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sharmadha

@Sharmii

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Posted: 20 years ago

Game show slugs it out with shaadi fever

Thursday, 04 August , 2005, 09:31

New Delhi: It's a Big Friday for broadcasters. This weekend, channels seem to be determined to keep you in your couches glued to the television screen.

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While Star Plus is attempting to cash in on the Amitabh Bachchan charisma with the final season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC 2) starting Friday, Sony Entertainment Television is hyping up Jassi's wedding to Armaan in the popular serial Jassi Jaise Koi Nahin as a 'must attend' function on that very day. Even as media planners have said that the big shows are mainly to pull viewers to weekend television viewing, channels are leaving no stone unturned to get the audiences. Speaking to Business Line, Ajay Vidyasagar, Senior Vice-President, Marketing and Communication, Star India, said, "For starters, we have tied up with fast food chains in several cities across the country and will ensure that 50,000-60,000 dinners are delivered on the opening night of KBC 2." Besides this, several on-ground and on-air promotions have been initiated for the show. For instance, the channel has also organised for special bus and auto rickshaw services in Mumbai. It will also send out SMS alerts to people during the day. In smaller towns, we will have some large-screens showing KBC, Vidyasagar said. "To ensure that the Tamil belt is not left out, Star Vijay will also air the new show with some dubbed lines," he added. Sony on its part has maintained that Jassi's wedding was not to counter attack KBC 2. Tarun Katiyal, Executive Vice President and Business Head, Sony, said that celebrity designers such as Neeta Lulla and Neelam Kothari would design Jassi's trousseau. "Besides, there will be performances by Indian Idol winners and Fame Gurukul participants," he added. Media planners said that even though the interest levels for KBC 2 is expected to be very high, Sony is trying to fragment the viewership with the Jassi wedding show. "However, we will have to see whether the show will be able to get the same level of viewer interest. The second round of the show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' in international markets did not attract the same kind of audience interest as the first round," said a Mumbai-based media planner.

But obviously, Star Plus is confident of the star pull of the Big B. "We have a channel share of 81 per cent compared with Sony's 12 per cent and Zee's 11 per cent," said Vidyasagar. Sony, meanwhile, is hoping that the charm of Jassi will work

Edited by a4j4ever - 20 years ago

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sharmadha

@Sharmii

Inactive

Posted: 20 years ago

STAR's rivals pretend to ignore Bachchan's charm on KBC 2

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have placed high stakes on the Amitabh Bachchan-hosted game show Kaun Banega Crorepati, which is all set to make a comeback on August 5, STAR Plus' rival channels such as Sony, ZEE and SaharaOne are pretending that life's as usual even in the KBC 2 era.

When agencyfaqs! spoke to the competing channels to find out their plans and strategies to combat the KBC magic, they deliberately ignored the effects of the game show, which once rewrote history for Indian television and changed the way television was watched in India.

Abhijit Saxena, Business Head, ZEE TV, said, "We have our own strategy in place which caters to the viewing habits and preferences of our viewers. We already have a variety of programmes from family drama, comedy, thrillers and game shows that are catering to the cross-section of society."

Purnendu Bose, chief operating officer, SaharaOne, commented: "Television is all about appointment viewing. Why should we disrupt our regular FPC (fixed point chart) and disappoint our loyal viewers for a quiz show in any other channel?"

He adds, "Our weekend FPC is pure entertainment packed with multi-genre content catering to different viewers at different day-parts. For instance, we have 'Bollywood Aur Kya' for the teens in early evening, numerology based show 'Bolein Ssitare' in late night, blockbuster Hindi movies in the evening, or 'Sizzling Saturday' movies for the matured audience on Saturday nights."

Meanwhile, Sony is aggressively promoting a special episode of its popular daily show, 'Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin' scheduled for August 5. In this particular episode, the lead characters Jassi and Armaan are supposed to get married.

Tarun Katiyal, business head, Sony, clarifies that this strategy has nothing to do with KBC. He says, "This is a logical extension of the normal storyline, and it's a sheer coincidence that the episode is on the same time slot with KBC 2."

Senior media planners, on the contrary, have a different story to tell. Close watchers of the industry were almost unanimous on the fact that KBC 2 is not only tipped to be a money-spinner for STAR Plus, the Bachchan charm may even work wonders for ZEE and Sony, provided they have a strong programming line-up scheduled for the same time-band.

As Hiren Pandit, general manager, MindShare had told agencyfaqs! earlier, "I am expecting KBC 2 to reshuffle the television viewing habit during weekends. The show will not only garner viewership for STAR Plus, it will also be a boon in disguise for its rival channels."

Amin Lakhani, director, CTG, Group M, had said that Sony and ZEE could get a chance to increase their advertising revenue with STAR Plus placing all its high cost shows in the prime time for the entire week. He had also warned, "For Sony and ZEE to garner viewership and revenue, the channels will have to have a strong marketing strategy and a stronger line-up of programmes."