Ramayan sets world record, becomes most-watched entertainment show

­­­­­­­­­­Who knew Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, a 33-year-old television show, aired by Doordarshan would set a world record after its rerun during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Making the announcement on Twitter on Thursday (April 30), DD National said the television serial has broken all world records to become the most watched entertainment show by getting 7.7 crore viewers on April 16.

“Rebroadcast of Ramayana on Doordarshan smashes viewership records worldwide,” DD National tweeted.

WORLD RECORD!!
Rebroadcast of #Ramayana on #Doordarshan smashes viewership records worldwide, the show becomes most watched entertainment show in the world with 7.7 crore viewers on 16th of April pic.twitter.com/hCVSggyqIE

— Doordarshan National (@DDNational) April 30, 2020

The serial’s re-telecast concluded on April 18 and the slot was given to Uttar Ramayan, which features the story of Ram and Sita’s twins Luv and Kush.

After the re-broadcast of Ramayan and Mahabharat, DD National became the most-watched channel for two consecutive weeks. The channel received 1.5 billion viewership figures in the 13th week of the year, from March 28 to April 3, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data. The state owned channel broke its own record in the channel’s long history.

On April 16, Shashi Shekhar, CEO of Prasar Bharati, took to twitter to share the statistics and thanked the viewers.

Record viewership for Ramayan continues. Thanks to all @ddnational viewers across India ? https://t.co/rUdsDmOZ05

— Shashi Shekhar (@shashidigital) April 16, 2020

However, on Thursday, the BARC-Nielsen report, said there was a 66 per cent drop in DD National viewership during the morning slot between April 18 and April 24, and a 29 per cent drop in evening viewership after the rerun of Ramayan ended on April 18, The Print reported.

Despite this, DD National continues to be the most-watched channel during the lockdown, the recent BARC report says.