Bringing The Roof Down

THE hype and the star anchor did work—to begin with. Even as the country reeled under the shock of a devastating earthquake on Republic Day, many households switched from news channels to catch Sony Television's much-awaited game show Jeeto Chhappad Phaad Ke (jcpk)—touted in pre-launch publicity as the only show that would give the Amitabh Bachchan-anchored Kaun Banega Crorepati (kbc) a real run for its money.

Anchored by Bollywood's comic caper king Govinda, the get-rich quiz show is just a few episodes old. But Sony claims to have hit gold already: the first episode, it said, had a "weighted average" Television Rating Points (trp) of 18.1 in five cities covered by tam and 17.2 per cent in the cities covered by intam (both tam and intam being TV audience measurement systems). "We've received overwhelming response," says Kacon Sethi, the channel's executive V-P, marketing and sales. But the ad industry feels these ratings fall below Sony's initial expectations for the show.

It's a show where Govinda raps non-stop with the participant in the hot seat and a merry audience with a curious mix of downright silly and not-so-silly posers, does an occasional jig, throws in a few gags and takes awestruck participants 'shopping' for air-conditioners, fridges, motorcycles and even a car. The sets are plush. jcpk's aims are clear: a kitschy quiz show with dollops of filmi entertainment thrown in.

But will it work? Ad-people and lay viewers suspect programme ennui could set in soon. "I was not so impressed by the show. I have doubts whether it'll survive beyond 10-15 episodes," says Nitin Jain, associate vice-president, media, Hindustan Thompson Associates. But Jain does admit that the show got a far better pre-launch response from advertisers than kbc. That was a victory for Sony's aggressive marketing and Govinda's own undoubted comic charms. Clearly, advertisers didn't want to miss the opportunity. "'What if this also makes history like kbc?', was the thinking among the advertisers," says Jain.

It could turn out to be a herd mentality working in sponsors desperately seeking big-mileage programming. Sony, which was looking for eight sponsors, got them all right, including such heavyweights as Hindustan Lever and P&G. Interestingly, both the companies have stayed away from kbc. But now that the show is on air, the excitement among the advertisers is not so palpable. While many of them have booked slots to cash in on the initial excitement, they are not exactly confident that the show's hoopla will last beyond three weeks. Says a senior advertising executive: "We would like to put advertising rupee behind the show but we are waiting and watching for the prices to fall, then it will be worth it." Today the advertising rate for 10 seconds on the show is between Rs 2.50 lakh and Rs 2.75 lakh, a bit steep for a new show.

The buzz in the ad industry is that jcpk's ratings will finally settle between 10 and 12, not high enough to command ad rates being charged presently. In fact, some advertisers say that Sony had assured them they would be compensated if the trp went under 10. The highest trp that kbc has got till date has been between 18 and 20. Today it has slipped to between 10 and 12 and the reported advertising rate for the programme is between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh per 10 seconds.

But most advertisers agree that by roping in Govinda as the critical star anchor, Sony has tried to widen its audience base by appealing to the lower and middle classes.But it might have forgotten that advertisers on the show like Electrolux, hll and Coca-Cola are also targeting the upwardly mobile classes. "A programme is judged by the pedigree of its advertisers," says Gopinath Menon, head, media, tbwa Anthem. "Sony can't keep out the A class of viewers."

Audience reactions are mixed, hinging on inevitable comparisons with kbc. Says Swaran Kapoor, a fiftysomething Delhi-based housewife: "I prefer Amitabh's style. Govinda has no command over the language. kbc is a far more intellectual show." A domestic help who rarely misses a Govinda film says: "Amitabh is Amitabh."

Others complain that the show is neither a full-fledged entertainment show nor a full-blown quiz one. It's early days yet. But Sony promises that Govinda will really get going after the fifth episode. Phew.