MUMBAI: The ratings are in for the first of the new 8 'o clock shows off the blocks --- Star Plus' Spanish infant Dekho magar pyaar se --- and it has been a good opening week's performance.

The show opened in the 40th spot in the CS 4+ ratings for the week 25/07/04 to 31/07/04 (31st week) according to Tam data.

Looking at the key Hindi speaking markets (TG CS 4+) DMPS , which debuted on 26 July, recorded an average 3.7 TVR for its 8-8:30 time slot.

Flashing back to the previous three weeks in the same time slot; the average TVR recorded had been showing a steady decline --- 3.9, 3.4, and 3 respectively (for week 28 to 30). What this clearly shows is that DMPS has bucked the slide.

Commenting on the same, Star India's senior vice-president content and communications Deepak Segal remarks, "I am very happy with the initial response, I hope it gets better. Although let's see what happens next week. There will be some fragmentation (the ratings for Sony's new shows in the same time slot come in then) of course but I am sure we will hold out."

In terms of how strong a property this would make, Starcom account manager Shankar Rajgopal points out, "Sponsorship would be great on Dekho.. as a lot of promotions have gone into marketing this show. Although, when it comes to buying FCT, it is a different ball game, where one would need to scrutinise ratings and rates. Also, it's a bit too soon to ascertain if this is a good property to buy FCT on, considering the fact that the competition's heavily promoted show's ratings will be unveiled next week."

And therein lies the real test. The next few weeks should be worth watching for the 8 - 9 pm band. With Sony's Hum 2 hain na pitted against DMPS as well as Ayushmaan stacking up against a real biggie in Kasauti Zindagii Kay, it's a straight face-off.