The first episode of the Kaun Banega Crorepati KBC-3, being hosted by Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) has reached 23.3 million viewers which is five million more than the launch episode of KBC-2, says Star Plus.

Interestingly, more youths tuned in for KBC-3 in the first week of its launch which has only 4 hours of content than they did for cricket on either DD1 or Neo sports with more than 32 hours of content.

''The first KBC episode has reached more people than any of the recent India-WI matches on either DD1 or Neo Sports. KBC has reached 39 million individuals in the first week of launch,'' a press release issued by Star Plus said here today.

The show, unlike other content on Hindi, has performed well universally. The show has grown by 128 per cent among males from a 4 TVR to a 8.9 TVR average, the release said.

Despite the recent impact of Conditional Access System (CAS) in three metroes namely, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the show has faired tremendously well, with Delhi itself recording a 15 plus TVR, which is 50 per cent higher than any other show in the post CAS scenario.

Meanwhile, both Mumbai and Kolkata recorded at around 9 TVR.

Commenting on the opening performance of KBC-3, Sameer Nair, the outgoing CEO, STAR Entertainment India said,''We had set three objectives for ourselves for KBC-3 with SRK: strategic to ensure that channel continues to dominate viewers hearts and minds; tactical to gain clear leadership in the 2100-2200 hrs weekday primetime band and commercial and to allow us to ensure cricket World Cup does not dent our revenues. We have conclusively met all our objectives.''

Star Plus has seen a phenomenal growth of 105 per cent in the primetime band of 2100-2200 hrs, whereas, Zee has seen a decline of 24 per cent in the same time slot, which clearly indicates that Star Plus is superior over Zee by 2.5 times in the primetime band, he said.

Speaking about the overall impact on Channel Shares and other key slots, Mr Nair said the entire schedule has been rejuvenated by KBC-3 and the shifting of Karam Apna Apna at 2000 hrs, adding, Star Plus has shown a significant growth of 441 Gross Rating Points (GRP) this week from an average 399 for the last three weeks.

''We have 10 sponsors for the 52-episode KBC-3. In addition, 6 brand are associated with the show. The overall yield on the show is far above any other property on Indian television.

The bulk of the total airtime has been picked up by these sponsors, while for the remaining airtime on KBC-3 there is no inventory available till the end of February,''he added.