Ramayan vs MASH – Who Actually Holds The Record Of Being ‘The Most Watched Entertainment Show’ in the World?

On April 30, the official Twitter handle of Doordarshan put out a tweet that announced that its retelecast of Ramayan, directed by Ramanand Sagar, just made a huge record. As per the tweet, the episode that aired on April 17 garnered 7.7 crore viewers, which it claimed made it the 'most watched entertainment show in the world'. Celebrations poured on social media about this achievement, with comparisons made to Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory finales, and how Ramayan's retelecast managed to beat the hell out of these shows. 'Ramayan' Breaks All Records, Becomes World's Most-Watched Show.

Here lies a little catch. There is no denying that Ramayan did beat these finales, and for a show that is merely being retelecast, that is an achievement in itself. But there are two aspects to be considered here. First, the comparison isn't valid, because the other two English shows are available on premium channels that you need to subscribe, and it isn't exactly sure if their telecast on OTT platforms like Hotstar, not to mention the illegal downloads, are considered in determining the numbers. Meanwhile, Ramayan is available on a national public channel, which is free-of-cost to all subscribers, therefore making it a more accessible show. Ramayan's TRPs Soar, Uttara Ramayan Makes An Entry Into the List, Mahabharat Sees a Significant Drop (View BARC Ratings).

Now let's talks about the second aspect - Has Ramayan become the most watched entertainment show in the world, as per the below tweet?

Actually, if we go episode-wise, it didn't. As per an old report in New York Times, the final episode of the '70s American TV series, M.A.S.H., titled Goodbye, Farewell and Amen that aired on February 28, 1983, got 105.97 million total viewers and a total audience of 121.6 million! In comparison, if we convert crores to millions, then Ramayan has garnered 77 million only.

Recently in a report in Livemint that questioned the validity of the DD claim, they mention that DD referred to a 2018 report by Glance, while making the claim of being the most watched entertainment show in the world. The said report, however, only refers to shows that were aired in 2018, as per Livemint, not before or after that. So in comparison to those shows, yes, Ramayan did better than them. But if you consider the past shows, then Ramayan falls short of that record by miles, beaten by MASH finale, as well Roots (99 million), Cheers (84.4 million), and The Fugitive (78.0 million). Ram-Leela At Home? Ramayan And Mahabharat's Re-telecast On Doordarshan Leads To Spike In Eye Injuries Among Kids.

The negation of its validity of being the most watched show should  not undermine the performance of Ramayan in the last month. For one, it can earn the record of being the most watched re-telecasted series on a channel in the world. Secondly, Ramayan (along with Mahabharat retelecast) has made Doordarshan the most watched channel during the lockdown, bringing its viewership to 545 million. Otherwise, you know that DD has been struggling to even enter the top 10 in the BARC rankings.

And who knows, the original run of Ramayan could have broken the records of MASH, only that we are oblivious of it, with no determinate metrics available for Indian television then. After all, BARC India was only founded in 2010.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 07, 2020 03:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).