Cricket a tough test for soaps on TV

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">NEW DELHI: The grip that Saas-Bahu sagas have on viewers of the small screen is facing a tough test from live action from the cricket field. With the World Cup cricket bonanza set to get going in South Africa early next year, the assortment of daily soaps, serials and game shows would have to work harder to keep audiences hooked on.The just concluded One Day series between Indian and West Indies is a pointer to the shape of things to come.<br />For the week starting November 10, as per the latest Television Audience Measurement (TAM) data, cricket as programme genre scored with 13 positions in the Top 100 list among cable and satellite homes (age-group 4 plus). <br />Cricket-related programmes occupied 19 places among All TV homes where national broadcaster calls the shots. Interestingly, the One-Day International aired on DD National (November 15) registered a rating as high as 11.45, occupying the No.2 place in popularity sweepstakes, among All TV Homes. The corresponding match recorded a rating of 9.11, bagging the 11th place, among cable and satellite homes.<br />As far as channel leadership goes, STAR Plus continues to lead the pack with 46 programmes in the Top 100 list among cable and satellite homes.<br />The Saas-Bahu saga led by <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kasauti Zindagi Ki</span> and assortment of game shows and serials occupy the Top 20 positions, conceding only one place (11th) to on-going India-West Indies One-Day cricket series.<br />Sony Entertainment Television has six positions in the Top 100 with five spots bagged by <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Kkusum</span>, one each by <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Henna</span> and Hindu feature film, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Nayak</span>. <br />Zee has one place in the Top 100 that goes to its Thursday premiere movie <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Little John</span> with a rating of 2.99, bagging the 66th place. This marks a sharp drop for Zee as all its previous Thursday premieres have made it to the Top 50 list. The weak showing by the Thursday movie had its impact on its Playwin lottery shows. In the previous weeks, the lottery shows have made an entry into the Top 100 list riding on the success of the Thursday premiere.<br />The southern brigade of Sun TV and Gemini TV have 19 and 15 positions respectively among the Top 100 list in cable and satellite homes.<br />Interestingly, this week most Hindi blockbusters failed to score with the audience among cable and satellite homes. Sony scored the highest rating with 3.35 with Anil Kapoor-starrer <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Nayak</span> (44th place). <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Little John</span> aired on Zee as part of Thursday premiere bagged a rating of 2.99 (66th position) while <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Gharwali Baharwali</span>-shown on STAR Plus had a rating of 2.57 (97th place).<br />With the One-Day series hotting up- after India caught up with West Indies levelling the series three all - cricket is expected to score on the viewership front in the subsequent week too. </div> </div>