It?s raining reality shows on Indian television with almost all leading broadcast networks airing some reality show or the other on their general entertainment channels. While Big Boss 3, hosted by Bollywood biggie Amitabh Bachchan, on Colors, Perfect Bride on Star Plus, Pati, Patni Aur Woh on NDTV Imagine, SaReGaMaPa and Ghar Ghar Me on Zee TV and the recently concluded Sach Ka Saamna on Star Plus and Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao on Sony Entertainment, are some of the prominent titles in the genre, there are many others being aired on various other channels and there are some in the pipeline.

Going by the sheer number of such shows on TV and the noise being created by channels to push their popularity?which, obviously, costs a lot of money?it would seem that these shows are raking in big monies for broadcasters.

Also, one would assume that such shows are hugely popular among viewers. But apparently, this is not the case.

Most television channels, in fact, are losing money on reality shows, or at least not making as much money as they do on their regular soaps and serials, say industry insiders. The reasons are many: One, the cost of producing reality shows, complete with their star-anchors and other celebrities who participate in them, is way too high than the cost of producing average soaps. Two, a lot of money is spent on promoting such shows because they are short-lived, and hence, need heavy publicity so as to attract viewers? attention in the limited time span and also, to beat the increasing competition.

Three, and the most surprising reason is that despite all the clamour, such shows do not generate the kind of viewership that average soaps do and hence, are not able to command premium advertising rates as one would expect.

?Reality shows are like tent poles. They can give an initial boost to the channel, nothing more,? says Raj Nayak, chief executive officer, NDTV Media, the ad sales arm of broadcaster NDTV Ltd.

Sample this: The cost of producing a half-hour episode of a daily soap on a general entertainment channel is anywhere between Rs 6 lakh and Rs10 lakh.

A one-hour episode of a reality show, in contrast, costs anywhere between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore (or Rs15-75 lakh per half hour) to produce ?more than double the amount going into producing a daily family soap .

As for the advertising rates, a 10-second ad spot on a reality show costs an advertiser anywhere between Rs 70,000 and Rs2 lakh depending on the popularity of the show. Today, a 10-seconder on any reality show costs an advertiser an average of about Rs 1 lakh, Sudhan Deo, investment director at media buying agency Mediaedge:cia, told The Financial Express in a recent conversation. ?The slightly better shows could garner up to Rs 1.5-2 lakh for a 10-second spot,? said Nandini Dias, chief operating officer at Lodestar Universal.

A 10-seconder on an average daily soap, on the other hand, costs anywhere between Rs 40,000 and Rs 2 lakh. Though ad rates for daily soaps are pegged lower than reality shows, it is in no way an impediment for channels to make money on them. The fact that daily soaps run for a longer time, have a loyal viewership and hence, deliver consistent eyeballs, gives daily soaps an edge over reality shows.

?Daily soaps can be easily monetised even at a slightly lower rate,? says a television industry executive. Reality shows in comparison run for about three to four months at the most, so the pressure to make them monetisable within that period is high, which is why the slightly higher ad rates, say media buyers.

Though channels resort to pre-selling of reality shows that hardly helps because not all inventory can be pre-sold, say buyers. So the gap between revenue and cost is hardly bridged in the case of reality shows. ?Celebrity costs, high production values, promotional expenses imply that reality shows are actually loss leaders,? Nitin Vaidya, business head, Zee TV and chief operating officer, national channels, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, told The Financial Express recently.

Surprisingly, these shows aren?t getting many eyeballs either. A glance at viewership data released by TAM Media for the five-week period stretching from September 27 to October 31 , 2009 makes the point clear. The top five slots in the Hindi general entertainment genre are occupied by daily soaps such as Uttaran on Colors, Balika Vadhu on Colors, Na Aana Is Des Laado on Colors, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Bidayi on Star Plus with average television ratings (TVRs) of 6.1, 5.7, 5.5, 5 and 4.5 respectively (see chart on Page1).

TVRs represent the percentage of viewers watching a particular programme at a given point in time.

Reality shows, as is evident, do not figure anywhere in the list. Popular shows such as Saregamapa Lil Champs on Zee TV, Big Boss 3 on Colors, Pati, Patni Aur Woh (NDTV Imagine), Perfect Bride (Star Plus) and Ghar Ghar Mein (Zee TV) have garnered TVRs of just about 2.32, 1.79, 1.28, 1.12 and 0.93 in the same period (chart 2)?this despite the fact that the publicity budgets of these shows have been substantial.

Though promotional bursts for reality shows are shorter now in comparison to the time when programmes such as Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) were on air seven years ago, budgets could vary anywhere between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore for a week?s run. ?On an average,? says an executive with Sony Entertainment Television, ?promotion for an entire season of a reality show is in the region of about Rs 5-6 crore.?

That is big money. Add to this the cost of getting a big celebrity to associate with the show and the overall budget shoots up enormously. To be sure, enlisting the services of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar does not come cheap at all. According to industry estimates, these celebrities, on average, reportedly charge Rs 1-1.5 crore per episode for anchoring shows on TV. For instance, Bachchan is said to be taking home a hefty pay packet of Rs 25 crore for appearing every Friday and Saturday on Big Boss 3?his comeback vehicle on the tube. Askhay Kumar is said to have charged over Rs 10 crore for season two of Khatron Ke Khiladi on Colors.

In comparison, daily soaps do not have to contend with A-listers such as Bachchan, Kumar or Khan. These shows more often than not promote fresh talent which is not an expensive deal at all. This is one of the reasons why production houses can keep their costs down when working on daily soaps. Balaji Telefilms, which for years dominated primetime television with its K-soaps, believed in this principle of promoting fresh talent to the tee. Actors such Smriti Irani and Shweta Tiwari, who were unknown faces prior to their association with Balaji, became household names thanks to their work in soaps such as Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kasauti Zindagi Ki on Star Plus.

Most of the current crop of daily soaps especially the popular ones also have a large component of fresh talent in them. Veteran actors are mainly enlisted to essay key character roles such as Sureka Sikri who is Dadisa in the popular Balika Vadhu on Colors.

Ironically, reality shows also seem to be adopting this model of getting small and big names together. The big names are obviously the A-list movie stars who anchor these shows and on whose shoulders the task of pulling audiences rests. The smaller names include celebrities from different walks of life especially showbiz who participate in these programmes in the hope of resurrecting their flagging careers.

The current lot of participants in season three of Big Boss is a case in point. Barring comedian Raju Srivastava none of the other participants are big names in their own right. Some of them like Vindu Dara Singh are not familiar at all to lay folks. Clearly shows such as Big Boss though loss leaders are a shot in the arm for middling celebrities such as these.