The Sound of Silence: April 2008

Reality shows in India are here to stay. Just look at the moolah they've been raking in and you'll know why.

Panchvi Pass on Star Plus is expected to generate Rs 150-160 crore in 36 episodes; KBC3 made Rs 200 crore in 52 episodes.

The glamour of interactive reality shows, it appears, is only becoming more pronounced. Comprising primarily of quiz, dance, talent and singing contests, the latest shows are earning more revenue for the channels, but with fewer episodes.

Shah Rukh Khan?s new quiz show Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hai on Star Plus, for instance, is expected to generate around Rs 150-160 crore for the channel in just 36 episodes.

The revenue will accrue from sponsors and spot-buys. The show is expected to fetch another Rs 18 crore from mobile and landline calls and through SMSes.

The show, which goes on air from today, has already received over 12 million calls in 20 days from people wanting to participate in the show.

On the other hand, the third run of Kaun Banega Crorepati ? anchored by Shah Rukh Khan on Star Plus ? made around Rs 200 crore in 52 episodes. The channel earned Rs 10-12 crore from calls and SMSes.

The musical talent show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, on Zee TV earned the channel close to Rs 120 crore from advertisements and sponsors in 26 episodes.

Industry sources said Indian Idol 3 on SET Max made over Rs 26 crore with just eight sponsors last year, apart from the revenue it earned through the 10-second ad slots. Sony Entertainment Television (SET) charges around Rs 1.75 lakh for a 10-second slot.

Star Mobile Entertainment senior vice-president, Viren Popli, says: ?We estimate the number of calls to outdo the number of calls for Kaun Banega Crorepati-2 (KBC 2) and Kaun Banega Crorepati-3 (KBC3).

During KBC 2, when Amitabh Bachchan hosted the 62-episode show (later the show ended mid-way), around 120 million people made calls.

However, when Khan took over the third season of KBC, the calls went down to 70 million for 52 episodes because the channel had to accommodate participants selected during KBC 2 who could not be quizzed as the show was pulled off air.

What?s working for the Indian version of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? ? which will run for 36 episodes during weekends ? is that Star Plus gave the participation procedure a different spin, said Popli.

Since the show will quiz adults on questions from textbooks of standards 1 to 5, the channel adopted the school/college admission process. In the first round, interested viewers had to answer a question flashed on air, after which the caller had to answer three questions in round two.

This was followed by an interview round in which the candidates were judged by a panel, who gave scores and a merit list of selected callers was issued.

For this show, Star Plus signed on multiple telecom service providers ? Airtel, MTNL/BSNL, Tata Indicom, Spice Telecom, Idea Cellular, Vodafone ? excluding Reliance and BPL who are not on board. For KBC3 Airtel, MTNL and BSNL were exclusive telecom partners. This time around, the call rates were also increased to Rs 5 for an SMS and Rs 6 for a mobile call.

When Star Plus opened phone lines for callers who had to answer a question to participate in KBC 3, it received a million calls on day one 40 per cent more than the 700,000 on the first day of Bachchan hosting KBC 2.

Every year the numbers seem to be growing. The show enjoys national reach and audiences are reacting positively to the new show with Shah Rukh Khan,? said Popli.

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