By Ramya Ramamurthy, CNBC-TV18

Media buyers say they are not surprised with NDTV Imagine's success, but at the speed with which it has knocked Sony off the number three spot. With GRPs going over 90, NDTV Imagine's prime time gambit Ramayana has hit bull's eye. And it is really the same staple entertainment channel fare, but you have got to admit, that the mix seems fresh! Dislodging Zee TV, which is at number two, will now be as seemingly effortless.

Two months back when NDTV Imagine launched, the ambition was clear - a slot in the top three. But no one would have imagined that NDTV Imagine would have topped up Sony within the first month itself. Now as it inches close to the 100 GRP mark and gets almost 20 advertisers on board, what’s really worked for the channel is its Prime Time line up. 

Playing out at 10:30 every night is Jasuben Jayantilal Joshi Ki Joint Family that has all the trappings of General Entertainment Channel (GEC) soap. A host of related characters, the traditional Gujarati family setting and the matriarch around whom everything revolves and yet it’s not quite the Balaji take on the genre, at least not yet.

Going by the track record of Hats Off Productions, it won’t be and perhaps in this lies, the secret to NDTV Imagine’s success. While it is stayed with the formula, it is also reinvented it. The channel has spent nine months and poured in over Rs 250 crore so far on the programming and it’s showing.

Manoj Vidwans, Research Marketing and Communications, NDTV Imagine, said, "There was an effort. Ramayan isn't an inexpensive or a cheap product that we came out with. So were a lot of other shows because there was much planning involved, so obviously there is a level of cost that is there".

Obviously getting ourselves available comes at a certain cost; the marketing is also a certain cost. But those are the costs that we felt were important, if not imperative, to get us to be seen in those many homes and get people to sample. That’s what we have seen - we have gotten enough people to sample it and people continue to sample as going forward.   

The big picture is that NDTV Imagine has overtaken Sony and has an 8% channel share.

Starting at 7 pm with Nachle Ve with a rating of 0.7 TVR followed by Dharam Veer at 8 pm with a rating of 0.9 TVR. Radha Ki Betiyaan and Ek Packet Umeed, Rajkumar Aryan and Dhoom Macha De through the week at the 8:30 slot garnering between 0.5-0.9 TVRs. It’s Ramayan at 9:30 pm, that’s a star performer consistently notching between 2-3 TVR. Jasuben Jayantilal Joshi KI Joint Family at 10 pm is seeing ratings above 1 TVR, while Main Teri Parchhain Hoon is stuck between 0.6-0.8 TVR at 10:30 pm. 

So except for Ramayan, which is leading this pack in ratings, the others are all below one. The challenge will be to get these to climb.

To that end, NDTV Imagine is hitting cities like Lucknow and Indore to announce new shows like Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain. While 60% of all GEC viewerships come from the prime time, the channel is also looking at other bands.

What viewers are also noticing and media buyers are willing to pay a premium for, is a clutter free field that’s because NDTV Imagine has stuck to its promise of only five minutes of ads every hour, that’s half the mandated ten minutes. Viewer ad breaks means fewer opportunities to surf and more opportunities to be hooked.

A ten seconds spot on Ramayan now costs upto Rs 80,000. All the other shows are running at about Rs 20,000 per ten seconds. Most of the twenty advertisers that are on board, including Hindustan Unilever, Idea, Reckitt Benckiser, Paras, PepsiCo, Coca Cola and Airtel are paying for a combo deal; a premium for Ramayan and bonus spots on the other shows. But according to media buyers, who came on board from day one, NDTV has clearly delivered reach for these rates.

Shashi Sinha, CEO, Lodestar Universal, said, "In my mind, zero sum gain if they become number three position for so many weeks. But collectively as a genre, NDTV is a key player in the genre because they have done some fresh thinking and innovative programming to grow in the market."

NDTV Imagine seems to be reaching out to the Hindi heartland, while being as inclusive as it can with it’s programming. It has won them around one. From here the game gets really tough. Zee is on a role and market leader Star Plus is going all-out to stay on top whether Sony will use the IPL on Max, to benefit the GEC as well is what we need to look out for.