Kerry Packer Woos Big B To Fall For Greed

Nine Broadcasting India, the Indian arm of Australian media Kerry Packer, is understood to have opened a dialogue with Amitabh Bachchan to host Greed, a game show similar to the popular American show Who wants to be a millionaire. Packer's new show which will be aired on DD Metro during prime time""Nine Broadcasting India has recently bagged the slots ""is likely to positioned against Star TV's Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire. The Bachchan-hosted programme is the biggest hit in Indian television and has made all other rivals sit up and rework their prime time programming strategy. Packer presently holds the rights for the programmes Who wants to be a Millionaire as well as Greed in Australia, media sources said. An official spokesperson for the Nine Broadcasting, confirmed that James Packer had met Amitabh Bachchan recently but did not give further details. "They are good friends but I cannot comment any further," she said. The spokesperson also declined to comment on whether the channel has taken a formal decision on launching Greed in India. Sources familiar with the discussions said that talks with Bachchan were only in the initial stages, and it was uncertain to what extent it will progress. Bachchan already has an agreement with Star TV for hosting the first 135 shows of Kaun Banega Crorepati. If Packer is eventually able to rope in Bachchan for the show on DD Metro (which reaches a considerably larger audience than Star), it will be a casting coup for the channel. This is because Star TV, which holds the legal rights for the former, has been raking in huge profits by replicating the Who wants to be a Millionaire format, which is aired between 9 pm to 10 pm. Several other television channels which have been hit by low viewership figures for their prime slot have been planning similar game shows""which includes Zee TV introducing a new contest show Zee Malamaal in the same time slot.