ITV

Tag: GEC

  • New Tamil GEC Pudhu Yugam to go live on 23 October

    New Tamil GEC Pudhu Yugam to go live on 23 October

    MUMBAI: A new channel is about to enter the Sun TV-dominated GEC space of South India.

    Pudhu Yugam, from the Chennai-based New Generation Media Corporation stable, is slated to go on air from 23 October. It is the second TV offering from the company after news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai TV.

    Shyam Kumar has high expectations from the new channel

    An internal launch has already taken place on 5 October, when the channel’s programming was unveiled to the New Generation Media Corporation. Whereas an official launch has been planned on 18 October at Chennai’s Leela Palace where everything about the baby channel will be revealed. The ad sales are being handled by Fourth Dimension Media Solutions while the media and creative duties will be handled by Mindshare Chennai and Disha Communications respectively. The channel logo will be unveiled on the day of the launch.

    Nearly Rs 100 crore has been invested in the channel, which plans to air about 100 hours of in-house content per week including serials, reality and non-fiction shows, with the rest commissioned to producers. Popular Tamil film celebrities such as Simran, Sonia Agarwal and Ambika are expected to grace the shows with their presence.

    New Generation Media Corporation CEO R B U Shyam Kumar couldn’t have been happier as the launch is happening before Diwali as he’d wanted.

    As of now, each hour will see about seven to eight minutes of advertising. Fourth Dimension has recently opened up an office in Mumbai to attract more advertisers for the channel. “I have travelled extensively across India and the response to the channel has been terrific,” says Fourth Dimension Media Solutions CEO Shankar B.

    Digitally speaking, all the shows will be available on the channel’s website plus viewers will be able to live stream them with a delay of just one or two minutes.

    Plans are afoot to launch an application for Android and iOS that will be free for the first three months, post which it will be made subscription based. Viewers will be able to see live TV on the application as well.

    “We tried the application with our news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai TV, and we realized people want to view us wherever they are,” says Pudhu Yugam convergence head Manikanda Boopathi. The channel will be available as a pack with PT TV for a price of Rs 250-Rs 300 per annum. Apart from that, it has also tied up with Yupptv for showing live TV and VOD.

    “We know where the world is heading and we want to be ahead of everyone else,” says an optimistic Boopathy. The PT TV application has had over 80,000 downloads that gives viewers three options- live TV, just live audio (for low bandwidth) and live tickr. All this with just under four minutes of delay.

    There are plans to have live streaming in HD for Tamilians in US in phase II considering Indian bandwidth is too low to allow HD on the internet.

    Like in the case of Puthiya Thalaimurai, the marketing campaign will focus more on outdoor than TV. Closer to the launch, events such as flashmobs have also been planned to generate buzz

    Pudhu Yugam plans a breakthrough in the GEC space by positioning itself as a General Engagement (and not Entertainment) Channel with domestic as well as foreign-based Tamil viewers as its target audience.

    Only time will tell if Pudhu Yugam can give established networks like Sun and Jaya a run for their TVTs…

  • O&M colours the town blue with Center Fruit

    O&M colours the town blue with Center Fruit

    MUMBAI: Perfetti Van Melle India (PVMI) has launched a new interesting product ‘Colour Your Tongue’ under its flagship chewing gum brand Center Fruit.

     

    The product’s unique proposition is that it turns the tongue blue when chewed, aptly portrayed in the new television commercial. The campaign has been created by Ogilvy & Mather is currently on air across Kids channels and select GECs.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Perfetti Van Melle India category head – gums Mandar Keskar said, “We, at Perfetti, believe in doing something distinctive with every new launch. Center Fruit ‘Colour Your Tongue’ is meant for all those with a taste for some fun! It is not only a completely new flavour offering but also provides an exciting experience of turning the tongue blue when chewed. A sure shot delight, especially for our younger consumers.”

     

    In the latest commercial for Colour Your Tongue, product positioning has been incorporated in a smart and witty manner and has added a new colour to it.
     “Colour Your Tongue is a very interesting product. We wanted to demonstrate the fact that it turns your tongue blue in an equally interesting way” says Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai group creative director Anurag Agnithotri.

    Launched in 2006, Center Fruit is country’s first fruit-flavored, liquid-filled gum and comes in a variety of flavors.

