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Kaun dekhega crorepati programme?

Purvita Chatterjee

MUMBAI, July 19

MUMBAIKARS love the Kaun banega crorepati magic of Amitabh Bachchan. However, the people of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh appear to have no desire to make a crore, at least not from this show. That's what is coming through in the ratings revealed by Inta m software, a TV ratings system.

According to the Intam software, which has revealed the ratings for the show in the first week of telecast, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have recorded negligible ratings. It is Amitabh's Mumbai which has not let him down and is responsible for a jump in ratings from 8.49 on the day of the launch (July 3) to 16.77 just three days later (July 6).

Even a film-crazy city like Calcutta has not fallen for the charms of Amitabh, with negligible ratings on the fourth day itself, indicating a preference for local channels to the Star Plus channel. In fact, the ratings possibly shot up temporarily when s omebody happened to win Rs. 25 lakhs at a particular sitting but, overall, the average ratings have not been sensational.

Explains Mr. Shankara Pillai, General Manager, ORG Marg, ``The ratings are not that high compared to all the hype created about the show. It is mostly Mumbai and Delhi which have recorded significant ratings. Besides, in South India, the show has been to tally rejected as the ratings are negligible in these States. It is the Hindi-speaking belt which is responding while the rest continue to watch the regional channels.''

The show, running into its third week, has also maintained the same four sponsors _ Bajaj, Colgate, LG and Dettol. Star TV claims it is charging Rs. 2-2.5 lakhs for a 10-second slot. Says Mr. Sumantra Datta, Senior Vice-President, Advertising and Sales, Star TV: ``We believe in giving value for money to our advertisers and do not want them to be seen in a cluttered environment. The idea is to show them in a premium environment, which would be in line with the profile of the programme.''

Besides, the brands have been chosen both in terms of how they fit with the image of the programme along with the clients' association with the network. According to Mr. Datta, ``At the moment there are too many sponsors waiting to sign up, but we will b ring them in only after the existing ones have completed their run, which is likely to be more than 13 weeks.''

The media-buying agencies believe they have done their homework before investing in the slots. Having forecast the ratings and fixing a certain price for the slots, most media-buying outfits would be embarking on certain calculated risks. For instance, U niversal McCann, which handles clients like Dettol and LG, seems satisfied. Says Ms. Ambika Srivastava, Executive Director, Universal McCann, ``Though the ratings have been higher than our expectations, in another three months we know that the rates will even out. There is always a high level of interest initially for such programmes after which it tends to plateau.''

Though no media-buying agency would like to reveal its media strategy, in most cases it is a combination of both linking and delinking the spot rates to the rating of the programme. Adds Ms. Srivastava, ``It all depends on how well the client understands the property it is investing in. In our case we realised the programme was going to become a national mania and was a winner.''

The consolidated reading (covering 27 towns) from TAM Media People Meter System, belonging to IMRB, depicts a jump between the first and the fourth days of the show, from 5.8 to 8.5. Says Mr. Aashish Karnad of Tam Media Research, ``It is natural that the re will be no viewership in southern India since Hindi is not spoken in these parts. It is Mumbai and Delhi which are leading in the ratings.''