Sony shuffles prime time shows; 'Idol' no

(6 February 2006 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Its prime time reshuffle at Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India. In a bid to get some traction going for its tent pole property Indian Idol, Sony has now pushed the season two of the one hour reality talent hunt to the 9 pm slot from the earlier 8:30 pm slot. The change will be effective from 13 February.

The first season of Indian Idol was aired in the 9:30 pm time slot. However with the second season, the channel had hoped to encash on the strong cachet in the 8:30 pm band that Fame Gurukul had managed to make and hence Indian Idol 2 was positioned in that time slot.

The official reason given for the time slot change is that viewers in the metros were unable to catch the show at 8:30 pm and hence the change.

Deal Ya No Deal, which at present airs from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm from Wednesday to Friday has also been shifted to the 9 pm slot. As a result of this, Ek Ladki Anjaani Si, which aired after Indian Idol (Mondays and Tuesdays) and Deal Ya No Deal (Wednesday to Friday) at 9:30 pm has been pushed back to the 8:30 pm slot.

However, the serials Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai at 8 pm, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin at 10 pm and CID Special Bureau at 10.30 pm will continue to air in their old time slots.