MUMBAI: The tykes really did a number for Zee TV with their chart-busting ratings performance. The Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs finale live event on 28 October fetched Subhash Chandra's flagship channel a whopping 11.1 TVR, rocketing it to the top of the charts.

What was quite remarkable about the numbers, which is for the HSM 4+ TG, is that this is the average TVR the show generated over the full three-and-a-half hours it was on air and it was still well ahead of the perennial number one - Star Plus' half-hour queen of soaps Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi - which registered a 10.3 TVR. The peak rating L'il Champs achieved was at 10 pm - of 15.4.

The performance of L'il Champs gave Zee TV a reach of 30 per cent taking the channel to 350 GRPs, while Star Plus and Sony had 454 and 151 GRPs respectively.

An elated Punit Goenka business head Zee TV remarked, "We are thrilled with the ratings of the finale. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs has been a very successful series since its inception. We have been overwhelmed by the response the show has garnered over the past few weeks. It provides an impetus to strive harder and clearly boosts the morale of the team. We will continue to put in our best efforts into making other shows such a grand success. As the average break TVR was 8.4, the show garnered high visibility for our partners as well."

Title sponsor Hero Honda would certainly be pleased by that bit of news of course.

Expectedly, the highest ratings came in from the home cities of the three finalists.
* Kolkata - Rating 15.8 and reach 39 per cent.
* Mumbai - Rating 13.9 and reach 29.6 per cent.
* Delhi - Rating 11.4 and reach 29 per cent.

The Sa Re Ga Ma Pa story seems to be just getting better for Zee, much like American Idol has been for Chandra's one time partner and now bitter rival in India Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network.