In Tamil Nadu, viewers miss TV soaps due to power outages

Meher Khanna - Televisionpoint.com | Chennai
The power outages in the Tamil Nadu state have taken away what was a major means of relaxation for homemakers and the impact is reflected in the TRP ratings.

According to the latest overall TAM ratings for the Week 43 to Week 44, Sun TV, Kalaignar TV, Jaya TV and Raj TV channels have registered a marginal improvement over the previous Week's.

Industry watchers, however, confirmed that day time viewing of serials has been affected. Although prime time viewership, between 6 pm and 10 pm, has remained unaffected, with serials like Arasi and Kolangal registering an increase in ratings, those aired in the mornings such as Vasantham and Athipookal on Sun TV have seen a dip in their ratings in Week 44 compared to the earlier Week's.

Niche programmes like Airtel Super Singer continue to be unaffected as well, but media watchers conceded that there was an imbalance in the viewing pattern, not out of audience choice but due to force of circumstances.

"Many of our TRPs have fallen in the last few weeks and we are answerable to the advertisement agencies. It has never happened before in the television industry, and corporates have started tightening their belts, with contracts that should have been signed with advertisers not happening." said Radhika Sarath Kumar of Radaan Media.

According to Krithika Mohan, media supervisor of the advertising agency R K Swamy, there has been a 15 per cent reduction in ad spend by advertisers as compared to last year during the same period.

"Planned deals for the months of November and December have been kept on hold by many clients. This is more as a buffer in case the economic situation worsens," Krithika added.

However, with more people tuning into television as an option to going out, the industry is happy to churn out content. "Production is not hit, only our margins are," said Pushpa Kandaswamy, producer of serials such as Comedy Colony on Jaya TV.