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Survival
Of The Fittest
With
a dramatic fall in the viewership of Kaun Banega Crorepati, Star
makes a last-ditch effort to prop up its ratings. INDIA TODAY's Himanshi
Dhawan analyses the revival struggle of the pasha of programmes.
9
p.m. R. Ramdas, a retired bank officer from Chennai, takes the hot seat
on the lavish sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Host Amitabh Bachchan's booming
baritone introduces you to the earnest looking man in his late forties
who dreams of buying a home for his wife Yoglakshmi if he manages the
crore. An emotional Yoglakshmi turns tearful with joy as Bachchan addresses
her. The show continues and the quintessential Everyman reaches the Rs
40,000 mark. The next question? A term for "inswinging action in
cricket". Wrong answer and Yoglakshmi is visibly shattered.
It's as predictable as that. Once considered the staple diet of suspense
and drama of nearly 38 million cable homes, the pasha of programmes, KBC,
is resting uneasy now. Star TV might have 39 of the top 50 programmes
under its belt compared to Zee's five and Sony Entertainment Television's
six but since December last year, the viewership for KBC has declined
from 45-50 per cent to less than 38 per cent. This after the show was
cut down to thrice a week. The leader of the pack is now "somewhere
in the top 20 programmes", according to Star officials, settling
to a modest 11 in the week ending September 8. "Though the pre-disposition
for the show is the highest amongst any programme, people are not tuned
to the entire duration of the show,'' Star's Executive Vice-president
(Marketing) Vikram Sakhuja says.
It is undeniable that the show still commands loyalty and goodwill amongst
its viewers but that does not necessarily translate into undivided attention.
So if the phenomena that changed Indian television history is plummeting,
it will do so with a fight. In a last-ditch effort to revive its ratings.
Star is now linking participation with watching the show. During the programme,
Bachchan asks a question for which winners are ann
ted phone lines expanding the universe of those that "dial in".
Star has also introduced the dialnet dial-in card available at Archies
galleries and local cable operators. Interestingly, according to Star's
programming head Sameer Nair, the number of calls that KBC receives is
still pretty much near the initial euphoric two lakh callers daily. "By
crunching the response time to 24 hours, we wanted to improve access to
the show and hopefully that should reflect in the viewership.''
The timing, however, is as suspect as the coronation of the first Crorepati
three days before the launch of Zee's Sawaal Dus Crore Ka. Zee Television's
fresh stock of programmes hit the screen on August 27 with 24 new shows,
four of which are game shows. These include Baazi Kiski anchored by the
much-interviewed and now subdued Ashutosh Rana and Neelam Ghar by Shekhar
Suman. Says Star's Sakhuja: "We are watching their programming closely
but none of the new shows seems to have made a dent on our viewership.''
Yet, the
channel is not leaving anything to chance. Besides a beaming Bachchan
challenging you from railway stations, hoardings and bumper stickers,
there are three new television spots directed by filmmaker Priyadarshan.
Shot for over Rs 20 lakh, the "Kaun Banega Crorepati, Aap Ya Aapke
Padosi?" campaign has Bachchan exhorting the neighbourhood miyan
and nudging the sniffling housewife to watch his show. The superstar in
your homes, literally. There are other small touches in the show, Bachchan
is more casual in his dress and concludes not with the sombre thought
for the day but with the more humorous "panch phooljaris". Admittedly,
even if the mania for winning a crore hasn't died, watching others struggle
might have. Zee's SDCK, Sabe TV's Jab Khelo Sab Khelo and Nine Gold's
The Price is Right packed up within a few months of telecast due to lack
of TRPs. "The trouble with television is that you begin to take it
for granted. Even the larger-than-life heroes and heroines that people
idolize soon become like men and women next
Adds Initiative Media's President Ashish Bhasin: "Star has managed
to keep the show fresh and relevant to the audience for a year and half.
It is unreasonable to expect a programme to remain on top of the charts
forever.''
Unreasonable perhaps but then the ruthless Indian audience isn't known
for playing fair. Star's Nair has been quoted as saying KBC is the channel's
"battering ram" that has led the onslaught to the Hindi-speaking
audiences. Though Star is better entrenched than ever before, twice in
less than two years the ram must dig its heels deeper for the next tele-attack.
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