Zee TV notched big ratings with its coverage of a Bollywood awards telecast in seven markets.
The network averaged a 4.6 household rating in the Asian Indian universe for its presentation of the 2011 Zee Cine Awards, according to channel officials. The show, airing live from Feb. 4 at 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. (ET), attracted a strong audience among Asian Indian households in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The network also televised a red carpet special at 8:30 p.m. that featured entrances and interviews of award nominees along with Bollywood's biggest stars.
Officials at Zee TV, which counts affiliate deals with Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Dish Network and Verizon FiOS, said the Zee Cine Awards performed well when gauged against American TV's biggest telecast, Super Bowl XLV, within the Asian Indian TV universe. The Feb. 6 broadcast of the NFL championship game tackled a 9.3 rating within that universe among watchers and a 6.7 among Asian Indian watchers 25 to 54 within the Washington DC DMA. The Zee Cine Awards scored a 7.2 mark with viewers and a 5.0 among adults 25 to 54 Asian Indian rating in that DMA.
The telecast, hosted Akshay Kumar and filmmaker Sajid Khan, included performances by some of Bollywood's biggest names like Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone. ‘Zenith' awards were bestowed upon Dabangg as best film, while Shah Rukh Khan and Vidya Balan were named best actor and actress, respectively.
