If you haven’t decided on your New Year plan, don’t fret. Television channels have lined up an array of special programmes to grab eyeballs in the year end.
“Contrary to the general belief, television viewing is high on year end. There exists a huge gap between viewers’ demand and content availability at this time of the year. We are lining up a host of special shows, which will not only cater to our existing base but will also draw in additional numbers,” says Anupam Vasudev, executive vice-president, marketing, Star India Pvt Ltd.
Star Plus will air Big Star Entertainment Awards on December 31, 10 pm onwards, which would honour entertainers across genres, movies, music, television and sports. “Events like these bring Bollywood closer to television audiences and are rated highly in the Hindi entertainment space. Our annual properties like Star Screen Awards deliver high ratings and we expect to replicate the success with this show,” he said.
Star Plus had secured television ratings (TVRs) of 4.5 and 5.3 points for year end shows, Mauja hi Mauja and Jashn aired in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Rival channel Colors, which comes second in the GEC (general entertainment channel) space has scheduled an entertainment show Shubh Arambh 2011 after 11 pm. “Last year, for the first time, we showcased Shubh Mangalam and garnered 2.3 TVR. We, however, ensured that our viewers aren’t deprived of their regular dose of fiction entertainment, and hence the event was telecast after the regular line-up. We have always believed in being dedicated to our fiction viewers and have stuck with our original fiction shows,” says Ashvini Yardi, Head of programming, Colors. Uttaran had secured 4.9 TVR last year on December 31.
In the English GEC, on offer is a stand-up comedy act R.I.P.ping the Decade on Star World, which would touch on international events in the decade gone ranging from the Commonwealth Games controversy to Sheila and Munni becoming fantasies. Zee Cafe, from the Zee stable would host The Noble Peace Prize Concert 2010.
Business head, English bouquet, Zee Network, Anurag Bedi said, “We are hosting special shows meant to recap the year in a an episode. While our Bollywood channel Zing would take a look at events which rocked the movie industry in the country, Zee Trendz would evaluate the fashion trends of the year.”
On the platter would also be movies such as Alice in Wonderland and Twilight — New Moon at 11.30 pm and 1.50 am, respectively on Star Movies. HBO would premiere Watchmen in the 7 pm time band.
Country manager, HBO, Shruti Bajpai said, “Every channel telecasts the best of their programming on New Year’s eve. We do not believe in repeats and are lining up latest box-office hits to draw in viewers.”
If you thought, the fare will be restricted to programmes in the Hindi and English entertainment segments, you couldn’t be more mistaken. Business news channels, such a Bloomberg UTV, embarked with the first episode of a year-ender series In Focus on December 18, which would culminate tomorrow with Techtree. While In Focus featured experts from corporate India discussing the growth path for the country, Techtree would highlight innovations on technological front to watch out for in the year ahead.
Saket Saurabh, head (marketing), CNBC TV18, said, “We have a bouquet of shows for investors as well as leisure viewers to provide a perspective on the year gone by and what would be up ahead, such as Deal Street 2011 and Young Turks-Ideas for 2011. These would largely be showcased over the weekend and offer viewers a mix of educative and entertaining content.”
