ITV

Tag: Bigg Boss

  • The seven season itch

    The seven season itch

    The daggers are drawn and the battle field is set for what promises to be one of the most closely watched fights in recent television history.
    We’re talking about the ensuing tussle between two of the small screen’s hottest properties: Sony Entertainment’s Kaun Banega Crorepati season seven vs. Colors’ Bigg Boss season seven.   

    While there really are no guesstimates as to which among these two shows will succeed in grabbing more eyeballs (… and TVTs), both Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) are more than ready for the kill.  

    Sony is betting big on the seventh season of KBC which comes to drawing rooms beginning 6 September, in a new and improved avatar. Not to be outdone, Colors is kick-starting Bigg Boss season seven – The ‘Wow’ and the ‘Aow’ barely nine days later i.e. 15 September.

    We identify our strengths and weaknesses, and then see how we can complement our strengths with new shows, says confident Raj Nayak

    Rechristened Saptakoti Mahadhani… Kaun Banega Mahacrorepati, KBC will be aired every Friday to Sunday at 8:30 pm. whereas Bigg Boss season seven will be telecast Monday to Sunday at 9:00 pm.
    So what is the USP of this particular season, which the GECs are banking on?

    KBC aims to create a platform of opportunities for Indians across ages, genders and socio-economic groups, and has had a makeover in terms of its format and prize money, which is now a whopping Rs 7 crore, among others.

    Bigg Boss, on the other hand, arrives with a novel theme of heaven vs hell – The ‘Wow’ associated with the former and the ‘Aow’ with the latter.

    A quick look at what’s new in both the shows:

    KBC’s money tree will now comprise 15 questions and it will boast a brand new lifeline called ‘Power Paplu’ to aid those who seek to revive an already used lifeline. ‘Flip the question’ (Alat Palat) will replace ‘Ask the expert’ while ‘50:50’ will replace ‘Double Dip’.

    In the entire game play, a hot seat contestant may now use only four of the five lifelines on offer.

    A new feature ‘Play along’ has been introduced for the Fastest Finger First contestants who do not make it to the hot seat.

    Well, competition is a reality. Within the very aggressive, competitive market, you have to differentiate the niche, says N.P Singh

    Using ‘Play along’, they can play with the hot seat contestant and the one who answers the maximum number of questions in the minimum amount of time gets to win one lakh rupees at the end of the episode.

    Additionally, the time limit for the ‘Phone a friend’ lifeline has been increased from 30 to 45 seconds. What’s more, audiences can win by playing the Ghar Baithe Jeeto Jackpot.
    In contrast, Bigg Boss promises to be a roller-coaster ride for audiences, what with the heaven vs hell theme.

    Of the 14 contestants, seven will be new names residing in a separate heaven themed house while the remaining seven will be old members, staying under one roof in another hell themed house, who’ve already been members of the Bigg Boss house during the last six seasons. The contestants from both the houses would be pitched against eachother in a series of tasks.

    Among the newbies entering the Bigg Boss house are Shekhar Suman, Vatsal Seth, Suraj Pancholi, Kushal Tandon, Pratyusha Banerjee and Sonarika Bhadoria. The seventh newcomer is still to be identified.

    Blast from the past: Hellcat Pooja Mishra is among the old members who will continue to occupy the house. Other members are still not confirmed.

    There will be some amount of competition and fragmentation between the two shows, says Deepak Netram

    Apart from programming frills, the channels themselves seem super confident about their respective properties. Moreso considering Bigg Boss has had a successful run last season with an opening of 4.0 TVR (television viewership ratings); ditto for KBC’s last season which opened with 6.1 TVR.

    Colors CEO Raj Nayak says the channel is very clear and conscious in its strategy to be a complete household entertainment channel. “Today if you do a FPC (Fixed Point Chart) check across all channels, you will see Colors has the maximum variety. While strategy is one part, everything we do involves risks. But when I say risks, we take calculated risks. We identify our strengths and weaknesses, and then see how we can complement our strengths with new shows. If we succeed, they become better. If not, we keep trying,” he exults.

    Asked if Sony has any particular strategy to beat the competition, SET chief operating officer N.P Singh says, “Well, competition is a reality. Within the very aggressive, competitive market, you have to differentiate the niche. Sony in its last 17 years has always run shows which are different from the rest and that has set us apart and we continue to follow that strategy.”

    Since it is the seventh season, both shows have a great following and it will be very hard to choose one, says Ashish Bhasin

    While Lodestar UM vice president Deepak Netram agrees there will be some amount of competition and fragmentation between the two shows, he is quick to point out that they cannot be compared. “They are unique in their own way. From the past what we have seen is KBC ratings have been there year on year. So we hope to maintain that. Bigg Boss on the other hand is looking bigger; the promotions are really huge and have happened way in advance. So it will be interesting to see how this pans out,” he observes.

