Guest column: TV Analytics on Colors Tamil

Viacom’s entry into a new regional market with channel Colors Tamil has made big news since its launch in February this year. With its sampling phase for content still running, the channel’s performance has a dynamic impact on the regional television landscape. We studied the key viewership metrics for Colors Tamil over a month and found interesting content preferences among “core audiences” - a segment determined by individual exposure to TV content.

What kind of impact does Colors Tamil have on the industry? What does “core audience” analysis mean for broadcasters competing for higher share of eyeballs, and how can media planners leverage this data?

Colors Tamil is among Top Ten most watched Tamil channels

Despite airing much lesser amount of content compared to veteran players, Colors Tamil has earned a spot on the top ten most watched Tamil channels in just three months after its launch. Calculated by number of minutes spent by unique individuals, viewership share for the new channel reveals that Colors is a fast-growing contender in the Tamil segment on TV.

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Top performing content on Colors Tamil: Matrimonial show woos maximum viewership

An analysis of top performing shows by viewership share (minutes viewed) revealed that 53.30% share went to Enga Veetu Mapillai, a matrimonial show similar to Hindi entertainment’s ‘Swayamvar’, hosted by South Indian actor Arya who also doubles up as the brand ambassador for Colors Tamil. Ranked second is Naagini with 21% viewership share, a Tamil dubbed version of Ekta Kapoor’s hit TV series on Colors TV (Hindi).

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The success of both Enga Veetu Mapillai and Naagini suggests that trends in popular culture hold true across different language markets. The challenge lies in identifying the pulse of entertainment running across different ethnic markets. This can be derived by diving deep into content consumed by unique socio-cultural regions (SCRs) via TV audience research.

Overlap studies among ‘Core’ Colors Tamil audiences: What else do they watch on TV?

Overlap studies were conducted to see what else Colors Tamil audiences watch on TV, helping to further profile the channel’s viewer-base according to content preferences. These studies were conducted purely among the channel’s “core audiences”, people who watched the channel for more than 30 minutes during the analysis period.

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