Now, ageing cine idols prove a turn-off for TV

The moral of the story is very clear "" ageing cine idols alone cannot hook viewers to your programme on television. You need rock solid content for that. Recent shows anchored by superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Kajol and Ajay Devgan have all failed to create a buzz and sway audiences.

For instance, Dus Ka Dum hosted by Salman Khan on Sony Entertainment Television has failed to get viewers to the channel in any significant way. The show delivered 2.5 viewership ratings on the day of its debut, according to TAM Media Research.

Media pundits had hoped that the show would open with a rating of at least 4-5. The actual numbers were way below anybody's expectations. To get a feel of how small the viewership was, the inaugural match of the DLF Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Bangalore Royal Challengers was 7.2.

Salman Khan can draw cold comfort from the fact that his peers from the world of films have done little better. Junoon, the musical show on NDTV Imagine endorsed by Hrithik Roshan, did not even figure in the top 100 shows on its launch day.

Shah Rukh Khan's quiz show, Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez hain, on Star Plus got a rating of 4.61 on April 25, before it dropped to 1.97 on June 6. The Kajol-Ajay Devgan show Rock and Roll Family too does not figure in the top 100 ratings.

With intense competition in the Hindi general entertainment space (on last count, there were as many as 11 channels, with three more likely to join the bandwagon), broadcasters have turned to film stars to keep their cash registers ringing.

To be fair, the experiment is not altogether new. Star Plus was the first to use it successfully some years ago when it launched Kaun Banega Crorepati with Amitabh Bachchan. Such was the success of the show that the channel did a second edition of it and a third with Shah Rukh Khan.

Around the time Bachchan was hooking audiences with his unmistakable Lock kiya jayes, Zee Telefilms launched a rival show with Govinda and ten times the prize money. It sank without a trace. That is when some media experts first realised that films and television were two different worlds, with not much osmosis.

Now, a few years later, broadcasters have fallen back on film stars to get ratings. The stars, mind you, don't come cheap. Shah Rukh Khan earns nearly Rs 1 crore for every episode of his current show, while Salman Khan costs Sony Rs 80 lakh per show. Kajol and Ajay Devgan charge around Rs 20 lakh each, while Urmila Matondkar gets close to Rs 15 lakh.

Media experts say audiences no longer find the presence of a film star enough to watch a show. With an overdose of reality shows on television, things have taken a turn for the worse. Some broadcasters admit the formula has failed to deliver and they are grappling with how to deal with the situation.

"There is a fatigue factor among audiences when it comes to shows hosted by celebrities because they no longer hold uniqueness," says Tarun Mehra, business head, Zee TV.

Adds Prem Kamath, vice-president (marketing & communications), Star India: "One has to review if the time slot in which the program is aired has grown after the show or not."

It has advertisers confused too. "Since there are quiet a few celebrity shows on air, advertisers tend to choose a program which has a well defined marketing plan," says R Gowthaman, managing director, Mindshare.

Adds Group M Managing Partner Hiren Pandit: "These shows are heavily promoted by broadcasters since they hope that it is a channel driver."

As a result, ad slots on these shows are being sold at prices way below what the channels ask for. It's definitely time television channels think twice before lining up film stars to grab the attention of viewers.