Spotlight back on general entertainment channels thanks to new shows and episodes

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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While television viewership in general increased significantly during the last few months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, general entertainment channels (GECs) in particular had not benefited much because of old content.

Shooting for TV serials, web series and films had halted in March due to the coronavirus threat and GECs had no choice but to replay old shows and episodes. That was one of the reasons for the comeback of shows such as Ramayan, Mahabharat and Shrimaan Shrimati, among others.

But with shooting resuming in the second half of June, new episodes and new shows have replaced reruns of old content and this is helping GECs claw back television viewership.

The share of GECs had dropped from 52 percent during the pre-Covid period to 39 percent in the initial days of the lockdown.

But the share of the genre grew to pre-Covid levels after the comeback of original programming from July 25.

 Spotlight back on GECs

“Our network GECs’ share increased from 8.6 percent between weeks 18-21 (May 2- 23) to 12.8 percent between weeks 30-33 (August 1-15), nearly a 50 percent jump, fuelled by growth in viewership across languages, in Hindi as well as regional languages,” Prathyusha Agarwal, Chief Consumer Officer, Zee, told Moneycontrol.

She claimed that Zee TV’s viewership grew 89 percent between July 18 to August 8 (weeks 28 to 31) as compared to the period between June 20 to July 11 (weeks 24-27).

Even Colors is seeing strong growth in viewership in the GEC category.

“With the introduction of fresh content in the 7 pm-11 pm slot, the viewership for Colors witnessed 90 percent growth between August 8 to 29 (week 31 to 34) as compared to week 14 to 25 (April 4 to June 20),” said Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV network, Viacom18.

Colors TV, which is owned by Viacom18, has also launched new shows such as Ishq Mein Maarjaawan, Pinjara Khoobsurti Ka, Naagin 5 and Khatron Ke Khiladi Made in India currently.

 Primetime is prime again

Also, thanks to original programming coming back on GECs the average time spent on primetime shows has increased. During the last few months, when old content was being shown, viewers were spending more time on GECs during non-primetime hours.

Since the comeback of new content from the week starting July 18, the average time spent (ATS) on GECs by a viewer during primetime increased from 1 hour 13 minutes to 1 hour 18 minutes. However, this is lower than the pre-Covid period, when the ATS was 1 hour 24 minutes.

“Since shoots and fresh programming have resumed, viewers have started returning to their favourite primetime shows. New shows have also increased primetime reach and traction,” said Arpit Machhar, Head of Marketing, Enterr10 Television.

Dangal, which is owned by Enterr10 Television, launched a new show recently called Aye Mere Humsafar in the 7 pm slot.

Highlighting more trends in the Hindi GEC space, Zee’s Agarwal said: “With the resumption of fresh content across channels, we are seeing the viewer unit change from primarily women audiences to a family viewing unit, which has increased the overall TV consumption base.”

“We are witnessing a shift in the control of the TV remote, signified by the growth of female viewers in primetime as well as growth of viewership on GECs during primetime going hand in hand,” Agarwal added. “Looking at major GECs, the ratio of female to male viewership was 54:46 during the pre-Covid period which dipped to 51:49 during the core lockdown period but is now back at 53:47.”

 Ad volumes up thanks to new content

According to recently released BARC data, advertising volumes during the Unlock period surpassed pre-Covid volumes by 12 percent, from 111.3 million seconds to 124.6 million seconds. The ad volumes had dropped to 82.2 million during the lockdown.

“Ad volumes on GECs have returned and nearly 32 percent more advertisers are active on GECs currently compared to ad volumes in April and May. The top 10 advertisers are already advertising more at 17 million seconds as compared to the pre-lockdown level of 14 million seconds and this should only rise further during the festive period,” said Agarwal.