The fifth season of Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC 5) is expected to fetch Sony Entertainment Television around Rs 200 crore this year, almost double of what the channel earned in the previous season.
The channel has roped in Cadbury as the presenting sponsor and Idea Cellular as the telecom partner for the quiz show, which goes on air on August 15. The associate sponsors on board are Samsung Smart TV, Maruti, Pepsi, Just Dial, Hero MotoCorp and Axis Bank.
Cadbury India paid around Rs 25 crore for presenting sponsorship, while Idea Cellular paid nearly Rs 35 crore. Each associate sponsor has paid between Rs 16 and 18 crore for 60 seconds of commercials during each episode, according to media buyers.
This time, the quiz show will run 56 episodes. Last year, it had 26 episodes. Both Cadbury India and Idea Cellular would get 90 seconds of ad time per episode, while the associate sponsors would get 60 seconds, said media buyers.
Danish Khan, vice-president and head of marketing, Sony Entertainment Television (SET), said, “Amitabh Bachchan has a huge brand pull with this show and therefore we were able to sign deals well in advance and get a premium.”
With these eight advertisers, 75 per cent of the show’s commercial inventory is full. The remaining ad inventory will be sold to spot buyers for almost Rs 4 lakh per 10 seconds of ad, according to industry estimates. Media experts believe Sony will be able to command a premium on the property given that the show will be launched during the onset of the festive season, when most advertisers spend their budgets.
“KBC 5 will help Sony to get incremental viewership and will help its overall strategy,” said Hiren Pandit, managing partner at Group M, a media buying agency. This year, SET has repositioned the show from just being a quiz programme to a platform that could change lives. “So, this time, we’ve focussed on the ‘aam aadmi’ (common man) and all promos are built on the premise of “koi bhi insaan chhota nahin hota”, explains Khan.
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The channel has five promos based on anti-corruption, sensitiveness towards parents, relationships, rampant consumerism and inflation. The commercials have been conceptualised by Leo Burnett and produced by Chrome Pictures.
Apart from this, the channel has launched huge BTL (below the line) activity, which will promote KBC 5 in 22 towns in 40 days using a van.
During the first season in 2000, the show had an average rating of 14.1, a feat not been repeated on Indian television. While the second edition notched an average of 11.1, the third season, with Shah Rukh Khan as host, recorded an average of 6.8, according to TV audience monitoring agency TAM. Since a TV show with a rating of 5 is considered a hit on Wednesday, due to the increase in the number of channels and viewership fragmentation, there is still steam left in it, say industry observers.