Tag: Star Plus

High hopes for ‘Satyamev Jayate 2’

MUMBAI: Aired two years ago, this television show hosted by Aamir Khan took the country by storm with its focus on social ills such as female foeticide, dowry, domestic violence, child abuse, rape, domestic violence and honour killings among others.

Buoyed by the overwhelming response, the makers decided to take the franchise further. And so, starting 2 March, viewers can once again tune into Satyamev Jayate on Sundays at 11 am on Star Plus.

With a tagline that reads: ‘Jinhe Desh Ki Fikar Hai’, season two promises hard-hitting content like before but the format will be different. Unlike the last time when all 13 episodes ran at a stretch, this time, the series has been broken up into three quarters with five episodes in March and the remaining eight episodes split into groups of four each.

Airtel has been roped in as title sponsor while Axis Bank is the powered by sponsor this season. According to industry sources, the sticker price of the show is anywhere between Rs 3 crore and Rs 3.5 crore.

Graphene Media CEO Sanjoy Chakrabarty

Marketing and promotion

Host Aamir Khan and Star Plus have come out with six different promos that are already doing the rounds on the network.

One of them begins with Khan asking the question, ‘Pata hai apna show kaun dekhega?’ later shifting his gaze to the cars and autos on the road below. He sees some of them breaking the traffic rules and shakes his head: ‘Yeh nahin dekhega’. Moments later, he breaks into a smile on seeing one of the cars paying heed to the red signal. ‘Yeh dekhega,’ he signs off…

The promo, which urges people to be responsible citizens, went on air on 25 January and has since garnered 552,000 views.

Apart from the promo, the show itself has set social media aflutter. From 1.6 million likes last season on Facebook, season two has garnered nearly 2.7 million likes. From close to 93,000 followers on Twitter last season, this time, there are around 143,000 followers.

While initial conversations around SMJ were triggered by Khan’s popularity, later conversations are more around the causes espoused by the actor on the show. Plus, the channel shares and tweets these conversations and uploads videos on a daily basis to keep up the buzz.

Havas Media managing director Mohit Joshi

Industry Speaks

Ahead of the launch of season two, indiantelevision.com spoke to a cross-section of industry about the return of SMJ and how it would fare in their opinion…

“For me, a show like SMJ doesn’t need any promotions. The fact that it is coming back says a lot about it and the impact it has had on people. In one of the promos where Aamir is talking about who will watch SMJ and who won’t speaks of responsible behavior. SMJ is beyond television, it is meaningful TV!” said Havas Media managing director Mohit Joshi.

“The promos this time are a little tongue in cheek. They’re quite subtle. Even the timings are correct, with elections coming near and what is happening in Delhi, these things are tying in very relevantly. It’s really bang on to start conversations around it especially Aamir Khan in this style,” said Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram.

However, about the change in format, he said: “A show always works if you have continuity; appointment viewing builds up after a certain period of time certainly for GECs. Having gaps is not going to help, but I guess in the grain of what the show is I am sure it is possibly going to be an objective which will have people looking forward to the show. The challenge will be to maintain the momentum and keep the excitement going, because there will be so much happening in between.”

Lodestar UM vice-president Deepak Netram

“The promos are more interesting than the previous season. If someone is watching it for the first time, they will be inquisitive about it. But for people who have already watched the previous season, they know the format of the show. This season the promos are much more focused, straight to the point and more subjective,” believes Graphene Media CEO Sanjoy Chakrabarty.

Commenting on the break pattern Chakrabarty asserts: “Since the topics are relevant and very engaging, people will consume the content in dozes so break won’t affect the viewership.”

February 18, 2014
Star Plus sets new viewership record in week 6

MUMBAI: It’s the leader in the Hindi general entertainment space in India and has been so for most part since the beginning of last decade.

In week 6 of TAM TV ratings, Star Plus showed its might. The channel’s viewership during the week was the highest ever in the history of Indian television, helped by its bollywood awards show Star Guild Awards and its decision to extend all its weekday prime time fiction properties to Saturday.

