MUMBAI: If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Zee Telefilms Ltd's (ZTL) strategy to introduce a Hindi film at Thursday prime time slot seems to be paying dividends. Not only are its movies now a regular feature on the ratings charts, it has had a positive impact on its ad inventory position and has also boosted the stock price at the bourses.

A channel ad spot analysis done by Perfect Monitoring indicates a significant increase in the commercial activity from September 2002 to October 2002. There was an almost 60 per cent increase in commercial activity the analysis has revealed.

Some premier brands which were inactive during September 2002 on Zee came on board in October. Brands that became active during October in a big way were Whirlpool Fast Forward Ice refrigerator, Colgate Herbal toothpaste, Kinetic Boss motorcycle, Sundrop Nutrilite sunflower oil, Pantene Volume & Fulness shampoo, Cadbury's Dairymilk Chunky and Sansui color television.

Media buyers that indiantelevision.com spoke to say Zee TV is getting an average effective ad rate of between Rs 75,000 to RS 80,000 per 10 second spot when its movies are being telecast. Industry sources indicate that ad secondage during the Thursday Premiere is just over 3,000 seconds therefore it is reasonable to assume that Zee would be raking in around RS 24 million in advertising per movie.

There has been some positive news on the stock exchanges as well for Zee. The ZTL stock has attracted some fund buying pushing the stock up from Rs 85.90 on 1 November to the current levels of Rs 87, Hindu Businessline has reported. Obviously, in the long term Zee will have to show a ratings rise for its other shows as well in addition to being able to sustain the weekly airing of new films.