  • Life OK to showcase Mallika’s Magic

    Life OK to showcase Mallika’s Magic

    MUMBAI: The countdown to Life OK’s much anticipated show The Bachelorette India has begun. Starting 7 October, every Monday to Friday from 9.30 pm to 10.30 pm, all eyes will be on Mallika Sherawat as she hunts for the perfect mate from among 30 eligible bachelors, who will pull out all stops to win the sexy siren’s heart… and hand.

    People will either hate it or love it believes Ajit Thakur

    “You will either hate it or love it,” says Life OK general manager Ajit Thakur about the non-fiction show.

    Scheduled to run for five weeks with 28 hours of total content, 40 to 50 per cent of shooting has already been canned in the City of Lakes. Produced by SOL Productions with Lux Inferno and Ghadi Detergent as co-presenting sponsors, the show is in keeping with Life OK’s promise to add an Indian flavour to the much awaited reality series. As for Mallika, she is a magnet for publicity, whatever she does.

    But why make the show a week day property? “This kind of content is universal in nature. If you view from a concept perspective, on other GECs, a week day concept is all about soaps and the emotional content is very high. So love is the corner stone for everything that happens on a GEC from Monday to Friday. Considering this fact, we thought this was the best time,” says Life OK marketing head Pratik Seal.

    Marketing-wise, several activities have been planned. Digitally speaking, Life OK has organised a ‘live tweeter outdoor’ at Delhi University North Campus, where people can come and tweet their wishes to Mallika. “It’s a mood meter. Mallika’s mood changes on how you tweet. For example, if you criticise, she becomes grumpy; if you praise her, she is all happy. This activity is still on and students there are enjoying it,” explains Seal. Special tabs, games and apps, and video leaks on YouTube have been built into the digital activity.

    Secondly, throughout the five weeks, Life OK will have a video diary, also known as a regular video blog, on YouTube that will be updated regularly.

    Thirdly, there will be a live tweeter hastens during the show, where people can tweet about their favourite moments.

    Fourthly, Life OK has undertaken on-ground activations in over 38 cities. Add to that, colleges in UP, Delhi and Gujarat will celebrate Rose Day as a prelude to the show. A Google hangout with the lady on 7 October is also in the pipeline.

    Fourthly, Life OK has undertaken on-ground activations in over 38 cities. Add to that, colleges in UP, Delhi and Gujarat will celebrate Rose Day as a prelude to the show. A Google hangout with the lady on 7 October is also in the pipeline.

    Radio and television activations have been undertaken on a huge scale and TV promos of the show have received a good response.

    Speaking about hoardings, Seal says: “We did Phase I and Phase II of the campaign. The first phase was about selling the concept of war while the second phase was about showcasing love.”

    There will be people coming, who want a break from Hindi GECs, says a confident Pratik Seal

    Of the entire show budget, the channel is learnt to have spent around eight to ten per cent on marketing the upcoming show.

    Will the show grab enough eye balls in the face of such stiff competition? “Our attempt was to reach out beyond the GEC audience. We want to target more youth, more men, and more family as a unit; that has been our objective. If we manage to do that, half of our job is done. So there will be people coming, who want a break from Hindi GECs, to see what new biryani is cooking,” says Seal confidently.

    But comparisons with NDTV Imagine’s Swayamvar are inevitable and the industry isn’t too gung-ho about Life OK’s experiment with a similar format. “We’ve already seen enough of Rahul Mahajan, Rakhi Sawant and Ratan Rajput’s Swayamvar. What new is the show going to add? Just by changing the face of the person does not mean that the show is going to catch the attention of the viewers,” says a director.

    “Forget the daily soaps on other GECs. I think Bigg Boss is going to be the show’s biggest competitor. I am watching Bigg Boss since three weeks and I am already glued to it. I would not like to switch to any other channel for that one hour,” says an industry professional.

  • News Broadcasters case on adcap to be heard by TDSAT on 31 October

    News Broadcasters case on adcap to be heard by TDSAT on 31 October

    NEW DELHI: The petition by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) challenging the constitutional validity of the regulations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) enforcing the ad cap is to come up for hearing on 31 October.

     

    The fresh date was fixed on a mention by counsel A J Bhambani for the NBA to the effect that the cases relating to general entertainment channels could not be clubbed with news broadcasters who had challenged the authority of TRAI to take decisions in the matter.

