Sony’s Indian Idol has returned for the fourth season. According to TAM, its opening episode scored a TVR of 4. It has also got ten sponsors each paying up to Rs 4 crore for the association. Ramya Ramamurthy finds out if the reality show will help Sony get the number-three spot back — Colors displaced it and by a big margin.:p>:p> Here is a transcript of Ramya Ramamurthy’s comments on WEBNSN’sStory Board. :p>:p>
Sony has dropped down to the fourth spot for the past four weeks — it needs a hit and it needs it now. And the channel is hoping that the fourth season of the reality talent hunt show Indian Idol will step up to the job. :p>:p> Indian Idol’s start has been promising. With 10 sponsors have signed on and the opening show notching a rating of 4, upto Rs 30 crore of revenue will be made from this show. Sony is hoping that while [Salman Khan-anchored] Dus Ka Dum delivered ratings, Indian Idol will do that — and even more show Sony the money.
:p>:p> Albert Almeida, EVP and Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television, says. “The Indian Idol season that lasts right up to February is going to be a strong platform on which we build audiences to our weekday schedule which is currently underperforming. Once we build that, we would certainly be gutting for what we have always endeavored to do. That is sitting right among the top-three players.”
“We've got a good opening of 4 now and while our sponsors have been signed on for the entire season, we're hoping to charge a premium for the ratings with spot buys and definitely think that this season of the show will perform for us and help us beat competition new or old,” he adds.
For now the channel that is giving not Sony but Zee and Star Plus a run for their money is Viacom 18’s Colors. It has jumped to the third spot with shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi and Big Boss 2 that created buzz around the channels.
Its social drama Balika Vadhu is the second-highest-rated GEC show with a rating of 5.5 just behind market leader Star Plus's Bidaai at 5.76. And reality shows like Bigg Boss 2 and Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena have driven perception and attracted upto 65 advertisers on to the channel so far. But sources say Colors may have spent too much since its launch — the channel’s spends have been to the tune of Rs 350 crores, they add.
Rajesh Kamat, CEO, Viacom18, says, “It is not a spectacular investment. On a show like Big Boss what’s important to understand is that you flood the schedule with content. You have a half-hour late-night band, there is a one-hour block which runs Monday to Sunday, the buzz is kept going. The PR we have generated on such shows is almost [worth] Rs 15-20 crore. This is the marketing investment that has come our way thanks to our two new shows.”
I'd like to correct the perception that we've spent too much on the channel. We have gained up to some Rs 30 crore in terms of marketing and media. So I think the money we invested in Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss is marketing and production investment. More importantly, it has driven viewers to our fiction offerings. They will sustain our momentum.”
While media buyers say Colors' ratings may see a correction going forward, the channel is depending on its long-term content pipeline to deliver. And content has made all the difference... Just three months back, [channels] 9x, Sony and NDTV Imagine were battling it out for the third spot. But now the flux has moved to the top three channels that have all grown aggregate ratings while the other channels have stagnated. But in a genre, where you are only as good as your last hit show, every channel is hoping the next show will be the one!
12-13-2008, 02:50 PM
Indian Idol 4 getting good revenues