    Aegis Group plc chairman India and CEO southeast Asia Ashish Bhasin echoes Netram’s sentiments saying it will be a tough call between two very established properties. “Since it is the seventh season, both shows have a great following and it will be very hard to choose one. What viewers always believe in is content. If the content is of the viewers’ interest, people will definitely opt for that. The main competition will be when something else comes at that time – say a big movie is being launched by another channel or any big news event – which show loses out in that instance is going to be more interesting to watch,” he opines.

    peaking from the point of view of advertisers, Bhasin says this particular slot is becoming increasingly attractive to them as it is also the hub of reality shows. “Advertisers will go where the eyeballs are and choose the most cost-effective way to get them. That’s how pricing will be done. And that can vary depending upon what the market rates are for that channel around that point of time. I don’t think finding advertisers for any of these shows will be an issue,” he says.

    On his part, Nayak maintains Colors’ non-fiction shows generate more traction from advertisers than its fictional shows and Bigg Boss gets some of the biggest brands. However, he adds that it works as a loss leader and the channel has been investing in it because it is a cult show. This apart, it generates a lot of buzz. Estimates are that it is in the region of Rs 15-20 crore.
    Most advertisers across categories agree that since both KBC and Bigg Boss are big properties and have local audiences across age groups, they cannot afford to ignore any one of them.

    “Who would not want to take advantage of these shows to reach out to their target group? People are waiting for the shows to start and with festivals coming up; no one would be a fool to favour one over the other. Maximum eyeballs give us maximum reach,” says an advertiser who didn’t wish to be named.

    As things stand, both the shows have gone viral on various digital platforms. Bigg Boss seven’s official Facebook page boasts around 1.8 million likes and more than 30,000 people talking about it. KBC Seven is not far behind with 1.6 million likes. Both are popular on Facebook but don’t seem to be trending that much on twitter.

    Whether Big B’s charisma will work or Salman Khan’s swagger, only time will tell…

  • Bigg Boss 7 takes the road to heaven and hell!

    Bigg Boss 7 takes the road to heaven and hell!

    MUMBAI: What do James Bond and Colors’ reality show Bigg Boss share in common? It’s the number 7. In its seventh edition this year, the Endemol-produced Bigg Boss will begin airing from 15 September promising action like ‘never seen before’.

     

    A pointer is the new theme that has been planned for this year’s theme, which plays with the two afterlife abodes – heaven and hell amplifying the message the pleasure of heaven and the pain of hell. And the tag word they have coined for this year is Bigg Boss Saath 7 (Remember Big Boss Five Five and Season 6 Alag Che?).

     

    Says Colors marketing head Rajesh Iyer: “This season Bigg Boss will make sure that you get to see heaven and hell *saath-saath* on Bigg Boss Season 7.”
     

    The teasers that hit TV screens this week show an open gate with one side leading towards heaven and the other towards damnation or hell. And if you look closely at the promos which are on air you will see Sallu aka Salman Khan donning the avatars of an angel and the devil. The campaign will involve print, digital, mobile and below the line mediums. The face behind the TV campaign is Orchard Advertising and Tubelight films.

     

    The number 7 has been incorporated into many aspects apart from the tagline. The number of participants is 14 (2 X 7) and all the action during the show will be captured on 70 cameras. “The message is simple – pleasure or pain: both are inevitable and there is nothing to be taken for granted,” says Iyer.

     

    Inspiration has been taken from the mythological space and the pleasure of heaven has been articulated as ‘wow’ and pain as aao. Khan will be seen his usual cheerful self and being an improviser himself has created his own catchphrase ‘By God.’ Seems to be very pun intended!

     

    Speaking about what made them choose this particular theme this year Orchard Advertising Executive Creative Director Hemant Kumar Sivan says that they had two tasks to deal with: to raise the curiosity and interest levels amongst viewers and to present Khan in a fresh manner.

     

    “We worked with the simple truth of life that, heaven and hell are of man’s own making. It all depends on how one deals with what life has to offer,” he says intending that the inmates are going to face some hell-like situations and only one of them will survive the best of both worlds.

     

    Living up to its reputation of being very interactive on social media, a heaven versus hell interaction will be initiated every day post the trailer launch. “As of now, we are just feeding cues for people to pick up,” says Colors digital head Vivek Srivastava.

     

    Previously, the fifth season saw two biggies Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, both involved in the promotional campaign with a special music video featuring the two while the sixth season played on the theme alag che (it’s different).