     

    Earlier on 30 August, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) had listed the matter for 11 November.

     

    However, when some general entertainment channels including music channels approached TDSAT in various petitions, the Tribunal decided to club all the cases together and hear them on 21 October after counsel for TRAI told TDSAT during a hearing earlier this month that an anomalous situation had been created with some channels having accepted the adcap with effect from 1 October. It was therefore requested that the matter be resolved once and for all.

     

    It remains to be seen whether general entertainment channels will seek a change in date in view of the new date for the NBA case. However, counsel for some of the GECs told indiantelevision.com that TDSAT was expected to hear all matters together on 31 October.

     

    Meanwhile, TRAI had been forbidden on 30 August from taking any ‘coercive action’ against news channels who are not abiding by the agreement relating to advertisement time on news channels.

     

    The Tribunal also said that while the news channels will maintain weekly records of the advertising time per hour on a weekly basis, they will not be required to submit this to the regulator as being done at present and will only submit these to TDSAT at the hearing of the case.

     

    Bhambani had said on 30 August that a delegation of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) had submitted a formula to the regulator but that did not preclude the broadcasters from challenging the validity of the Regulations. He also said that this was only a compromise reached between the broadcasters and the regulator and could not form the basis of penal action since it was not a regulation or legal provision. He had added that there were many members who were common to both the IBF and the NBA, and therefore the IBF had submitted a ‘proposal’ on 29 May this year, which the TRAI accepted. But this could not be construed as a regulation.

     

    Even otherwise, he argued that TRAI was only empowered by its own Act to make ‘recommendations’ on issues like advertisements and not bring about or enforce regulations and resort to prosecution.

     

    When the law was invoked by the Authority in May 2012, it was disputed by television broadcasters which had also challenged the jurisdiction of TRAI in this regard before the Tribunal.

  • First episode of Homeland season 3 to premiere exclusively on the Star World Premiere website

    First episode of Homeland season 3 to premiere exclusively on the Star World Premiere website

    Star India’s latest offering Star World Premiere HD brings to India some of the world’s best TV shows enabling Indian audiences to watch their favorite TV series along with America, before the rest of the world. Star World Premier HD will air 26 new and returning shows from 4 of the biggest television studios in the world, creating a revolutionary television viewing experience in High Definition (HD). The channel will also air the latest season (S3) of award-winning show Homeland starring Claire Danes and Damien Lewis.

     

    With the brand new GEC debuting on air earlier this week on Tata Sky HD, Star World Premiere HD will showcase an exclusive web premiere of the first episode of the latest season of the drama-thriller several hours before the series airs on television in India.  The critically acclaimed show has won a host of awards including the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and the 2011 and 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. Claire Danes also clinched her second consecutive best drama actress Emmy award on Sunday for Homeland along with the late Henry Bromwell who won a posthumous writing Emmy for the show’s intense ‘Q&A’ episode

     

    Tune in to watch the opening episode of the 3rd season of the show on the Star World Premiere HD website www.starworldpremiere.inon Monday, the 30th of September between 11 am to 7 pm.
     

  • The Bachelorette India Mere Khayalon ki Mallika creates a stir online!

    The Bachelorette India Mere Khayalon ki Mallika creates a stir online!

    NEW DELHI: India’s fastest growing GEC, has yet again broken all realms of success. Days before the official launch of the on-air promos, the channel has gone ahead and released the video online, ensuring over 1,34,000 unique views (on youtube)

     

    Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have also been utilized. Mallika Sherawat wishing Narendra Modi on his birthday has gone viral.  The keywords ‘Mallika Sherawat’ are trending on Twitter increasing the recall for the Bollywood Diva.

     

    Previously, during a recent press gathering, Mallika announced that Narendra Modi is the most eligible bachelor. This piece of news had the digital and social platforms buzzing with discussions about Mallika Sherawat. This led to a sizeable volume of people discussing Mallika and the show which led to Mallika Sherawat trending on 7th and 8th September, 2013.

     

    On 7th September, 2013 there was a web exclusive release of the launch promo of The Bachelorette India. The promo got a lot of organic traction on YouTube and has more than 1,34,433 views, from the release (Digital release – 8th September)  till date. (17th September, 2013) Said Ajit Thakur, General Manager, Life OK, “The idea was to engage people on the social media platform. Whether it is in the form of a video or tweet, the online conversations have created a strong mass anticipation around the show”.

