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Even before Kaun Banega Crorepati 2 saw light, Airtel — the sole service provider to tie up with it — has already become a crorepati. About seven lakh SMSs and 14 lakh call-ins per day, aggregating three crore responses during its first phase of a two-week ad campaign pole-vaulted KBC2 into the record books of Indian television.
In comparison, Indian Idol — the show with made text-based SMSs popular — received a total of four crore SMSs over four months and Fame Gurukul has logged in about 40 lakh SMS in two weeks.
In comparison, Indian Idol — the show with made text-based SMSs popular — received a total of four crore SMSs over four months and Fame Gurukul has logged in about 40 lakh SMS in two weeks.
A single SMS costs Rs 6 for the subscriber. This translates into earnings of around Rs 5 per SMS, totalling Rs 35 lakh per day. Of this, Re 1 goes to the government in form of tax.
A sequel to the famed show Kaun Banega Crorepati starring Amitabh Bachchan, KBC2 has been enticing viewers to SMS answers to the questions aired on TV. Those hitting the right buttons are chosen for the lucky draw, from where the winner gets to the 'Fastest Finger First' round of the game. "We have seen a tremendous response to the show, with lakhs of mobile subscribers sending in their SMSs," said a Star TV spokesperson.
Text-based messaging is being utilised by private TV channels to interact with their viewers, as it is cheaper than voice-based services and allows faster access without bogging network capacities.
However, the channel specific short codes and keywords involved in the process impede viewer retention. This despite the huge costs incurred in brand building.
The question that everyone's asking is whether the airtime spent by Star TV in promotions for enticing viewers to actually hit their mobile buttons is worth the revenue it is making.
"Star doesn't earn as much revenue from the SMSs as Airtel. However, Star said that it already has a revenue-sharing agreement with Airtel, which is one of their biggest sponsors," said industry insiders.
Text-based mobile services, which includes information services, such as news, cricket and chat, is currently a Rs 1 billion industry, or approximately 30 per cent of the value-added services market.
Over the next five years, observers estimate textbased services to grow at a CAGR of 47 per cent to reach Rs 7.2 billion in 2010.
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