Star Plus fetched 728,231 GVTs, up from 626,570 GVTs in the previous week. The channel’s Star Guild Awards show scored 8,063 TVTs.

Star Plus’ epic series Mahabharat too had its highest ever ratings since its launch and recorded 7,850 TVTs, up from 7,136 TVTs in the previous week.

Zee TV was in the second position in week 6 with 495,313 GVTs, up from 467,656 GVTs in the previous week. All the other Hindi GECs saw a drop in viewership ratings during the week.

Zee TV’s fiction property Aur Pyar Ho Haya saw a huge rise in ratings with 5,129 TVTs, up from 4,232 TVT a week earlier. The viewership ratings of its sitcom Bha se Bhade dropped to 1,492 TVTs from 1,645 a week earlier. The channel’s dance reality show – DID 4 – witnessed a rise on Saturday with 4,254 TVTs, up from 3,766 TVTs a week ago, but saw a drop on Sunday with 3,132 TVTs against 3,859 TVTs a week ago.

Viacom18’s Colors was in the third position with 424,431 GVTs, down from 446,579 GVTs a week earlier as both its highly-rated properties saw a huge drop in viewership. India’s Got Talent scored 5,876 TVTs in week 6, down from 7,403 TVTs, and Comedy Nights with Kapil’s viewership fell to 7,300 TVTs from 8,878 TVTs a week earlier.

Life OK scored 343,882 GVTs, down from 386,659 GVTs in the previous week. Sab was in the fifth position with 291,599 GVTs, down from 318,766 GVTs. Sony continued to be at the bottom of the chart and recorded 251,650 GVTs, down from 298,060 GVTs. Its dance reality show Boogie Woogie Kids Championship does not seem to attract much eyeballs and scored 1,721 TVTs, witnessing a fall from 2,758 TVTs. Sahara One fetched 35,896 GVTs, down from 39,172 GVTs.

In the movie genre, Zee Cinema had 185,836 GVTs in week 6, down from 198,751 GVTs; Star Gold 193,648 GVTs, down from 202,153 GVTs; Movies OK 134,400 GVTs, up from 130,648 GVTs; &pictures 83,202, down from 88,620 GVTs; Zee Anmol 79,408 GVTs, up from 65,415 GVTs and Max 206,080 GVTs, up from (192,801).

February 13, 2014
Star Plus to attempt reclaiming the weekend prime time with ‘Mad In India’

MUMBAI: Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment! was the mantra of India’s leading general entertainment channel – Star Plus – while launching its much hyped show – Mad In India – starring Sunil Grover aka Gutthi…oops Chutki on Friday in Trombay, north-east Mumbai, where the show is being shot.

The buzz about the show began almost three months ago, right after actor-comedian Sunil Grover decided to part ways with Comedy Nights With Kapil on Colors which made his character Gutthi a household name. Now, it is finally ready to go on air from Sunday, 16 February at 9 pm.

Mad in India, which would play along one of the most fitting topics of the time – ‘aam aadmi’, will be divided into two segments – aam and khaas. To showcase both the segments in the best way, a grand rotating set has been designed by Omang Kumar – one front of which has a conversational area, while the other is a setup of a middle-class fictional locality – Bharatnagar – where Chutki, a flirty, social network addict resides with her parents and few neighbours. With the tagline, ‘100% desi show’, Mad in India alongside Sunil Grover would have Dolly Ahluwalia as Mango Dolly, Shweta Tiwari as Katrina Mishra, and other popular comedians like Khayali, Siddharth Jadhav, Rehman Khan, Rajbir Kaur and Paritosh Tripathi, while actor-anchor Manish Paul will play the host. Adding a little fun and music to the show would be singer Priya Patel.

“In the khaas segment, Manish will talk to the special guests of the week, while the aam segment would have comic acts around the aam aadmi but not satirical, rather entertaining,” says Star Plus non-fiction head Ashish Golwalkar, also adding that they don’t want the show to come across as preachy, rather with the aam-khaas concept shows the dichotomy that exists in our society, in our lives in the present times.

