Zee music show hits a high note, beats KBC

SaReGaMaPa Challenge 2007, the music talent-search show on Zee TV, has earned the channel close to Rs 120 crore from advertisements and sponsors for its 26 episodes.

This could well be the highest revenue per episode collected by a reality show in the history of Indian television. It has even left behind the third run of Kaun Banega Crorepati, anchored by Shah Rukh Khan on Star Plus, which made around Rs 200 crore in 52 episodes.

SaReGaMaPa has already helped Zee TV, the flagship channel of the Subhash Chandra-promoted Zee Telefilms, narrow the gap with general entertainment channels.

While refusing to give details of the huge revenue from advertising, a Zee spokesperson said: ''Of course, it is a hot property for us and the revenues we have got from this programme are higher than any previous SaReGaMaPa challenge''.

The show is learnt to be contributing nearly 6 per cent of Zee TV's total advertising revenues. Zee TV is believed to have sold 10-seconds slots of the final episode which was telecast on Saturday prime time for Rs 300,000-350,000. Almost 80 per cent of the commercial time for SaReGaMaPa Challenge 2007 was pre-sold in the range of Rs 140,000-170,000 per slot.

In comparison, the maximum that KBC3 could hit was Rs 275,000 per slot.

However, it is still lower than the price commanded by cricket matches "" a slot during a match featuring India can cost up to Rs 400,000 per slot.

In addition, the Zee TV show is raking in money from the sponsors. While the main sponsor of the show, Hero Honda, has paid around Rs 6.5 crore, the two co-sponsors have paid Zee around Rs 3.5 crore and the eight associate sponsors have paid Rs 2.5 crore.

This apart, Zee TV will earn an additional Rs 5 crore from SMS and tele-voting. The channel has partnered with telecom service providers to facilitate voting. The sources said that 40 per cent of this money goes to Zee TV, while the rest is retained by the service providers.

On July 21, Zee knocked Star Plus out of the number one spot as SaReGaMaPa's rating soared to a record high. The grand finale today is expected to clock a still higher viewership. The show will now be replaced by SaReGaMaPa Lil Champs in the coming week.