After Kaun Banega Crorepati season 5, anchored by Amitabh Bachchan, opened with a rating of 5.2, Sony Entertainment Television has seen its fortunes soar among the general entertainment channels (GECs). For the week ending August 26, SET replaced Colors from the number two spot among GECs, a position it has been striving to reach for at least three years. With Bollywood being a prime mover in the Indian TV space, it?s not surprising that dance and music reality shows fare well?though Hrithik Roshan?s Just Dance show on Star Plus has seen its ratings fall?but non-dance reality shows like KBC and Bigg Boss too have done very well.

?KBC is our gateway property,? admits Danish Khan, senior VP and head of marketing, Sony Entertainment Television, ?every year it gives us an opportunity to reach out to a wider audience.? Says Ashish Pherwani, associate director, Ernst & Young: ?Shows like KBC and Bigg Boss generate lakhs and even millions of SMSes each episode, both for registrations and for viewer participation/play-along contests. This is a significant revenue stream for broadcasters and telcos. Many of these shows also demonstrate a high degree of repeat audience viewership and stickiness.?

Colors, which hosts non-dance reality shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss, has also seen its viewership expand. Says Ashvini Yardi, head, programming, Colors: ?India’s Got Talent in the third season opened to a rating of 3.9. The show increased the slot (Friday-Saturday 9-10 pm) share by 70% and was leading in the time band. The show maintains an average rating of 3.0 TVR, which indicates that audiences are open to watching shows that are not just song and dance. Reality shows are here to stay and will always generate curiosity and attract new audiences.?

Such reality shows are also getting a good response from advertisers. Pherwani says, advertisers recognise the enhanced visibility and marketing that is usually associated with such TV shows, and the fact that several in-programme opportunities are also available. They are willing to pay premium rates for sponsorships of reality shows due to their disruptive nature and ability to deliver large audiences across social strata compared to fiction shows on GECs.

Admits Khan of Sony, ?One of the biggest draws of KBC is its host. Big B has an unmatched magnetic appeal that pulls audiences across the spectrum.

Advertisers are happy with their investment because of the large audience KBC manages to draw.?

Like Sony does with KBC, re-inventing the show each season, Colors too offers ?innovative and differentiated content? with its non-dance reality shows. If the last season of Bigg Boss was a runaway hit with over 90 million viewers across the country, this year Bigg Boss season 5 promises to be bigger with both Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt as hosts. ?It’s one of our most successful formats that helps strengthen our weekday time-band, funnel existing audiences and attracts new viewers to the channel,? says Yardi.

According to analysts, a typical general entertainment channel has around three-six hours of fresh content each day, and as Pherwani puts it: ?GECs are always in need of good content. Given that reality TV has generally worked well for over a decade, especially in the case of international formats that have been well adapted to suit Indian tastes, we can expect to see a lot more and newer reality TV formats. Several format owners like Endemol, Freemantle, etc, are in the country and are exploring newer formats with broadcasters.?

Ajay Bhalwankar, content head, Hindi GEC, Zee TV, a pioneer in music reality shows, says the broadcaster has also experimented with non-music reality shows like Saap Seedi, India’s Best, Business Baazigar, Tol Mol Ke Bol, Kam Ya Zyaada and many others, though Zee?s best reality property is Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Dance India Dance. ?Of all the formats done, we have a stronghold in music and dance. Besides reality, fiction is our priority and we get lesser opportunity to do reality on primetime. But we do have many new formats coming your way,? adds Bhalwankar.

Ernst & Young conducted a research of around 15 different formats which showed that Indian audiences have clearly defined preferences. Sony?s Khan says audiences don?t like ?old wine in a new bottle?all are keen to sample new stuff.? Pherwani says research showed that Indian audiences tend to like reality TV that is disruptive vis-?-vis regular programming, yet which are positive and supportive in nature. Analysts say this is where Bachchan senior scores, with the way he approaches KBC. Audiences, says Pherwani, don?t like a rude or condescending host. ?Indian audiences like shows that allow them to participate each day through a simple process with less effort. Celebrities work if they suit the format and the attitude of the show. The quality of the jury and the processes play an important role in enhancing viewership.?

Analysts point out that squabbling judges, or a celebrity which doesn?t fit the show (like for example Shah Rukh Khan in Zor Ka Jhatka), the ratings fall. For GECs, says Yardi, the biggest challenge is to find the right mix of content and connect. ?If it’s too niche, then you lose out on a large section of the mass audience. Audiences have grown from the DD days of Chaaya Geet and Antakshari. There is a lot more focus on presentation, the use of cameras, sound, lighting and technology are areas which are undergoing changes to deliver a great viewing experience,? he adds.

But Zee?s Bhalwankar points out that if one takes overall ratings and viewership, ?it’s very clear that fiction dominates. Non-fiction shows, though, do give us the extra spike.?

But broadcasters are serious about experimenting with different formats. For example, Colors? biggest non-fiction shows are Khatron Ke Khiladi, Bigg Boss, India’s Got Talent, Guinness World Records-Ab India Todega and Kitchen Champion but is soon set to launch Badmaash Company, a fun chat show with kids hosted by Juhi Chawla.

?We can?t take viewership for granted,? says Sony?s Khan. ?Every year we offer some innovation to KBC, this year our tagline is ?Koi Bhi Insaan Chota Nahi Hota,? thus ensuring it reaches out to a wider audience even in small towns. With the audience having 78 feasible options for entertainment on TV every half hour, we have to be very good, or else??