It?s that time of the year again when controversy and television walk hand in hand; when famous and some infamous faces are housed under one big roof so as to lay bare their real personalities that go much beyond playing choreographed roles on screen and there are no masks to hide behind. It?s time for some serious mind games, aka Bigg Boss.
Come September 21, Colors, the flagship Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Viacom18 stable, will launch the eighth edition of Bigg Boss, hosted by Bollywood actor Salman Khan now for the fifth time. The show will be aired at 9 pm prime-time from Monday to Sunday and will have 12 participants at play. The channel is yet to divulge the names of the players in the game and industry speculations have it that this time the underlying theme will be aviation, an idea that the channel seems to have put across to the audience in subdued clarity with the show?s first promo launch wherein Khan is dressed up as a pilot. Also, while Colors chose to stay tight-lipped, it is also being speculated that with a tweak in its format, the show could also be hosted outdoors (at least, partially). Consequently, the channel has increased its investments in the reality show by as much as 20%. For the record, last year in its seventh season, the estimated cost for the property stood at around R115 crore.
Says Colors CEO Raj Nayak, ?Bigg Boss has grown immensely in terms of ratings and stature, especially in the last season thereby justifying the investment. Our sales teams work hard to bring on board a volley of sponsors and advertisers. This year, the air of excitement surrounding Bigg Boss is tremendous. Never before have we closed about eight associations this early. Talks are on with more sponsors and we hope we?ll break even this year.?
Unlike its previous seasons, it is Snapdeal.com this time which has come on board as the presenting sponsor for the show, thereby ending Vodafone?s five-year-long association with the property. Says Kunal Bahl, co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal.com, ?The partnership was a strategic decision to reach out to the larger target audience. Bigg Boss is a show which is followed across the country and we wanted to be associated with a name which has a high consumer recall.?
Media buyers tend to agree with that theory. Says Karthik Lakshminarayan, chief operating officer, Madison Media, ?Bigg Boss brings forth very good opportunities for content integration and therefore, carries huge potential for advertisers. Also, the advertiser base for television is on the rise. For instance, with digital connectivity increasing and people shopping online, e-commerce companies are attracting a lot of funding and spending huge amounts of money to advertise on television. The time is just right for them and Bigg Boss is a good fit for gaining high visibility.?
Meanwhile, the associate sponsors on the show include Oppo Mobiles, Maruti Suzuki, Garnier Men, TVS Motors, Cardekho.com, Bisleri Urzza and JK Tyres. According to industry estimates, while Snapdeal is paying around Rs 25 crore as the presenting sponsor of the show, the associate sponsors are paying around R15 crore. Vodafone had paid R12-14 crore as the presenting sponsor for the show last year.
?We are still in talks with some other brands. We normally keep 35-40% of the inventory for spot buys and 60-65% for sponsors. As of now we have almost sold out 50% of our inventories,? says Nayak.
Now, with more money being pumped into the show coupled with the intention to reach break-even point this season itself, Colors is also looking at hiking the ad rates for the show by as much as 30%. Last year, a 10-second ad spot on Bigg Boss was being sold for around Rs 2-2.5 lakh. While one group of top media planners are of the view that advertisers would refuse to go beyond a 15% hike, the other group feels that advertisers could actually be willing to pay that kind of an amount.
Says a top executive from a media planning agency who declined to be named, ?The advertisers could actually be willing to pay the increased rate. Currently, the inventories on the channels are very tight and the festive season has already made its entry. Also, because of the elections, advertisers did not spend much money on TV between January and July. But now they have to utilise the marketing budgets that are earmarked for the year. As a result, the spends on TV should only increase.?
Meanwhile, recognising the growing potential of digital as a medium, Colors is focusing on enhancing the show?s reach amongst digital audiences not only in India, but also globally. ?We are planning to amplify this season. We?ll be monetizing various spots on the website as well as on mobile. Viewers will be able to subscribe to video-on-demand services,? Nayak adds.