India's first online reality show comes to a grand closure

Idea user Deepak wins the National Contest which witnessed participation from over 6 lakh contestants

Idea Cellular's ‘Online Reality Show', the first such Digital Reality Show in India, which witnessed participation from over 6 lakh contestants, came to a grand closure with Deepak Pathak from Kota, Rajasthan emerging as the National Winner in a close final.

A novel idea, the show spanned across the country initially involving over 6 lakh participants and gradually ending with 4 finalists and lakhs of enthusiastic Idea fans on Facebook. After the initial rounds, the 4 finalists from 4 corners of India, contested a closely fought final round for 5 Days, 120 hours, and received support from over 455,000 Idea Fans on Facebook. This makes Idea’s Online Reality Show an unmatched contest and the most successful and interesting show in the digital medium, so far.

The National Winner, Deepak Pathak won a Free Trip for two to exotic Bangkok, from Cleartrip. One lakh other contestants have also won free Cleartrip vouchers in their journey to become India’s First Reality Show Champion. Gavin from Mumbai, Nisarg Raval from Gujarat, and Sameer from Ghaziabad were declared the 2nd, 3rd and 4th winners of the contest.

Elated with his win Deepak Pathak said, “I want to thank Idea for giving me this unique opportunity for participating in the contest. To be chosen as the winner amongst lakhs of participants is indeed a dream come true.”

India’s first ever online reality show, hosted exclusively on Idea's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/idea) had shortlisted participants performing tasks in different cities taking help only from their friends logged onto Facebook. Initiated as an extension to Idea’s Break the Language Barrier campaign, the contest soon gained popularity in the web-space!

As part of their winning challenge, the final 4 contestants - Deepak, Sameer, Nisarg and Gavin had to travel to different parts of the country which they were not familiar with i.e. – Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi, and Kochi, respectively – where they were given on-ground tasks to perform. During their journey to these cities, they were helped and voted for by lakhs of Idea fans on a real-time basis on Facebook.

The success of Idea’s Online Reality Show reflects a huge shift in people’s changing habits - Gone are the days when people used to spend their evenings in front of the idiot box, now the audience, especially the youth, have got more involved with the internet and have become more interactive as compared to earlier times. Idea, a brand that connects with its audience at all levels is aware of this changing trend, and has been leveraging the internet and online platform to stay connected with its target audience.