     

    Bigg Boss hasn’t gone without its share of controversies. The year 2011 saw the show go into a slightly negative zone with Indo-Canadian porn star Sunny Leone and the channel was pulled up for using the national anthem to promote the show in movie theaters last year. It hasn’t given up hope but. Even this year it will continue to air its promos on theater screens.

     

    According to Colors CEO Raj Nayak its non-fiction shows generate more traction from advertisers than its fictional shows and Bigg Boss gets some of the biggest brand. However, he adds that it works as a loss leader and the channel has been investing in it because it is a cult show. This apart, it generates a lot of buzz. Estimates are that it is in the region of Rs 15-20 crore.

     

    Going by the lyrics of Black Sabbath’s song if it seems to be real, it’s illusion the happenings in the house surely seem to be on the same path. The number seven is lucky for a lot of people. Will it be the same for the Bigg Boss’ Eye or will it suffer a seven year itch with its viewers?

  • How Colors is adding ‘colours’ to its content

    We produce over 7500 hours of original content per year only amongst the top six GECs, which by itself is a tall order, and yet we produce great shows that goes on for over five years on almost a daily basis. Internationally also shows go on for years but they are in seasons and they take a break and most of them are not daily. So to that extent, in a way we can say we create great content, especially given the budgets we operate in.

    I believe that the 12 minute regulation on advertising inventory will act as the much needed catalyst for the advertising yields to go up, so I am very optimistic about the future
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    At this moment, the budgets we work with is very very low for fiction shows as compared to worldwide benchmarks, and it shows in the quality of the product that goes on air. It is an chicken and egg situation, you can‘t produce high quality shows if you don‘t invest…You can‘t invest if you do not generate sufficient revenue. Right now we have too much dependency on advertising revenue, where the yield has been stagnant for years and a fair share either in increased subscription revenues or a decrease in carriage fees hasn‘t really happened yet. But with digitisation progressing and the remaining phases to be implemented soon, I believe that over the next two-three year horizon this correction is bound to take place. What it means is broadcasters will then have more money in their kitty to reinvest on quality programming, thus enriching the viewing experience multifold for the consumer. I also believe that the 12 minute regulation on advertising inventory will act as the much needed catalyst for the advertising yields to go up, so I am very optimistic about the future.

    Yes we have some challenges facing the industry. There is a dearth of good script writers, most of the stories that come to us are unfortunately cut and paste jobs, either from movies or from across different shows. Original thinking is surprisingly missing. Then if you look at the comic genre, there are hardly any good comedy writers, in fact you can count them on your fingers. So either there is a genuine dearth or we haven‘t been able to scout & nurture talent as an industry. We like to work with the same people who are so overloaded with work and are unable to devote 100 per cent to one story (There ofcourse are exceptions to the rule). Production houses have become executors, the channel EP‘s take credit when a show does well but blames the production house, script writer, everyone else when the show flops. We need to move to a system where the production house takes cent per cent accountability to deliver a show and its ratings. A system where they are both incentivised and penalised for performance. The channel EP‘s must strictly supervise that all deliverables are met & quality check. The producer of the show must have a skin in the game so that they are fully involved.

    Right now we have too much dependency on advertising revenue, where the yield has been stagnant for years and a fair share either in increased subscription revenues or a decrease in carriage fees hasn‘t really happened yet
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    Talent is another challenge, inspite of being a country of 1.3 billion people, talent is still an issue. Again, part of the problems lies with us broadcasters, we don‘t want to experiment with new people. We want the same hosts, same judges, and are not willing to look beyond. Its a musical chair. Everyone wants to play safe. We prefer to stay in our comfort zone and we need to change this mindset.

    Last year we had a list of names floating to anchor our show Jhalak Dikhhlaa Jaa. Also for the judges. My non fiction programming head and I were insistent that we needed a face that was new…Thus we got Manish Paul & see what a success he has been! We got Karan Johar again from outside the regular judges list and he has turned out to be the best judge on any TV show! His contribution to the show, like Madhuri & Remo has been enormous.

    Television is a very potent medium. The beauty of TV is, you take anybody and put them on television a couple of times and they will become a celebrity. TV fiction stars are more popular than film stars even though they may not get the same adulation as a film star. But the truth is they invade millions of drawing rooms and bedrooms day in and day out 365 days of the year in the remotest parts of the country. I have had legends in the field of art and culture or even very eminent people from different walks of life wanting to meet some of the characters from their favourite shows. I have seen film actors‘ parents wanting a picture with their favourite TV star…The problem with TV stars is their life span is comparatively short and their fortunes are linked to the performance of, at most times, just one show. Once the show is successful some of them forget what got them there in the first place and there is no one to counsel them or professionally manage them. So that is another area, that we need to work on and develop as an industry.

    We as a channel have taken the first step in upping the ante by announcing a high production fiction show 24 with Anil Kapoor. Sony has followed by announcing a fiction show with Amitabh Bachchan. We are happy that we have set another new trend.

