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UTVs youth-focused channel, UTV Bindass, will add fiction programmes to its line-up in April.

The move, says UTV Bindass business head, Nikhil Gandhi, will help the channel to increase audience stickiness. "Our target audience spends a little over 30 minutes on the channel. With fiction shows like Meri Toh Lag Gayi...Naukri, we expect the time spent to go up, thereby giving the channel a better exposure among the youth,&" says Gandhi. He intends to run the show for three months before the channel assesses its performance.

The youth turf is not a simple one and while Bindass has been successful with reality programmes like Emotional Atyachaar, Love Lock Up and Date Trap, the new fiction show will have to live up to some high rating expectations. Last year, in the C&S 15+ age group of the Hindi-speaking market, MTV and 9XM led the pack with a 14 per cent average market share, indicates TAM data. UTV Bindass followed at 13.9 per cent, Sri Adhikari Brothers Mastiii, which launched in July last year, has captured a good 12.6 per cent average share and Channel V had just 9.1 per cent.

Realising that youth are easily distracted, the new fiction show would be a non-linear format i.e. a new story would be introduced in every episode. He explains, "We know shows like Friends have been a huge success among youth because they dont have an extended script and each episode tells a different story. We intend to follow the same formula with our new show.&" Meri Toh Lag Gayi...Naukri is based on experiences of five youngsters who bag their first jobs. It will go on air in the first week of April.

Trodden path
UTV Bindass is not the first channel to go the fiction way. MTV and Channel V, its closest competitors in India, have tried their hand in fiction too. MTV India, part of Viacom18, claims to be reaching out to 38.31 million households in the country but has seen minimal success with the fiction genre. Last year, the channel experimented with romantic TV films, produced by Red Chillies Idiot Box & Milestone Movies. The channel revamped its programming line last month to include dedicated music slots.

Last year, Channel V launched its first fiction show, called Roomies, that drove TRPs of about 0.4 on an average. The channel claimed the ratings were as good as most reality shows attract on youth channels. Prem Kamath, general manager, Channel V, reasons: "Programming fatigue for a youth channel is far higher than general entertainment channels. And, we are always looking for that idea that will get the ratings. Its a combination of research, instinct and gut feel.&"

This led Channel V and Red Chillies Idiot Box to roll out a second fiction show, titled Ye Parindey ' Impossible ki maa ki aankh. Produced by Shah Rukh Khans Red Chillies Idiot Box, Ye Parindey is a story about a group of kids in a correctional facility for the homeless. Kamath adds, "We are extremely pleased with Ye Parindey, a bold, clutter-breaking show that takes fiction programming to the next level of entertainment.&" Come April, Channel V along with Cinevistaas, makers of the very popular youth based show on STAR One, Dill Mill Gayye, will launch a dance-based fiction show titled Dil Dosti Dance, with professional dancers essaying pivotal roles.