Rajeshwar Nair, the producer of the show (Keylight Productions), says they wanted to come up with a show that could capture the everyday issues of the common man. “As a production house, we have been at the forefront of highlighting issues with shows like Aap Ki Kachehri, India’s Got Talent, etc. This show will highlight the issues of the common man with funny take on what is happening in an aam country,” he remarks as he also says that it’s not satire but new-age comedy.

Once the basic idea was conceptualised, it was executed by creating a mohalla that has an English speaking coaching centre, a salon, marriage bureau, an all-in-one jugaadu guy, a struggler among other quirky characters clubbed with issues that matter. “From the idea to the execution, it took us almost five months,” says Nair, who thinks comedy is a tough task these days as there’s a lack of talent in the genre.

In fact, that is precisely why Star Network, which at one point of time was at the forefront of this genre with shows like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Hans Baliye, Chak De Fatte etc, took such a long time to come up with a comedy show. “Comedy was on our mind since a long time. But we didn’t want to come up with anything just for the sake of it. We waited to come up with something that we believe in,” says Star Plus SVP marketing and content strategy Nikhil Madhok, who also wanted to make Sundays entertaining for the viewers. “The show was conceptualised after we decided to extend our weekend programming till Saturday. While our fiction shows are more women-oriented, we wanted to make Sundays family oriented,” he adds.

There is big script-writing team working for the show. Rajiv Dhingra, who has more than 10 years of experience in comedy (few months even with Comedy Nights With Kapil), is heading the content team which has young writers from different spaces – few from theatre also. However, Nair believes that besides the strong content development team, the spontaneity of the artistes associated with the show who can crack a joke even when they don’t have a script, will work well for the show.

Dhingra says, “All the content that would be showcased is being developed thoughtfully. Our 10-member content team comprises a varied set of people from all across India, bringing in a pan-Indian flavour to the show.”

Another USP of the show, the makers believe is going to be its setup. “The realistic elements on the show will make it very convincing,” says Nair talking about the set that he assumes would be one of the most expensive sets of the present time.

However, the khaas or the conversational area where celebs like Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Baba Ramdev, Mika, Udit Narayan, etc are expected to come, has a striking similarity to the sets of the 90s show Movers & Shakers that was presented by Shekhar Suman. “To do a large scale entertainment show, there has to be a grammar with which the viewer relates. We are bringing freshness to the content but if we redefine everything, the viewer of the comedy genre will get very confused. Thus, we have tried to keep certain things, like the chat space, relatable to the audience,” says Nair.

Because of the earlier drama around the show, it is sure to draw comparisons with CNWK. However, the channel is assuring to create its own space. Unlike CNWK, Mad In India won’t have movie stars coming on the show for promotions regularly. It would have variety entertainment. Golwalkar mentions a concept like The Kumars at 42 while talking about the show, which in itself makes it clear that it is not trying to compete with any other show, rather is trying to create its own space. “There’s a place for everyone and everything to co-exist,” he remarks. “Also, as a GEC, it is important for us to delve into all the genres and that is why we have revived comedy. We are also coming up with a crime-thriller Ishq Kills at 10 pm and we would soon also revive the music genre,” says Golwalkar.

While the team believes that the appetite for comedy has increased in the recent time and the show is going to work just because of its differentiated content, even media planners are of the same view. “The best part is that the show would air at 9 pm while CNWK is telecast at 10 pm. The message sent across is that they are not competing but trying to add value to the genre that’s evolving by the day,” says a media planner.

The show has got three associate sponsors – Kit Kat from Nestle, protein shake Endura Mass and LIC. “The sales team is working to get three-four more sponsors by next week,” says Madhok, also professing that they aren’t looking for a title sponsor for the show in this season as they want the show to build its own brand.

But does that mean that the show would have a second season? “Since it is once a week, we haven’t really capped the number of episodes. Depending on the response that we get, we would decide if it would be a 13 episode or 26 episode season. We might give the writers a break to plan another season,” says Madhok.