  • Actor Vindoo Dara Singh nabbed for links with bookies in spot-fixing case

    Actor Vindoo Dara Singh nabbed for links with bookies in spot-fixing case

    NEW DELHI: Bigg Boss fame Vindoo Dara Singh, son of the award-winning wrestler and actor who died last year, has been arrested for links with bookies, following the arrest of another bookie Ramesh Vyas.

     Vindoo is reported to have acted as a link between players and bookies.

    Vindoo is the winner of the third season of TV reality show Bigg Boss.

    Earlier in the day, the supreme court refused to stop all remaining matches of Indian Premier League (IPL) in view of the spot-fixing scandal. The court said entire IPL can‘t be banned just because of certain irregularities on the part of a few players. The court asked the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to ensure that "cricket should remain a gentleman‘s game".

    Slamming the BCCI, the court said, "Definitely there is some kind of irregularity. But the biggest problem is the lackadaisical attitude of the BCCI. It should stop. There has to be some scientific dispassionate and impartial approach to solve these problems."

    The apex court directed the one-man inquiry committee appointed by BCCI to submit its report within 15 days on the spot-fixing scandal.
     
    The 49-year-old actor began his career with ‘Karan‘ (1994). Then he acted in Punjabi language film, Rab Dian Rakhan (1996), which was directed by his father. Since then, he has acted in many films, mostly in supporting roles.

    He has also acted in TV serials, including the role of Hanuman in the TV serial Jai Veer Hanuman, much like his father did in Ramayana. He has also starred Ssshhhh…Koi Hai and Karma. Vindu has also essayed an important role in the serial ‘Black’ on 9X. He has made appearance in television shows like Master Chef 2 (Star Plus), Comedy Circus (Sony), All Most Famous (Zoom TV), Maa Exchange (Sony), Vindu has also done commercial for Pepsi with Ranbir Kapoor.

    Vindu has also worked in many successful films like Garv, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, Partner, Khushboo, Team – The Force, Kisse Pyaar Karoon, Kambakkht Ishq, Maruti, Housefull, Lion of Punjab, Housefull2, Joker, Jai Jwala Maa, Son of Sardar and many more films in Punjabi and Telugu, Sajid Nadiadwala‘s Next two and Sajid Khan‘s Himmatwala etc.

  • Zee TV climbs to No. 2 for 1st time in 2013; Star Plus regains top spot in week 3

    MUMBAI: Zee TV has climbed to the second rank in the Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) hierarchy for the first time in 2013 as some of its special shows performed strongly in week 3.

    Star Plus regained its top position as Colors, living without its popular reality show Bigg Boss, slipped ground to take up the No. 3 spot.

    As per TAM data (HSM, 4+, C&S) sourced from a Hindi GEC, Zee TV in week three of 2013 added 20 GRPs to its previous week’s tally to gross 215 GRPs.

    Zee TV gained particularly from its special shows, where episodes of two serials are combined into one show, which the channels calls ‘mahasangram’. Zee TV had aired mahasangram of Hitler Didi and Pavitra Rishta on 14 January that rated 3.3 TVR for one hour telecast; mahasangram of Qubool Hai and Punar Vivah on 18 January clocked 3.2 TVR for a 90-minute telecast.

    Also, Zee TV’s ‘Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke’ was the third most watched show on a Hindi general entertainment channel, after Star Plus’ Diya AUr Baati Hum (4.4 TVR) and Colors’ Balika Vadhu (4.4 TVR). The Zee show has even become the weekday 7.30 pm slot leader with an average of 4 TVR.

    Zee TV had also aired mahaepisode of ‘Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke’ on 19 January, which recorded 3.1 TVR for 90-minute airing against Colors Screen Awards.

    The gains made by Zee TV, however, were not enough to beat Star Plus. The Star channel returned to the top spot after a week with 241 GRPs, unchanged from a week earlier. The channel was the second most watched Hindi GEC last week as Colors occupied the top position on the back of ‘Bigg Boss- 6’ finale that had rated 4.4 TVR.

    Colors slipped despite the telecast of Colors Screen Awards (the 19th edition of the annual Bollywood awards) on 19 January garnering 3.9 TVR for a four-hour run. The telecast of this event contributed around 31 GRPs to the channel.

    Colors had replaced Bigg Boss -6 with two fiction shows – ‘Sanskaar Dharohar Apnon Ki’ and ‘Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuchh Kaha-2’ that opened with 1.56 TVR and 2.16 TVR respectively. The channel lost 35 GRPs to end the week with 210 GRPs.

    “While there is marginal drop across, Bigg Boss-6 which went off air last week was not replaced by shows performing as well as the reality show. This is the reason for the GRP loss for Colors,” a media planner said.

