Indian Idol 5 in KBC 4

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Yesterday, it was Amitabh Bachchan’s birthday and Sony couldn’t have chosen a better day to fete the “living legend” (a fact the MC kept reiterating every two sentences!) by launching Kaun Banega Crorepati. KBC which was Bachchan’s debut on TV 10 years ago is back with its fourth season, so naturally Bachchan was excited and happy to have returned “home because there is no other place like your home”.

The five star hotel venue was choc-a-bloc as media, channel officials, friends and relatives (of we don’t know who) descended to get a taste of the Bachchan mania.

A special cake modeled on the set of KBC was brought on to the stage amidst wolf whistles and a thunderous applause as AB cut it, looking visibly touched by the gesture. Present on stage besides the channel honchos and KBC associates, was daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda.
Indian Idol 5 winner Sreeram paid a tribute to B as he sang some of his popular numbers but sadly enough, botched up the opportunity as he struggled with the lyrics and fumbled throughout his performances. A bundle of nerves, Sreeram?

Followed next was the live telecast of the first episode preceded by a video directed and choreographed by Shiamak Davar.
While Bachchan had to rush home soon after, the party continued to rock!

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It went on air only last night and news is the fourth season of Kaun Banega Crorepati got an overwhelming response from the aam janta, which remained the sole aim of the channel and the production house.
According to the aMap data, the first episode fetched a rating of 5, which is equal to what 3 Idiots got for the channel when it was screened on July 25. The movie too garnered an average rating of 5.

KBC 4 has got the maximum rating in the recent times for reality shows. Despite stiff competition from Big Boss on Colors, KBC broke all the records for Sony. The rating of KBC touched its peak in the 9.30 to 10 pm slot.
The opening episode of this year saw cricket commentator Charu Sharma and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, apart from a contestant, who was all smiles sitting on the hot seat. The contestant took home Rs 3, 20,000. Meanwhile, Salman Khan's Bigg Boss 4, telecast in the 9 pm to 10 pm slot recorded an average rating of 3.4 percent on Monday.

The opening episode of Bigg Boss 4 on Oct 3, clashed with the Commonwealth Games (CWG) opening, but had still managed to grab eyeballs. But it couldn't sustain the competition from KBC.

Says Ajit Thakur, Bussiness Head Sony, “We had a clean and entertaining content in our mind, with a strong conviction that families across the nation would prefer to watch it. I am very happy the show in its opening episode has done so well. I wish it continues.”

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It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to say that Sony has not been seeing the best of days in the recent past. Sporadically though it did experience some highs (world premiere of 3 Idiots), success with specials of CID as well as Aahat. But on the whole the channel needs a long running show to pull it out of the deep end. And so it has latched on to an old success story, read Kaun Banega Crorepati. How successful will this venture be is too difficult for anyone to predict. But let’s do some simple math and try to derive at some conclusion.

KBC is a game show. A game show that most of us have played for at least three seasons! And to put it plainly one that we didn’t enjoy playing much in its third run. SRK tried his bestest but it wasn’t to be. How Bachchan will redo all this and add some more of his charisma and charm to bring back lost audiences is his business but he will surely have to work doubly hard at it is all one can say. But Big B during his last stint on TV wasn’t such a big draw. Remember Bigg Boss 3?

Next. Game shows in the recent past – Big Money, National Bingo Night, Paanchvi Paas haven’t fared well. If this is any indication of audience preferences then KBC has an uphill task on hand. Are audiences excited with a newer, fresher KBC? It may take some weeks to tell.

With so much at stake it’s no surprise that the channel has pulled out all the stops for KBC4. The promos of the show were played in all theatres screening Dabangg. Moreover as the show has moved from Star Plus to Sony it was very crucial for the viewer to register that it will be airing on a new channel and hence the promos began almost four months back. Sony has pumped in Rs 120 million to market it as it eyes to earn revenues worth Rs 1 billion from the property. The launch day, that is October 11 will also see a big print campaign in approximately 35 top newspapers including English, Hindi and regional.

To its credit are a few points. First, the show will be giving away 50 million in 60 minutes. For a show that has been watched by families across all towns and cities and predominantly by the middle class this can be a magical amount. Also, according to the channel survey they carried out before the launch, the only recall for a game show was for KBC and obviously for its host, AB. Moreover a revamped edition of the show may do well for the channel as the format is racier now and has some interesting new features.

Guess it’s time then that the three-legged race (between Star, Colors and Zee) got a new competitor.