The Global Markets Research by Elara Capital shares highlights for TV's monthly performance:

Reckitt tops TV ad spends as HUL catches up; STAR at top yet again

Reckitt Benckiser India maintained its top spot for the third consecutive month, despite a 107bp MoM viewership loss to Hindustan Unilever (HUVR IN) in May 2021 to 34.6% share. HUVR’s ad viewership market scripted a strong return to 33.2%, after touching a low of 29.8% in March 2021. 

STAR Utsav retained its top spot across genres at 13.7% viewership share, up 117bp MoM, regaining lost share on IPL in April. SunTV followed at the second spot, with 13% share, up 107bp MoM. Star Plus, STAR Maa and Sony SAB stood third, fourth and fifth, with 12.7%, 11.2% and 11.1% share, up 130bp MoM, 10bp MoM and 252bp MoM, respectively. STAR continued to remain the undoubted leader among broadcasters, with group-level viewership share of 39.4%, slightly down on high base of IPL viewership in April’21. 

Hindi GEC – STAR showing no weakness; yet Zee ebbs further

Within the Hindi GEC (urban) genre, STAR Plus retained its top spot with flat viewership MoM to 20.3%. Sony SAB retained the second spot, with 18% share, up 247bp MoM, as catch-up content viewership continued to gain momentum amidst Wave II and given show launches. 

Colors continued to lose viewership share post the Big Boss Season, down 25bp MoM, to 11.1%. Sony Entertainment stood fourth at 10.2% share, down 97bp MoM, while Zee TV lost 95bp MoM to 8.6% share. Within Hindi GECs (rural), STAR Utsav was at the top, with viewership gains of 85bp MoM to 21.8%. Zee Anmol stood second at 11.9% share, down 150bp MoM. Sony Pal was third, down 60bp MoM, at 11.8%. Zee Anmol and Big Magic posted a combined 13.1% share, next to the STAR Group within the genre. STAR Plus/Dangal came in fourth/fifth with 9.2%/8.6%, share, respectively.

SunTV stabilizes, yet still away from highs; Zee Kannada dominates

In the Tamil genre, SunTV has stabilized with 37.3% share, down 40bp MoM, to glean the top spot. STAR Vijay stood second despite sharp 445bp MoM losses to 23.6% share, while Zee Tamil was third, losing 50bp MoM share to 15.5%. KTV, with 14.9% share stood fourth, up sharply 382bp MoM led by traction for the movies genre on Wave II. In the Telugu segment, Star Maa retained its leadership, despite 161bp MoM losses to 33.5%. Zee Telugu was second with stable viewership at 24.1% share, while ETV Telugu was third with 19.3% share, up 22bp MoM. In the Kannada segment, Zee Kannada dominated, with 28.3% share, despite losing 138bp MoM. Colors Kannada came in second at 21.3% share, down 176bp MoM. Udaya TV retained the third spot, at 17.9% share, down 35bp MoM, while STAR Suvarna lost 32bp MoM to end up fourth at 17.4% share, in the genre. Udaya Movies showcased stellar gains of 381bp MoM to 15.4% share on spike in movie genre viewership amidst Wave II restrictions and lock-downs, taking the fifth position in the genre.