    Sony Entertainment Television (Set) lost eight GRPs to end the week with a tally of 187 GRPs. The leading shows of the channel like CID (3.4 TVR) and KBC (2.7 TVR) had lost viewers. The channel launched a new fiction show on 14 January titled ‘Amita Ka Amit’ that had debut TVR of 1.1. It replaced Love Marriage Ya Arranged Married which concluded with a 0.5 TVR.

    Next in the hierarchy is Sab with 146 GRPs (previous week 150) and Life OK with 128 GRPs (previous week 117 GRPs).

    Sahara One with 25 GRPs (previous week 25) remained at the bottom of the ladder.

  • Bigg Boss 6 lifts Colors ahead of Star Plus

    MUMBAI: Colors was at the top among Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) in the second week of 2013, as Star Plus lived without its big spike show, Big Star Entertainment Awards.

    In its finale week, popular reality show ‘Bigg Boss‘ gave Colors the leg up to recapture the top position after three weeks. Colors winded up the sixth season of its celebrity reality show ‘Bigg Boss‘ on 12 January with 4.4 TVR and ran for two-and-a-half hours contributing 22 GRPs to the overall numbers of the channel. The Salman-Khan hosted show, which airs for an hour per episode, averaged 3.3 TVR in the week ended 12 January compared to 2.8 in the trailing week.

    As per TAM data (C&S, 4+, HSM), sourced by Indiantelevision.com from Hindi GECs, Colors got 245 GRPs (previous week 253) in the week, leading Star Plus by a slender margin of four GRPs.

    Star Plus lost 46 GRPs in the second week compared to a week earlier. ‘Big Star Entertainment Awards‘, which was aired on the New Year‘s Eve, had added 41 GRPs to Star Plus‘ viewership to give it 287 GRPs.

    Also, the average ratings of Star Plus‘ weekend dance reality show ‘Nach Baliye‘ fell from 4.3 TVRs (television ratings) to 3.6 TVRs in the second week. The other shows of Star Plus have seen minor fluctuations in viewership.

    Colors lost eight GRPs as some of its fiction shows like ‘Madhubala‘ (3.6 TVR), ‘Parichay‘ (1.3 TVR) and ‘Sasural Simar Ka‘ (3.5 TVR) witnessed slight fall in the viewership.

    Zee TV and Sony Entertainment Television (Set) jointly shared the third spot with 195 GRPs each. The two channels stood in the same position two weeks ago (in week 52) with 198 GRPs each. Zee TV lost 15 GRPs from a week earlier while Sony added 14 GRPs.

    Set‘s popular game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati-6‘ aired the episode of the first Rs 5 crore winner this season on 12 January which notched a 5.1 TVR. The other shows of the channel like ‘Comedy Circus‘ (3.3 TVR), C.I.D (3.7 TVR) and ‘Bade Achche Lagte Hain‘‘ (2.3 TVR) too saw increase in eyeballs.

    Zee TV‘s newly launched fiction property ‘Housewife‘ clocked 2.2 TVR in week 2 (previous week 2.5 TVR). The other shows of the channel like ‘Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke‘ (3.5 TVR) and ‘Hitler Didi‘ (2.2 TVR) lost viewership while ‘Qubool Hai‘ (2.7 TVR) and ‘Mrs Kaushik Ki Paanch Bahuyein‘ (1.8 TVR) saw improvement in ratings.

    Multi Screen Media‘s second GEC Sab didn‘t see any change in ratings and ended week 2 with 150 GRPs, the same as in the previous week. Life OK was next with 117 GRPs, down three GRPs from a week earlier.

    Sahara One with 25 GRPs (last week 23) continues to be at the bottom of the ladder.

    Digital Viewership

    In HSM, digital, 4+, market, Colors again is the leader with 253 GRPs (previous week 245 GRPs). Bigg Boss 6 finale notched 5.2 in digital market. Star Plus, which had climbed to No.1 spot in digital market on the back of ‘Big Star Entertainment Awards‘, slipped to No.2 position with 233 GRPs as compared to 275 GRPs in the previous week.

    Sony was in the third spot with 202 GRPs, while Zee TV followed with 178 GRPs.

    Sab‘s GRPs in digital were 143 and Life Ok 108 GRPs in week 2.

  • Sunny, porn and big bad world of TV

    Sunny, porn and big bad world of TV

    It took a lot of frisking around in bed in the buff – with first, women,and then men – for the camera to transform an Indian Sikh girl Karenjit Kaur Vohra from Ontario into a global porn star who goes by the handle of Sunny Leone. From there she made her way back to India and into our homes with the fifth season of Bigg Boss where she has surprised all.