The marketing strategies have been planned keeping in mind that the show comes across as differentiated and funny and thus only TV and digital have been kept as a medium where the characters can be showcased with jokes. “We have stayed away from print, OOH, radio where there’s a static image positioning it as ‘just another comedy show’. We are also not trying to show the concept to the audience as it would be too much info for the audience,” he says.

Considering that the show would air on the leading GEC, the media planners think it has all the reasons to be successful. Helios Media MD Divya Radhakrishnan says that there’s appetite for comedy as everybody wants a respite from the taxing lifestyle. “If the show is content-driven, there’s cent per cent chance for it to do really well.”

February 10, 2014
Star Plus to air ‘Ishq Kills’ Sunday primetime

MUMBAI: Given the importance of primetime, most Hindi general entertainment channels would steer clear of risqué content in this slot. However, as the leader in the Hindi GEC category, Star Plus continues to be an exception to the rule.

Back in 2010, the channel introduced adult-themed shows such as Maryada – Aakhir Kab Tak and Kaali – Ek Agnipariksha during late primetime. Once again, it is all set to air a new show, Ishq Kills every Sunday at 10:00 pm, starting 16 February.

The one hour show will enact crimes of passion that have taken place in the country. Statistics reveal that most crimes in India are committed either for love or for money, and Ishq Kills will be the first show to highlight those where love is involved.

While the Star spokesperson was unavailable for comment, sources close to the development said the show is based on true events and will wrap up in 26 episodes. Produced by Rowdy Rascals of Savdhaan India fame, Star Plus has roped in film producer-director Vikram Bhatt to host the show.

The show promo doing the rounds of all the Star Network channels has already generated a lot of curiosity. It shows a married man sleeping with his housekeeper and when he professes his love for her, she asks him to “prove it” by “killing memsaab”

While there is no dearth of crime-based shows on Hindi GECs, going by the promo, the show definitely carries the promise of standing out from the rest. Then again, it is in for some serious competition from Colors’ Comedy Nights with Kapil (CNWK), which has almost become a brand unto itself.

Will the show work its magic on Star Plus?

Says a media professional who doesn’t wish to be named: “This is the time when the whole family sits and watches either movies or shows which refresh their mind. However, thriller-based shows have never worked for Star after some point of time. Moreover, the series is competing with CNWK which is already a brand now and people block 10:00 pm for it. I think CNWK will eat up all its ratings as the loyal audiences have already been built in this slot.”

According to another media professional, primetime in GECs has grown nearly 20-25 per cent in the past few months which proves there are viewers available as also the potential for growth.

With competitors like Fear Files on Zee TV and Savdhaan India on Life OK, only time will tell who is going to have the last laugh!

February 7, 2014
Zee TV dislodges Colors from second position again!

MUMBAI: In week five of TAM TV ratings in the general entertainment channels’ (GEC) space, Zee TV dislodged Colors to claim the second position and pushing the latter to number three. Surprisingly, there was no special programming on the channel that would have helped it get more viewers. It were the regular shows that fetched the channel good viewership as it garnered 467656 GVTs (gross viewership in thousands), up from last week’s 441168 GVTs. However, Star Plus maintains its first position with a considerable hike – 626570 (606361) GVTs.

The other gainers of the week included Life OK, Sony, Sahara One and the newly launched GEC from the Network 18 group – Rishtey. Others like Colors and SAB saw a dip in their ratings. SAB garnered 318766 GVTs (323148); Life OK – 386659 GVTs (375025); Rishtey – 48937 GVTs (47530) and Sahara One – 39172 GVTs (36351).

However, coming back to the chart topper Star Plus, the channel’s popular shows got good viewership. The grand finale ofNach Baliye 6 on Saturday garnered 6155 TVTs (Television viewership in thousands). The much celebrated epicMahabharat also saw a rise and garnered 7136 TVTs (6954).

