The channel's patronage in Maharashtrian households rose from 6 per cent in May to 35.6 per cent towards the end of September. On September 30, the ratings for Alpha Marathi stood at 32.1 per cent while Prabhat followed with 28.2 per cent. Eenadu Marathi came next at 21.8 per cent and Tara Marathi earned 15 per cent viewership.

DD Sahyadri has occupied the number one position in spite of the fact that during this period, there was no terrestrial programming support for it, and daily serials were not shown due to the live telecast of the Sydney Olympics 2000. The channel also organised a telecast of the big event with a Marathi soundtrack.

The director of Mumbai Doordarshan, Mr Mukesh Sharma, says that since May 2000 the popularity of DD Sahyadri has been growing steadily in cable and satellite households. "A similar comparison of average time span in watching the so-called `serious' channels also shows that people, specifically in Mumbai, and in Maharashtra as a whole, are spending more time watching DD Sahyadri," he says.

The channel has plans to commemorate the Maharashtra government's first year in office on October 17. A live phone-in programme inviting state chief minister Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, deputy chief minister Mr Chhagan Bhujbal and state chief secretary Mr Arun Bongirwar will be organised on this day. Meanwhile, on October 14, a new series named `Hello DD' will be started, where viewers can call in and interact with their favourite celebrities.