     

    Social media was twittering, creating high recall factor for Mallika, leading to a high curiosity level for the show.

  • One more feather in Star’s English GEC cap

    One more feather in Star’s English GEC cap

    MUMBAI: Not content with having a clutch of channels firmly ensconced in the English entertainment space, Star India is gearing up to add one more English GEC to its existing bouquet.

    Titled STAR World Premiere HD, the channel will debut on the Star network on 24 September. It will cater to a super premium audience aka global Indians by airing the biggest US shows from the biggest studios like FOX Studios, Warner, Disney and Sony in a cluster of 26 episodes.

    Speaking about its TG, STAR India business head Kevin Vaz said: “We thought there is a certain super premium kind of audience, which is very up-to-date with global trends. And I would like to call it more as global Indian.”
    We want to eliminate the concept of a release gap between US and India says confident Kevin Vaz

    “They know the space in terms of luxury goods, technology, entertainment needs etc. When it comes to television, many channels have a longer gap from the US release. So how do we satisfy this audience? We thought this would be a good opportunity to give them entertainment on a daily basis.”

    Spelling out who constitutes its TG, Vaz said: “It is the most premium audience in India, comprising the one per cent of top SEC, A+ and between the age group of 20 to 35.”

    With Star reaching out to 67 per cent of the total English audience, STAR World Premiere HD will air four hours of original content every day,Monday to Friday. Saturday and Sunday will see a lot of catch-ups with the channel planning to air drama and comedy-based shows, respectively.

    The newbie’s proposition reads: ‘Watch with the World’ for it will air shows on television that are playing in the US at the same time and will play in India within the same week. “We want to eliminate the concept of a release gap between US and India,” Vaz pointed out.

    So, shows including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Blacklist, Betrayal, Dads, The Goldbergs, The Michael J. Fox Show, Mom and Sleepy Hollow will be telecast on television for the first time both in the US and in India. While audiences here will get to see the latest seasons of shows such as The Simpsons (S25), New Girl (S3), Revolution (S2) , Two & A Half Men (S11), White Collar (S5), Sons of Anarchy (S6), Revenge (S3), Person of Interest (S3), New Girl (S3), The Neighbors (S2), Last Man Standing (S3), Modern Family (S5), Homeland (S3), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (S9), Castle (S6) and Criminal Minds (S9).

    The network will aggressively promote the new channel through digital and on-air. For starters, the Facebook page boasts 1,221 likes and is being kept up-to-speed with pictures, videos, polls and all the hot goss, even sharing links with official pages of the various shows aired on the channel. So also the official twitter handle of the channel @SWPremiere was abuzz with nearly 188 tweets from over 521 followers at the time of penning this article. It also has the hash tag #WatchWithTheWorld.

    Its main website http://premiere.starworld.in/ is also decked up with pictures of the biggest shows.

    But will the network tie-up with other network channels as well? “At the end of the day, through our star network channels, we will reach out to most of our audiences. I don’t think we need to go outside the kind of network that Star network has,” said a confident Vaz

    On the other hand, planners feel that the channel is not going to be a typical advertising model. Agreeing on this, Helios Media managing director Divya Radhakrishnan states: “In today’s time, people download all the latest shows on the internet and then watch it, because they are not able to watch seasons parallel happening in the US. So it is a good move by the network, which is trying to attribute this small bunch of audiences who are doing that.”

    Radhakrishnan feels that the advertising GRPs will be very small for the newbie. She says: “The network is trying to address those audiences and people who download from net and will be open to subscription model. They will go more for the subscription model revenue driven rather than advertising one. The way they are advertising is watch it along with the America. So whatever shows is getting premiered in America, you don’t have to wait for it to come to India and you don’t have to download it from the net and they will air it. So that is their USP.”

    This is the fourth English GEC from the STAR Network stable after STAR World, FOX Crime and FX.

  • Bigg Boss Seven plays with hell and heaven

    Bigg Boss Seven plays with hell and heaven

    MUMBAI: Each year they try to take it up a notch, and it’s not getting any easier. But Bigg Boss never fails to surprise and entertain TV viewers and Hindi GEC Colors believes that this year as well, the seventh season, will ring well with TV audiences.