    Her face is finely structured, her smile bewitching the youth of India. She is comfortable in her skin as a sex goddess. Her laugh is gay, full of abandon. She comes across like a person who knows what she is all about, and she loves it. She has all the oomph and jiggles in the right places to make her stand out from the rest of the Bigg Boss 5 gang. She is Indian, and looks partly so, but sounds totally foreign. And yet she speaks Hindi with a charming accent and style. She is exotic. A mysterious enticement.

    Yes, she has that seductive figure, the seductive American/Canadian accent and a very seductive way of carrying herself.

    But she has done nothing – yet – to warrant her the porn star status that has made her the wet dream of millions of her fans the world over.

    Adult content can offer a release for many frustrated youth, who, in its absence, tend to vent their pent-up frustration out on girls as young as four or five as newspaper reports have revealed
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    The media has gone to town with Sunny. Reams and reams of pages of editorial have been written about her. Internet news sites, facebook communities and blogs have gushed about her porn star status in the hope of titillating readers to consume more of their pictures, and the accompanying puerile editorial. (This piece hopefully is not adding to the pulpy content). News channels too have spent thousands of minutes of on-air time examining Sunny Leone from every angle and even flashing pictures of her nearly undressed.

    Then some unknown organisations backed by shady characters have been grappling at straws to nail her and the show for crossing the boundaries of decency. And cash in on the Sunny phenomenon. And possible bask in the glare of the media by sending out dubious press releases about her being banned by some unknown associations of persons.

    But Sunny -the consummate professional that she is – she has not given them the chance; she has walked the thin line extremely well.

    Do you know Sunny Leone may have never made it to Bigg Boss 5? Well, she had been signed on earlier this year. But folks at the channel were balking at having her on-air as there were concerns whether cause-hunting groups would make a pornographic star’s appearance on the show as a cause celebtre.

    Finally, however, senior management decided to bite the bullet and go ahead, and ordered the channel’s standard and practices division to keep an even sharper watch on the content before it is pushed out on air.

    India which has given the Khajurhao, the Kama Sutra to the world has hypocritically been blocking out risqué content for years, nay decades.

    While most progressive countries allow adult content on air late night with some controls, India‘s lame policy makers and influencers have shut the door on it. Pseudo moralists in government and pseudo social activists have strangled and paralysed any movement on this score. India has millions of sex workers nationally servicing 10 times as many men daily. Parlours offer sex services from young masseuses under the guise of massage. There‘s a strong underground pornographic production network on anyway which disseminates clips through the net and through illegal channels in South East Asia and even India. These continue to flourish under the very noses of these same pseudo moralists. Some may also have the blessings of some of these very protesters in power.

    The Bhatt angle may have been just a ploy to attract eyeballs, deflect some heat the channel may have been getting-courtesy – Sunny, and also bring in Bollywood to make it look legit.
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    The fact is that adult content can offer a release for many frustrated youth who in its absence tend to vent their pent-up frustration out on girls as young as four or five, something which we tend to see in shocking newspaper reports day in day out. The government‘s Victorian approach is helping no one, apart from giving some ammo to the moral brigade to make noise from time to time and keep the information and broadcasting ministry busy. The government has set a digitization of Indian cable TV deadline. The technology that digital cable TV and DTH brings with it enables selective blocking of what can be termed objectionable content in the home by the viewer himself. The viewer will get to decide what he/she and his family members will be permitted to watch.

    So it’s about time that the powers-that-be drop their pseudo-moralism and take steps to rethink broadcast of adult content in the age of the internet where sex is the most searched term on google. And there are more visuals of the sexual act easily accessible to even underage kids at the click of a mouse then ever in mankind‘s history. Also, remember an extremely bold film like The Dirty Picture by the queen of family dramas Ekta Kapoor is getting rave reviews and attracting the so-called "conservative Indians" to cinema halls and multiplexes.

    Back to Sunny. She has tried to break out into Hollywood in the past, without much success. But Bollywood seems to be more accepting and welcoming than mainline or B-grade movie makers of the good old US of A. Earlier this week, she cast her spell on film maker Mahesh Bhatt who has been linked with the most beautiful of actresses and has had several relationships with the most desirable women. Bhatt fawned over her, showered lavish praise on her – behaving like an ageing, veteran film maker who has found his muse towards the sunset of his career.

    And he has offered her a part in Jism 2. Sunny, appears warm to the idea, and has left it to her agent in the US and Pooja Bhatt’s Fisheye Network to hammer out an agreement on her behalf for her Bollywood debut. If that is worked out, it will be a dream come true for Bhatt.

    A performer who has done it all, will be relatively easy to deal with.