Zee TV may have gone up in the chart but its much celebrated dance reality show – Dance India Dance-4 – witnessed a drop on Sunday and registered 3859 TVTs (4036). However, on the following Saturday it made up and garnered 3766 TVTs (2974). Aur Pyar Ho Gaya registered 4232 TVTs (3883) and Bh se Bhade 1645 TVTs (1712).

Colors saw a slight dip and registered 446579 GVTs (449428). Apparently, one of its most popular show, Comedy Nights With Kapil couldn’t manage to match up to its last week’s ratings as it registered 8878 TVTs (10091). However, India’s Got Talent saw a rise as it garnered 7403 TVTs (7187).

At the fifth position, Sony managed 298060 GVTs (253722) with Boogie Woogie Kids Championship faring well during the weekends with 2758 TVTs (2080).

In the movie channel genre, Zee Cinema reported 198751 GVTs (221256); Star Gold registered 202153 GVTs (211743); Movies OK scored 130648 GVTs (140490); &pictures scored 88620 GVTs (93142); Zee Anmol earned 65415 GVTs (71456) and Max scored192801 GVTs (230720).

February 6, 2014
STAR Plus Veera campaign encourages first time voters to make a difference

MUMBAI: We all know that we cross a major landmark in life when we turn 18 years old. You are bestowed upon with many privileges – you get a license to drive, can rightfully enter a disco and even choose your life partner! But what about the fundamental privilege of the right to VOTE? How many of us exercise this?

A government by the people, for the people just can’t work without its people. With the thought of mobilizing the youth and taking its’ Nayi Soch agenda forward, STAR PLUS has introduced an initiative to encourage first time voters to register for the upcoming General Elections. Led by its popular face & youth icon – Veera. The campaign will see a series of public service messages, prompting young viewers to register, vote and make a difference.

“In India, the number of potential first time voters during this election, is estimated at a massive 12 crores. In light of this, we at Star Plus, wanted to spread awareness about voting rights amongst first time voters and mobilize the youth. We want to encourage them to exercise their vote and contribute to the country’s progress. However a lot of them are still not aware the registration is an important prerequisite to voting. This first phase of our campaign aims to address that, “said Nikhil Madhok, Senior Vice-President Marketing & Content Strategy, Star Plus.

Veera is one of the most influential young protagonists on television currently, as her progressive outlook to life is inspiring young viewers all over the country. “Voting is a very important right of every citizen of India, and we must all exercise our right. The youth of this country are the ones who are the most impacted by decisions taken by the government. So it becomes important that they play a key role in the election process, to provide a better future for themselves and their country,” says Veera.

February 1, 2014
Life OK rakes in ratings with ‘Screen Awards’

MUMBAI: In the week 4 of TAM TV ratings, Colors returned to the number two position. Life OK that acquired one of the biggest award properties – the Screen Awards – this year, gained a lot because of it. The award show that was telecast on 25 January with Shah Rukh Khan as the host, garnered 8,998 TVTs for the channel.

While the top three Hindi GECs – Star Plus, Colors and Zee TV, witnessed a sharp decline in their viewership, Star Plus continued to lead the ratings chart by garnering 606,361 GVTs (625,772). Colors reclaimed its second position and registered 449,428 GVTs (466,690), whereas Zee TV that moved to its usual third spot garnered 441,168 GVTs (470,680). Life OK maintained its fourth spot with a record 375,025 GVTs (347,326). Sab fetched 323,148 GVTs (318,311), and Sony at number six scored 253,722 GVTs (257,635). Sahara One continued to be at the bottom of the chart by recording 36,351 GVTs (35,959).

Coming back to Star Plus, its dance reality show Nach Baliye 6 saw a dip and recorded at 3,727 TVTs (4,449). The viewership of the epic series Mahabharat also declined as it could manage just 6,954 TVTs (7,538).

