Now, Star woos firms endorsed by SRK

A day after its casting coup for KBC-III, Star is now planning to approach all the companies that use Shahrukh Khan as their brand ambassador to advertise in the new edition of the game show.

The superstar is now endorsing 20 brands in 12 categories and the average monthly estimated ad spend on him is Rs 3.15 crore, according to Ad EX India.

Though it is slightly less than that of the earlier anchor "� Amitabh Bachhan's monthly ad spend is Rs 3.49 crore, industry observers say Khan will bring in a wider range of viewers, including women.

Says Manish Porwal, executive director of Star Com, "Be it advertisers or viewers, everyone is bound to compare SRK with Amitabh Bachchan. However, SRK is a favourite and will bring wider audiences. People will tune in and stay loyal, while advertisers take advantage."

Advertisers seem to agree with him. Hyundai Vice-President Arvind Saxena says, "We would like to take a positive business call on this programme. It will surely help us in leveraging our Santro car brand, which Khan endorses."

A senior executive of a consumer services firm said the programme would be an opportunity for those companies, which were not putting in money in the World Cup cricket matches.

A senior executive at ITC Foods (Khan endorses the company's Sunfeast brand) said Star had approached them, but a final decision would be based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Observers also noted Star is ensuring that all the money does not go to Sony, which will telecast the World Cup matches. Rival channels, however, are putting up a brave face.

Says CEO of Sony Entertainment, Kunal Das Gupta, "We will go as per our plan. The relaunch of KBC does not affect us."

Ashish Kaul, senior vice-president of Zee Television, said, "We are quite content with our reality shows, Saregama and Antakshari (which is making a comeback in December). Reality shows are good as long as they are path-breakers."

When it was first launched in 2000, KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) took Star Plus's channel share from 2 per cent to 25 per cent in the 9-10 pm slot, according to a special study conducted by TAM.

The relaunch of KBC on August 5, 2005, in a new avatar also saw Star's 10 per cent viewership during the four weeks prior to the launch period jump to 38 per cent. KBC-II also topped the ratings among the 1 hour time slots at an all-India level.

"It is a welcome platform for FMCGs, telecom brands and many others for it will serve as a one-shot reach to the audiences. It is difficult to capture the audiences on a measured media, such as television, but this show will definitely help advertisers get noticed and bring back customers," said Porwal.