    Dropping clothes will come naturally; smooching will not be a problem, she will possibly go the Full Monty; no body doubles will be needed. It will make for an interesting movie

    Sunny times are ahead. Yeah!!!

    Or at the end of it all nothing may emerge from it. The Bhatt angle may have been just a ploy by the channel‘s marketers and spin doctors to attract eyeballs, deflect some heat the its management may have been getting courtesy Sunny, and also bring in Bollywood to make it look like even India‘s most respected entertainment institution is wooing her and possibly get a veneer of legitimacy attached to what is going on on-air.

    If this is true then, our dear Sunny will head back to Los Angeles at the end of Bigg Boss 5, and remain a much remembered nymph. And she will be doing what she knows best: producing and marketing herself in the big lucrative world of porn.

  • Colors bets big on Bigg Boss season 6

    MUMBAI: Colors has launched a 360 degree marketing campaign to promote its biggest property – Salman Khan-hosted ‘Bigg Boss-6‘.

    With the central theme of ‘Alag Che‘ the channel has planned to do something different this time in order to create a buzz about the show.

    The channel has tied up with radio channels-Radio City and Fever to do some activities with them. On Radio City, the channel is converting ‘audio into video‘. Titled ‘Bigg Boss Banayenge Audio ko Video‘ four RJs will be seen doing tasks given by Bigg Boss. The videos will be uploaded on the Bigg Boss site and also beamed on Radio City‘s website.

    On Fever, the channel is taking ‘Radhe‘ (a parrot), who is a new element of the house, to speak to the listeners. “Apart from these two innovations on radio, we have a 30 city plan and will be advertising on 3000+ spots on radio. Bigg Boss is our largest property and we are keeping three things in mind for marketing this – reach, innovation and impact,” said Colors marketing head Rajesh Iyer.

    As a part of below-the-line activities, there will be railway announcements in Mumbai in Bigg Boss‘ style and voice which will give public service messages like ‘Don‘t cross the track, Use Bridge‘.

    Also, there will be announcement in Bigg Boss‘ voice in the theatres where he will ask the audience to stand up for the National Anthem before the movie starts. The activity in theatres started last week and will continue till 7 October (Sunday) when the show is going on-air. Colors has tied up with 100+ screens in Mumbai for this initiative. Besides this, the audiences in 20 cities and over 200 screens will get to see the advertisements of the show during breaks in theatre.

    Meanwhile, on television Bigg Boss will be promoted on more than 53 channels outside the Viacom18 network with 6000+ spots. On its own network it will block some 1500-2000 ad spots.

    In print there will be ads in more than 40 cities and the channel is aggressively advertising on the OOH medium with focus on key HSM Markets.

    It will also have a roadblock on Dish TV and Tata Sky on 5, 6 and 7 October between 8.45 pm – 9.00 pm.

    On social media, Colors has created a Facebook application wherein the users can nominate 13 friends who can be a part of a ‘virtual Bigg Boss house.‘ “In the app, the users can give their friends titles like-Most Attractive, Most Fashionable, Most Gracious, Most Dependable, Most Wild, Most Funny, Most Romantic, Most Competitive, Most Confident, Most Creative, Most Athletic and Most Knowledgeable,” Iyer added.

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the channel is spending Rs 100-120 million on marketing the show.

    Bigg Boss-6 will air everyday at 9 pm.

  • Bigg Boss season 6 returns bigger and better

    MUMBAI: Colors is betting big on Bigg Boss season 6. Boosted by Salman Khan‘s presence this year, the broadcaster has made a slew of changes to the format of the show to make it more inclusive.

    The broadcaster has positioned Bigg Boss season 6 as ‘Alag Che‘ which literally means ‘It‘s Different‘.

    Bigg Boss Season 6 will have several new elements to it, the biggest differentiator is the opportunity for a common man to gain entry into the Bigg Boss house. This, the broadcaster believes, will give the viewers an opportunity to experience in the Bigg Boss house from a common-man‘s perspective.

    The other differentiator is the presence of two house guests – a fish and a talking parrot to give company to the housemates. The producers have also introduced a rule according to which any participant violating rules will be reprimanded to the Panic Room.

    All this and other new elements will make the show appealing to the entire family, believes Colors CEO Raj Nayak. The show has also been moved to prime-time slot and will be aired at 9 pm from Sunday to Monday starting 7 October.

    Will the change in format and introduction of new elements upset the applecart? Unlikely, says Nayak.

    “Everybody is moving towards positivity zone, if you see all the shows that are doing well are in the positivity zone we tried that with Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. We also realised that we were alienating a lot of viewers therefore we have reformatted the show by introducing new elements without touching the soul of the show. We want to make it much more inclusive and provide wholesome family entertainment,” said Nayak.

