Season 6 of Kaun Banega Crorepati seems to be breaking records months before the show goes on air. The registration lines, which opened on Monday, got 425,000 registrations against 179,000 last year.
“This is fantastic news !! Just 15 minutes into registration and KBC gets 150,000 registrations through SMSs. Last season it was 70,000 . That's like twice more this season !!” tweeted Amitabh Bachchan, host of the show.
According to officials working with the show, these SMSes and call rates will cost Rs 3-6, depending on the telecom operator. Usually, the revenue deal between broadcaster and telecom operators, such as Idea, MTNL and BSNL, ranges from 30:70, with majority being shared by telecom operator.
Sony Entertainment Television, is using KBC as a tent pole property, one that holds up the rest of its programming by attracting viewers and getting them to stay on for other shows. Three months before the quiz show goes on air , the channel has roped in Cadbury as the presenting sponsor and Idea Cellular as the telecom partner. According to media buyers, Cadbury India has paid Rs 25-30 crore for presenting sponsorship, while Idea Cellular paid Rs 30-35 crore. The channel is yet to finalise the associate sponsors, who are likely to pay Rs 15-16 crore.
Like last year, the quiz show will have over 50 episodes and likely to start in mid-August. According to sources within Sony, a strategy is being worked on to ensure the daily soap schedule is not affected by KBC 6.
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.
KBC 4 opened with TVR of 6.24. 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.