On Colors, the fifth edition of the talent reality show – India’s Got Talent lost viewers too as it scored just 7,187 TVTs (7,857) on Saturday and Sunday. However, Comedy Nights With Kapil scored 10,091 TVTs (11,016)

Zee TV again witnessed a dip in almost all its offerings. Its sitcom Bh Se Bhade scored 1,712 TVTs (1,931), dance reality show – Dance India Dance 4 lost its charm on Saturday when it witnessed a major drop and scored 2,974 TVTs (6,838). However, on Sunday it got a better response as it garnered 4,036 TVTs (3,878). Its fiction series Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya also saw a minor rise in its viewership with 3,883 TVTs (3,637).

Sony’s dance reality show – Boogie Woogie Kids Championship saw a drop in its seventh week and garnered 2,080 TVTs (2,381).

In the movie channel genre, Zee Cinema reported 221,256 GVTs (198,135); Star Gold registered 211,743 GVTs (216,328) and Movies OK scored 140,490 GVTs (138,124). While &pictures scored 93,142 GVTs (93,317), Zee Anmol earned 71,456 GVTs (74,522) and Max scored 230,720 GVTs (203,203).

January 30, 2014
Satyamev Jayate back for season II – with a difference

MUMBAI: In its first season, it did swimmingly well for Hindi GEC Star Plus. It created humungous amounts of buzz, won critical acclaim from industry leaders and activists and also generated laudable veiwership ratings for an otherwise barren Sunday morning slot. Now, the Aamir Khan-hosted Satyamev Jayate is ready to make a comeback for its second season; to engage viewers with its hard focus on tackling ills which plague the Indian social system.The format is almost the same; viewers will see that when it begins airing sometime in March 2014 – the difference is that it will be telecast in tranches.

Satyamev Jayate season 1 marked the debut of the method actor Aamir Khan on the small screen. It also marked the debut of social activism television in India, decades after shows such as Raajni did on Doordarshan in a fictionalised format. His inimitable and methodical approach towards exposing society’s malaises helped Satyamev Jayate become a household name. Viewers eagerly waited for the clock to strike 11 am every Sunday morning so that they could catch Aamir Khan at his inquisitive best.

The director of the show – Satyajit Batkal says that season 2 will have the same tenor and feel in the creative. The decision to showcase the episodes of the show in parts, with breaks in between was taken because “as we feel there is so much we want to tell and do and this will help us in that. Also, it will let people work towards the causes they want to change.”

Apparently, the year-long break helped the team at Aamir Khan Productions to conduct elaborate research on the topics chosen. The show has a sticker price of around Rs 3 crore to Rs 3.5 crore according to sources and all the five

March episodes have already been fully shot and wrapped up, says Batkal.

But will this tack of airing just five episodes and then taking a break before airing the next tranche work? A media planner says the show will be a big draw at a time when the country is going through an upheaval politically and economically. But however he admits that audience stickiness could be an issue. “Out of sight is out of mind,” he says. “It is quite probable that channel will lose out on some money with this break pattern.”

Others disagree. “Remember, the show is about sparking social change amongst Indian citizens; raising social awareness. Giving the common man some hope, this is what Satyamev Jayate did, and the initiative has been recognised by not just governments but also by several organisations,” says another media planner. “You can’t forget how AAP – which is about the common man – stormed its way into the hearts of Delhi-ites who then swept it to power. Aamir Khan is Aamir Khan. The loyal followers are going to be drawn in come what may, even if there is a break”

No official communication has emerged from Star Plus as yet, but the show is quite likely to to air on all channels of the Star network to get it maximum viewership.

January 27, 2014
Shutters down on Life OK’s ‘Do Dil Ek Jaan’

MUMBAI: Recently, Star Plus announced that it will be extending its weekday programming till Saturday.

The team at Life OK, the second GEC from the Star Network, seems to be following suit. The channel plans to increase the telecast time of two of its popular fiction shows – Gustakh Dil and Tumhari Paakhi – to one hour. The move comes after the channel’s decision to pull the curtains down on Nautanki Films’ Do Dil Ek Jaan on 24 January.

The producer of the show, Saurabh Tewari confirmed the news to indiantelevision.com and said: “May be, the characters of the show did not click with the audiences and it resulted in poor TVTs and thus we had no option but to pull the curtains down.”