    “We also want to broad base our viewer base and also our advertiser base. Bigg Boss till now has been youth focussed show with the 25-40 age group forming the core target group. We want entire family to watch also because India is largely a single TV market and we want to grab a large share of that segment. We are airing the show in the prime-time because we feel that the content that we will be airing lends itself to prime-time viewing.”

    The change in format will help Colors in maximising the return on investment particularly since a reality show is very expensive to produce, feels Nayak.

    According to industry sources, the total cost of producing Bigg Boss will be in the region of Rs 1.5 billion.

    The reasoning behind having a common man as a participant is to give loyal Bigg Boss viewers a chance to be a part of the Bigg Boss house.

    “Bigg Boss is a cult programme and we have got a lot of loyal viewers who call us wanting to be a part of the Bigg Boss house so we thought why not give them a chance to be a part of the show and rub shoulders with big celebrities,” Nayak reasoned.

    The brief given by Colors to Endemol was that the show should have positive rub-off and casting should be done in a way that the participants connect with the viewers.

    The broadcaster will spend close to Rs 100-120 million to promote the show. “There is only so much that you can do in marketing since there are only that many more media vehicles. But we have to shout louder since the clutter levels are higher. We normally spend about Rs 7-8 crore (Rs 70-80 million) on a reality show but for Bigg Boss we will spend close to Rs 10-12 crores (Rs 100-120 million) and this amount is only for the promotions outside the network spanning all the media platforms,” revealed Nayak

    The Colors chief is also unperturbed by the fact that Bigg Boss will compete with Sony‘s Kaun Banega Crorepati. “That‘s the reality of life everyday you are competing against someone or the other. At the end of the day, you need to have the conviction and belief that the show you are producing will do well,” Nayak asserts.

    The broadcaster is currently engaged in negotiations with existing as well as new advertisers. Bigg Boss will have eight sponsors which includes a title and a powered by sponsor and six associate sponsors.

    The official sponsors would consume about 50 per cent of the inventory while the spot buyer‘s would consume the rest.

    According to Nayak, sponsors and spot buyers will have to shell out more this time for the show since it is investing more money into the show and the scale is bigger than previous seasons.

    “We have hiked sponsorship rates by 20-30 per cent,” stated Nayak, “We are currently in negotiation with advertisers however everybody wants to see who signs first but that‘s the nature of the business.”

    However, media buyers are not enthused by this rate hike. “While Bigg Boss is an established property, there are other reality shows for advertisers to go to. We also have a lot of cricket coming up including the India versus Pakistan series, which will consume a lot of advertising monies,” a media buyer said.

    He also opined that advertisers this year have been cautious on their spends due to a slowdown in the economy.

    Zenith Optimedia managing partner Navin Khemka believes Bigg Boss has the potential to attract new audiences.

    “Bigg Boss is a well established property and attracts a lot of audience who otherwise don‘t watch GECs. It has an appeal among youth and advertisers who see brand fit will associate with the property,” he says.

  • Endemol bags remaking rights of Kahaani in Tamil and Telugu

    Endemol bags remaking rights of Kahaani in Tamil and Telugu

    MUMBAI: Known for making shows on Indian television like Bigg Boss and Fear Factor, Endemol India has forayed into the film making business.

    Starting their foray, the production company has already acquired remaking rights of the Sujoy Ghosh-directed Vidya Balan-starrer Kahaani in Tamil and Telugu.

    “After having produced content for some of the biggest format shows in the country, we realised that it was time for us to venture into something new. Film making was always on the cards and we are delighted to finally set out to actually do it. We are already lining up projects for 2013 and are extremely excited about our first project, the remake of Kahaani which will be in production soon,” Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar said.

    Will the Tamil and Telugu remake be a low cost affair like the original? “The South markets have their own dynamics and cost structures. We will be producing these films at levels comparable to medium to high cost films that one sees down South. We are investing in the best of talent and technical talent to do justice to the original script,” quipped Dhar.

    Sujoy Ghosh, who produced the original script, will also step in as the producer for the remakes and will be working with a leading director from the South Indian film industry.

    Would Ghosh direct the remakes? “Ghosh would continue to be involved in this project from the scripting to the first copy as a creative producer. His learnings and creative skills will be utilised to the fullest by us on the project. But to do justice to the local language and the market dynamics, we will be investing in the best of directorial, writing and technical talent down South,” Dhar observed.

    Endemol India is currently in talks with a couple of leading actors from South for the lead role in the remake of Kahaani. Will the original characters be there in the remakes too? “We are currently writing the script for both languages keeping in mind the local culture and sensibilities. We will retain the original characters but who will play them and how they will play out will be a matter of time before we announce them,” answered Dhar.

    Filming of the remakes is slated to begin in September while the release of the film in the two languages is earmarked for early January.