Trivandrum: Malyalam GEC Surya TV, which is already facing regular erosion of viewership due to heavy competition from Asianet, Mazhavil Manorama and the new entrant Flowers has suffered a major jolt this week.
The Channel has witnessed around 30% loss in overall viewership when compared with its previous week’s performance.
Surya TV had a viewership of 74005 (000s) during the 1st week of 2016 and the same has dropped down to 55104 (000s) in this week.According to the BARC Ratings for 2nd week of 2016 pertaining to the period 9th January to 15th January, the Channel has suffered a loss of 18901 (000s)
Similarly, the channel’s viewership dropped from 86286 (000s) in week 52 to 74005 (000s) in 1st week of 2016, which is a week on week loss of 12278 (000s) viewers.
Earlier, The channel has approached the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) accusing the leading MSO in Kerala, Asianet Satellite Communications of frequently shifting its channels to detrimental logical channel numbers (LCNs).
The Channel also accused that Surya TV was shifted from Channel No. 107 to Channel No. 118 and later on to Channel No. 648 and its flagship Tamil Channel Sun TV is also facing similar dislocation issues with the MSO.
Asianet Satellite Communications defended before the TDSAT stating that there is no fixed placement agreement between the two sides as on date. It further stated that the change in Channel Number, if any, are made in accordance with the regulations.
TDSAT has put up the matter for 27the January and asked both the parties to come with further details to substantiate their claims.
The development is seen as a major setback for the Sun Group channel in Malayalam, which is already struggling to make a comeback to limelight, like the good old days.