However, the two shows that will fill the void have been doing really well and thus they will now air for an hour each. Gustakh Dil which airs at 7.30 pm will now be telecast from 7-8 pm; and Tumhari Paakhi which currently airs at 9.30 pm, will be telecast from 9-10 pm from 27 January onwards.

The two shows have registered 1,930 and 2,130 TVTs respectively in the Week 3 of TAM TV ratings.

However, when we contacted the producers of the two shows, they were unavailable to comment.

But a source from the channel reveals that the decision has been taken as the channel doesn’t plan to launch any new shows for the next two to three months. Says the source: “The shows are doing really well and I hope the viewers won’t be complaining.”

Even media planners think this to be a good move, not just for the channel but also the advertisers. However, some feel that there are chances of people switching to other programmes during the telecast of the show as they would not like to miss the shows they are used to watching during that time slot.

January 23, 2014
Star Plus to extend weekday fiction to Saturday?

MUMBAI: There’s heaps of buzz going around leading Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC) Star Plus that, many say, is all set to offer an extra dose of fiction to its viewers. It has been learnt that once the curtains come down on its weekend dance reality show – Nach Baliye 6 – the channel will extend its primetime weekday fiction band as its replacement on the weekend too.

Thus viewers will be in a position to watch episodes of its hugely successful shows which air between early prime (6:00 pm) to late prime time (11:30 pm) on Saturdays too.

This, sources say, is going to continue till the channel comes up with another weekend show. Last year, its rival Colors too had extended its weekday programmes (between 7:30 and 9:00 pm) to the weekend once its singing reality show Sur-Kshetra ended.

Sunday nights will, however, see the debut of standup comic Sunil Grover with his own hour-long show with a character called Chutki. Sunil’s character Gutthi on Colors’ Comedy Nights with Kapil had become a phenomenon of sorts, and hence he decided to break away and produce his own show – something which caused a lot of heartburn to Colors and Kapil. Chutki – which will see Sunil once again in drag – is being produced by Keylight Productions. Filming has begun in Trombay, close to the television production capital of Mumbai.

The shows that are being extended till Saturday include Iss Pyar Ko Kya Naam Doon, Ek Ghar Banaunga, Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, Saraswatichandra, Meri Bhabhi, Mahabharat, Diya Aur Bati Hum, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyara Pyara, Veera and Ye Hai Mohabbatein.

While most Star India’s producers have agreed to churn out extra episodes, it is learnt from an industry source that those producing early prime time series, have yet to sign on the dotted line, for reasons best known to them.

Producers of popular shows – Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and epic series Mahabharat – Rajan Shahi and Siddharth Tewary respectively confirm to indiantelevision.com that they now have to start producing one extra episode every week. They say that it is going to be hectic, but are geared up for it.

Star Plus business head Gaurav Banerjee was unavailable for comment, but industry experts say the move will help Star Plus add big bucks straight to its bottomline, as costs for fiction are a fraction of non-fiction reality shows. Hence the returns on its investment are quite likely to be big for Star Plus.

Media professionals are, however, divided on whether extending fiction to the weekend will give a boost to Star Plus’ viewership as during the weekend the audience wants to break away from the monotony and experience something different. Lodestar UM vice president Deepak Netram remarks: “The audience during the weekend is different from the week days. More male members and kids are among the viewers and they may not be open to the idea of watching the daily soaps. There are chances that the channel will lose out on its audience. But the regular audience of the daily soaps will continue watching their favourite programmes.”

However, another media planner and buyer looks at it differently. On condition of anonymity, he says: “This should see Star Plus’ TVTs going up on a weekly basis. Remember, fiction shows have the highest stickiness, even higher than non-fiction, which comes in as tent-pole properties to generate spikes in viewership. The fiction shows already have a loyal group of viewers who will undoubtedly tune in even on Saturdays as they will want to stay connected with what’s happening with the story lines. Therefore, it will be easy for Star Plus’ sales team to rope in the existing advertisers on these shows over the weekend telecast too. I see it as a win-win situation for the channel.”

January 21, 2014