts to refresh shows, it has launched four new shows since Nov'20; however, it has not yielded any great result. We will wait to see if Sun TV can gain significant viewership share post the completion of Big Boss.

- Telugu and Kannada all day GEC - Zee viewership rise in Telugu. 1) Zee Telugu viewership share in Telugu all day GEC has grown to 26.5% in Q3FY20-TD (up 380bps YoY). This has come at a cost to Gemini TV (Sun TV) which has seen viewership share dip to 15.1% (down 440bps YoY). 2) Zee Kannada viewership share in H2FY20 was very strong, which has normalised to 34.3% in Q3FY21-TD (down 250bps YoY), while Star Suvarna has seen viewership share rise by 780bps YoY to 24.7% in Q3FY21-TD.

- ZEEL struggle in Marathi and Bangla GEC continues. 1) Zee Marathi's viewership share in Marathi all day GEC continues to remain low at 35.3% for Q3FY21-TD (down 19pps), and 31.1% in week-50. Its impression in Marathi primetime GEC dipped 31%. Star Pravah continues to gain viewership at 41.7% for Q3FY21-TD, was 44.8% in week-50. Its impression in primetime rose 180%; 2) Zee Bangla continues to hold more erosion, but its viewership share in Bangla all day GEC is still down 960bps YoY to 42.8% in Q3FY21-TD, and 43.8% in week-50. Star Jalsha viewership share was 46.7% in Q3FY21-TD.

Source : Equity Bulls

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