Listen, humour tickles the radio

The year 2005 belonged to comedy. While humour-laced films from the entertainment industry tickled the funny bone of Indian audiences, on television, programmes like the Great Indian Laughter Challenge got a thumbs up from audiences.

In 2006, humour will be blaring from Indian radio sets and, according to industry sources, comedy will consitute a large part of its content pie.

Pioneering the debut is Radio City that has launched its programme Komedy Ka King Kong. Vikas Verma, head (programming), Radio City says, "When others overlooked the idea we decided to cash in."

Though Radio City has earlier showcased smaller segments of humour on its channel, it's real bet is Komedy Ka King Kong. The programme will be aired in the form of two-minute capsules, four times a day and will have an eight-minute repeat at night.

"An hour-long comedy show on radio will be tedious," says Verma. The reality format will be the driving force behind this programme. Auditions on a small scale are being held in Mumbai, Delhi and Lucknow.

"In Bangalore," says Verma, "we had an on-air promo aired, and in other cities contestants were invited through local city coordinators."

Vinay Pathak, a well-known standup and TV artist, will be the judge, zeroing down to eight semi-finalists from 32 comedians. At this point audience participation would begin for them to choose their favourite comedian through SMS voting.

The prize moolah looks big considering the show's on radio. There's a cash prize of Rs 50,000 with an RJ stint also thrown in for good measure.

According to Saurabh, head of marketing, Radio City, "It was easier to get advertising partners since most were keen to be part of a humour show." He also admits that he expects a whopping response since it's an interactive show, "like the kind you see on TV". Says Verma, "We'll succeed."

We'll wait and applaud.