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| Reality shows suffer mid-life crisis |
| Ashish Sinha / New Delhi Aug 27, 2009, 02:03 IST |
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 Private TV channels that hope to woo advertisers and viewers by launching reality shows are facing a new reality. Far from driving ratings to newer heights as they were expected to do, viewer interest in reality shows appears to taper halfway through. Instead, it is the age-old soaps and drama that ultimately provide consistent ratings and, therefore, advertising revenues.
Sample this: ratings of Sach Ka Saamna, the controversial reality show on STAR Plus, fell more than 50 per cent since the show was launched in mid-July. The show started with a rating of 4.6 despite its late night slot of 10.30 p m. The show’s rating has now fallen to 2.2 after the time was shifted to 11 p m — despite all the controversy over its ethics, an issue that spilled over into Parliament.
Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao, another celebrity-driven reality show launched last month on Sony TV, suffered a similar fate. The programme started with a rating of 3.4. Despite being shot in exotic locations like the Malaysian jungles, ratings have fallen to 0.9.
Aap Ki Kachahari, a reality show starring former cop Kiran Bedi who solves social and marital disputes, saw ratings drop 15 per cent to 2 after the initial episodes. India’s Got Talent, which was broadcast on Colors, had an initial high rating of 4. This dropped to 2 in the middle and the show closed at 3.2.
"Despite the hoopla about reality shows, the consistent ratings still come from the traditional soaps,” said a senior marketing executive of Zee Telefilms.
That is why the top five shows on Hindi general entertainment channels continue to be soaps such as Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai (STAR Plus), Balika Badhu (Colors) and Pavitra Rishta (Zee TV), according to the latest TAM data.
Also, aMap data shows that the average time spent by viewers on soaps and drama is five times more than the reality shows.
According to the aMap data, the average net reach of soap like Yeh Rishta… on STAR Plus is around 12 million viewers, while its reality show Aap Ki Kachahari reaches only 4.6 million viewers, even though the ratings for the latter are higher than some of the other reality shows on rival channels.
“The net reach of a show has become crucial for us, rather than the show ratings,” said a media planner.
Commenting on viewership trends, Uday Shankar, CEO, STAR India, recently said: “Fiction shows are the staple diet for the Hindi general entertainment channels because they are habit-forming and bring in a high level of viewership loyalty. They will continue to dominate the programming even in the future.”
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