MUMBAI: The first salvo was fired and now its time for the smart retort as the battle between the numero uno general entertainment channel - Star Plus and the clear number two - Sony Entertainment Television continues...Yesterday, in a report published on indiantelevision.com - 'Sony tweaks timings to give Ye Meri Life Hai a boost', it was mentioned how Sony had made a 'slight' strategic change in its schedule to increase stickiness for Ye Meri Life Hai (YMLH) and to prevent viewers from migrating to Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii on Star Plus after Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi.

Star Plus has fired its riposte and asserts that despite all the tactics adopted by Sony, there has been barely a ripple on the ratings charts and Kahaani... continues to rule in its slot by many a yard!

As for the "timing tweaks", Star officials quote Tam data to show that the telecast time for YMLH has been erratic during the launch week, contrary to Sonys claim of strategically starting it earlier than 10 pm. Two episodes of YMLH started at 10.03 pm in the first week of its launch, say the officials.

A detailed minute-by-minute Tam analysis of both the channels during the crucial 10 pm slot on 3 May (the day YMLH was launched), reveals that Kahaani... got a TVR of 10.2 in the CS 4+ years segment thus perching at the seventh position in the Top 100 shows in the Tam ratings in week 19. Whereas YMLH failed to make its presence felt in the charts on the day of its launch.

Also a clear drop was seen in Sony ratings as soon as YMLH started, irrespective of the start time. YMLH's low launch ratings dropped even lower in week two according to the data made available.

Tracked over the two weeks - from 2 May to 13 May, (the latter was incidentally the final day of the elections); the Tam data shows that Kahaani... maintained an unswerving upper hand over YMLH. On 13 May, Kahaani... garnered TVRs of 8.2 managing the 11th position on the charts despite the fact the viewers were glued to news channels and the overall channel share of general entertainment channels fell on that particular day.

While the battle continues and innovations by rival channels become top priority, Kahaani... sits comfortably cushioned in its perch. But the message that Sony is sending across is that it is ready and willing to make a fight of it. The real question however, is whether it is in for the long haul. And if so, just how long will that haul be?