The Balaji-Star spar took a new turn on Friday; a two-member division bench of the Bombay High Court dismissed an appeal by Balaji Telefilms to stay the termination notice on its production Kyunki Saas Bhi Kahi Bahu Thi, served by Star TV.
Speculation is now rife that Balaji may sell the show to a rival general entertainment channel. However, industry sources disclosed that in order to do so, Balaji will have to buy the rights of the show from the Star Group, which commissioned the show eight years ago and holds the rights to the title as well as the story.
Sources said that even if Balaji is successful in acquiring the rights from Star, it will have to cut down the rate at which Kyunki is sold to the broadcaster, which is Rs 27 lakh per episode. “Given the current economic scenario, no broadcaster in the country is in a position to buy Kyunki at such a steep price,” said a source.
Balaji had moved the vacation bench of the Bombay High Court last week seeking stay of the termination notice. After the vacation bench declined to stay the notice, the production house had appealed to the two-member bench of the court. Since the two-judge has dismissed the appeal as well, Balaji now has the option of appealing before the Supreme Court.
The last episode of the Kyunki was aired on November 6 on Star Plus. However, the story had no ending, raising speculation that the producers might continue with the serial on another channel.
Among other reasons, Balaji could command steep rates from Star for Kyunki given the response the serial received from on-air advertisers. When Kyunki was launched eight years ago, the on-air advertising rate was Rs 30,000 per 10 seconds, which increased to the current Rs 1.15 lakh. TRPs for the show, however, are a shade of the earlier figures.
According to television ratings agency aMap, after Smriti Irani reprised her role as Tulsi in Kyunki this year, ratings touched a 52 week high of 6.3%. The ratings for the final episode touched 3.7%, which was the highest in the past two months.