Are reality shows hijacking soap viewers?

Reality shows seem to be the current flavour on general entertainment channels. Nach Baliye, though a weekly, is a two and half hours do-or-die dance bonanza on Mondays. Bigg Boss, pitted against Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki is a Monday to Friday affair of bitching, leg pulling, romance, soft talks and fights and back stabbing. Fame X is a musical journey of 16 aspiring singers spread over five days a week on SAB. KBC slated for telecast Monday to Thursday from mid-January will replace Viraasat and Karam Apna Apna in the 9 to 10 pm band on Star Plus.

Zee has Cinestar Ki Khoj. Given their instant emotional appeal and audiences' participation in deciding the contestants' fate in most reality soaps – KBC is an exception where viewers have to register through phone or SMS to make it to the hot seat – are channels according more importance to reality shows to mop up TRPs? And is reality TV hijacking daily soaps' viewers?

"Reality TV is certainly the day's flavour and as a concept it is also picking up in popularity," says Siddhartha Mukherjee, corporate communication head, TAM India, which measures TRPs besides providing a whole host of information on trends in viewership, consumption patterns, viewership fragmentation and viewership profile. "But there is no immediate and major impact on other content." Siddhartha says reality is all about instant emotions and since we Indians thrive on emotions, reality TV has its own place in programming. "Though reality TV is the current flavour it is not the reason to say that soaps are having a tough time," he adds.

"Both reality TV and fiction have their own audiences besides reality shows bring in new audience. A good reality show will always get good viewership but it is not to say that the soaps struggle for eyeballs. Nach Baliye is getting 4.8 rating and it is affecting all shows on all channels, including Star Plus," admits Star India's senior creative head Shailja Kejriwal. "But soaps have their loyal audience who may sample reality shows but return back to fiction."

So feels Ashish Kaul, Zee network's senior vice-president, "General entertainment channels (GEC) run on the virtue of good story, strong emotions and popular characters. In reality shows there are no characters but unknown faces and unheard names that do not make a strong connection with viewers. People do not watch GEC for reality but for scripted reality in the form of fictional drama." In Ashish's opinion the current flavour is not reality TV but fiction. "Why it appears hot favourite because of huge promotional campaign that is unleashed to break the clutter barrier. If people really watch TV for reality then Aaj Tak should be the no. 1 channel," he laughs.

However, Sony's programming and creative head Sandiip Sikcand says that reality shows are mopping up good ratings. "The turnaround has happened in the case of Bigg Boss which opened with 2.1 TRVs and the latest TRP for Bigg Boss is 3," he informs. However, Sandiip is of the view that reality TV and fiction will never overpower each other. "They will co-exist simply because they provide variety and alternative to audience," says Sandiip, adding further that in the current scenario the regular television soaps and sagas are getting impacted for sure. "The TRPs of reality shows are showing an upward trend."

Sandiip however, is very bullish on fiction. "The sheer pull of fiction can't be underestimated. Reality TV will come and go in seasons but fiction ultimately drives television programming. We are in the process of developing a very interesting band of fiction on Sony," he reveals. Shailja doesn't disagree, "You can't make a sweeping statement that reality TV is hijacking viewers. A little bit of highs and lows are part of the game," she says. In her opinion KBC is not a reality show.

"It has emotions, drama, tears, laughter and pauses. It can be called scripted reality." However, reality or scripted reality KBC which changed the rules of prime time television ever since it was launched in July 2000 and knocked out the competition for a few years and is now returning for the third season has already impacted the fate of Viraasat and Karam Apna Apna.

Shailja admits that Viraasat which was not doing all that well is being given a seasonal break. "As for Karam we are in the process of rescheduling its time slot," she adds. Siddhartha sumps up succinctly, "Reality TV is a tactic or technique channels are picking up to boost TRPs. Even sports and news channels are opting for reality shows. Technically speaking KBC was the first reality show on Indian television. The trend started heating up with Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul and Cinestar Ki Khoj. But we have not seen even the tip of iceberg yet. Reality TV will always work because it knows no boundaries. But you can't write off fiction. The consumer is well-informed today and he can distinguish between reality and fiction to make the right choice."