TAM Ratings: Top 10 programmes on New Year's Eve

Salman Khan performs at BIG Star Entertainment Awards 2011

According to TAM, here are the top ten programmes on New Year's EVe (7pm to 12.30am)

Source: TAM Peoplemeter System; TG: CS 4+ yrs; Market: All India; Period: 7 pm to 12:30 am, Dec 31 2011

Star Plus leads the TVRs with 3.83. Asked about why Big Star Entertainment Awards was scheduled to telecast that night, Nitin Vaidya, business head, Hindi channels, Star India, said, "Big Star Entertainment awards aim to recognise and gratify artists who have done extraordinary work across various disciplines – sports, music, TV and films. The event, through breathtaking performances and felicitation of outstanding talent, provides the viewers with a wrap up of the year that's gone by and lets them welcome the new year with celebrations and galore with some of their favorite stars. Hence the telecast of the event on the New Year's Eve is an obvious decision." Explaining that the show was promoted through print, outdoor, on-air  (Star Plus and Big CBS) and radio (Big FM), he added, "Given the extreme competition on television channels providing varied entertainment during the period, we are very happy with the performance of the Big Star Entertainment Awards."

Three programmes on Colors made it to the list; the channel's marketing head Rajesh Iyer reasoned, "31st being a celebration night, we endeavored to bring the best of entertainment on TV into the viewers homes - a lot of people actually end up staying at home. Hence, the idea was to be the one stop entertainment destination for them. Therefore, we scheduled the most entertaining TV Award show of the year (Golden Petal Awards), Bigg Boss Season 5- the most talked about reality show and the most entertaining Bollywood blockbuster of the year Ready to be aired on that day."

Asked about what people really look for from television if they're staying home that night, Iyer said, "31 December being a night of celebration, people staying at home, prefer to watch shows or events which encapsulate celebration, fun, laughter and the sense of togetherness."