MUMBAI: It has been a 10-week-long wait for Sony Pictures Network (SPN) India to make it to the top of the ratings chart. Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) ratings show that the live telecast of WWE Raw and Smackdown on Sony Ten 1 managed to clinch it for SPN.

In week 46, Sony Ten 1 netted 97932 Impressions (000s) sum as compared with 89102 Impressions (000s) sum the week before. The most popular programme WWE Raw garnered 1873 Impressions (000s) sum for the channel.

Star India and IMG Reliance-owned Indian Super League season 4 struggled to grab eyeballs for the opening ceremony held on 17 November 2017. The opening ceremony garnered 1055 Impressions (000s) sum on Star Sports 1 Hindi.

Star India, thanks to domestic leagues, ICC events and the BCCI rights, stayed on top for several weeks because of back-to-back sporting events such as the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, ICC Women’s WC 2017, Pro Kabbadi League season 4 and the India vs New Zealand series. The third T20 match between India and New Zealand, earlier this month, was the top programme, garnering 16975 Impressions (000s) sum in BARC All India data week 45.

The last time SPN sports cluster took the top spot was in week 35 with 166753 Impressions (000s) sum at the time of third ODI match between India and Sri Lanka.

The tenth season of the T20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) got the nation hooked with 1.25 billion impressions for the 59 matches played between 5 April and 21 May 2017 on Sony sports cluster, a 22.5 per cent jump compared to ninth season.

Let’s see how long Sony can manage to retain its peak position in BARC ratings of the sports genre. Despite the disappointment of the opening ceremony, the ISL may still work wonders for Star India.