    And it introduced it to the media on 11 September evening with a high profile launch with oodles of glam themed around a mix of heaven and hell, which is the signature for the year. And of course with the announcement that long time loyal backer Vodafone has signed on as the presenting sponsor for the fifth year.

    Admits Vodafone chief commercial officer Vikas Mathur: “The program has huge followers and it gives us good impact and reach making it valuable for Vodafone.”
    Deepak Dhar, Vivek Mathur, Salman Khan and Raj Nayak at the launch of Bigg Boss Saath Saat.

    With the set in Lonavala once again, 80 to 90 cameras have been rigged to give audiences a peep into the lives of the 14 contestants who will this time face ‘jannat’ and ‘jahannum’ as part of the deal.

    The show produced by Endemol takes up a good 300 days annually to be put together by a dedicated bunch of 150-170 professionals right from creatives to the casting and technical crews.

    Like in the case of most international formats, the creative folks at Endemol India (the producer of the show) and Colors rely heavily on the Big Brother bible to add elements which have worked elsewhere where the show is telecast globally. The ‘Global Creative Team’ is also constantly working at coming up with new and different ideas. This team meets up twice in a year to look at the progress and variety in Big Brother across the globe.

    “We are constantly looking at what are the best elements and we add to it as well as adapt,” says Endemol MD Deepak Dhar.

    Once the conceptualization has been done, the art director and set designer moves the ship forward to create the set which takes up about four months in all. “It’s less of a set and more of a house because people have to live in it,” adds Dhar.

    Today, Bigg Boss has moved beyond being produced for Hindi audiences; language editions in Kannada and Bengali have also aired on television, the credit for which Dhar attributes to Colors CEO Raj Nayak.

    “We are slowly paving our way into the regional markets of India as well,” reveals Dhar.

    The show has already started making a buzz in the digital sphere with the Facebook and Twitter engagement activities in the form of heaven and hell anecdotes.

    “The fact that there is so much of expectation from Bigg Boss puts a lot of pressure on the digital team because we need to ensure it matches to it,” admits Colors digital head Vivek Srivastava.

    The most important and integral part is prior to the launch when the curiosity needs to be built without giving away names or details about the show. “It gets easier once it has launched but then the workload is more as well,” adds Srivastava. The current idea is using cartoons to get across the dual nature of the show to the viewers.

    The marketing mix seems to be the usual 360 degree campaign involving a lot of focus on TV, on both, Network18 group channels and other channels. “We believe we can reach many viewers through TV,” says Colors marketing head Rajesh Iyer.

    Salman Khan has been the host for four seasons of the show and this is his fifth stint. He gleefully says that he will continue with Bigg Boss till the time Colors gets tired of him. Not much has been revealed about this season although rumors are floating aplenty.

    “The beauty of this show is the surprise and suspense,” says Nayak.

    The launch date has been fixed for 15 September at 9 pm. And as Bollywood’s biggest Salman says audiences will definitely tune in. Says the man: “Why should you watch my shows or movies? Because I’m in them!”

    The coming weeks will reveal whether they are falling for his lines!

  • Nachiket Pantvaidya goes back home to Sony

    Nachiket Pantvaidya goes back home to Sony

    MUMBAI: It’s like a homecoming of sorts for senior television professional Nachiket Pantvaidya. Pantvaidya has reportedly put in his papers at Star India and will be joining Mulitscreen Media (Sony Entertaintment). He will be taking charge as the business head of the MSM Motion Pictures, which is a division of MSM. A formal announcement is expected next week sometime.

    MSM Motion Pictures has a slew of films planned under its banner over the next two years. Among these: Bajate Raho (already released) and Mango among others are lined up for release.
    Nachiket Pantvaidya will head the motion pictures division of MSM

    Last year, Star India had elevated Pantvaidya to head its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel Star Plus as its general manager. Prior to this, Pantvaidya was heading Star India’s Marathi GEC Star Pravah.

    Pantvaidya had joined Star Group in November 2009 as MD of Fox Television Studios India. Later he was moved to Star Pravah as EVP and GM.

    Prior to that, Pantvaidya has worked with Balaji Telefilms, BBC Worldwide, Disney and Sony Entertainment (now Multi Screen Media).

  • 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…