Mumbai: The feud between broadcasters and multi-system operators (MSOs) over deal renewal as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) new tariff order (NTO) 3.0 has led to a double-digit drop in the viewership of leading Hindi general entertainment channels (GEC).

As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data for week 8 (Feburary 18-24) for HSM urban + rural, 2+ TG, Sony-owned Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and Sony Sab have seen their weekly audience reach drop by 28%, and 21% to 48 million and 61 million, respectively.

Likewise, Disney Star's Star Plus and Star Bharat have seen their weekly audience reach dip by 20% and 23% to 70 million and 37 million, respectively.

Zee TV and &TV owned by ZEEL have seen weekly audience reach drop to 57 million and 24 million, a drop of 19% and 28% respectively.

Colors has not seen drop in weekly reach since parent company Viacom18 didn't switch off signals to the MSOs. The channel's reach remained intact at 96 million. The viewership drop has happened primarily due to the signal blackout by Disney Star, Culver Max Entertainment (Sony), and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) to leading MSOs like Hathway Digital, GTPL, and DEN Networks among others between February 18-23.

The signal blackout had impacted an estimated 30-40 million cable TV homes. On February 23, the two sides ended the deadlock by agreeing to sign fresh agreements as per NTO 3.0. A senior official from a leading TV network said that the broadcasters will compensate the advertiser for the loss in reach due to the blackout. “We will do so on a case-to-case basis,” the official said.

Industry sources say some clients had stopped their campaigns mid-way due to blackout. Emails sent to Disney Star, ZEEL and Sony remained unanswered till the time of going to press. Media agency Starcom India's COO Niti Kumar said agency had discussions with broadcasters to ‘make good’ on the loss in gross rating points (GRPs).

“We will do an evaluation and if there is drop in GRPs we will negotiate the make good which could be in form of additional inventory or sponsorships. It will differ from channel to channel, and it could be any other value add also,” she added.