By GAURAV LAGHATE
Indiantelevision.com Team

(17 July 2008 11:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Ekta Kapoor’s version of the epic, Kahaani Hamaaray Mahaabhaarat Ki, has opened with a TVR of 2.5, as per latest Tam data (HSM, c&s, 4 +).

With a maximum TVR of 2.84 on 9 July, the mythological has become the top rated show on INX Media's Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) 9X.

Launched on 7 July, Mahaabhaarat airs Monday to Thursday at 9 pm.

Among the metros, Mahaabhaarat was most watched in Delhi with a TVR of 3.15 while in Mumbai it touched a peak rating of 3.08. In Kolkata, the show which marks the entry of Balaji Telefilms in the mythological genre, fetched 2.69 TVR in the opening week.

Says INX Media founder and CEO Indrani Mukerjea, “It is too early to comment on the ratings of the show. Of course we are happy with the initial response.”

Meanwhile, another show from the Balaji camp Kaun Jeetega Bollywood Ka Ticket, which launched on 6 July, could only grab a TVR of 0.67.

"The low ratings for Kaun Jeetega... was obvious, as it was against cricket (India- Sri Lanka Asia Cup final). However, its repeat has got 0.80 TVR. So ratings will surely increase in the coming weeks," says Mukerjea.

9X hopes Mahaabhaarat will pump up the ratings of its other weekday primetime shows. “It will create sampling for our weekday primetime shows and hopefully improve their ratings,” avers Mukerjea.

However Mahaabhaarat has not impacted the overall GRP of 9X which slipped from 87 to to 86 for the week ended 12 July. The channel share of 9X has also come down to 7 per cent, from 8 per cent a week earlier.

9X will be on a marketing overdrive to push its audiences in the towns below one million population, says Mukerjea.