Brand ‘SRK’ ropes in big advertisers for KBC3
On whether, all of the objectives will be met, only time will tell!
By TNN |
MUMBAI: From blue to red, is the first definitive change that one will see in the third season of Kaun Banega Crorepati ( KBC), apart from of course the King Khan replacing the Big B. The quick witted Khan responds saying, “Amitji tho aakash ki tarah sare aur chaaye huan hein, is lia blue. Aur me is desh ka ‘lal’ hoon.”
The new avatar of KBC is expected to bring in Rs 20-30 crore profit, besides killing the current irritant from Star’s scheme of things - Zee TV and maintaining its image and status value and the attempt to bring the fragmented audience back on to the network.
Star India is not only ensuring that the SRK ropes in larger audiences, but also using the SRK charm to woo the advertiser community, with Hyundai, ICICI and Pepsi close to sealing the KBC deal for Rs 7 - 10 crore, state sources close to the deal. What is interesting to note is that Star began scouting the market with an asking price of Rs 13 crore, and is now settling at Rs 7 - 10 crore, given the fact that a large chunk of the advertisers have already made commitments to cricket.
Sony which has roped in Videocon, Pepsi, Reliance, Nokia, LG, Maruti, Hero honda and ITC have committed close to Rs 300 crore as sponsors for Champions and the upcoming World Cup. Further close to Rs 60 crore is still to be sold as 10 second spot buys.
The others in talks with Star are interestingly Coke, HDFC, BSNL, Ford, Maruti and Hutch.
However, FMCG players have not shown any interest in the show, as most of them are in any case large spenders on Star Plus, and are not willing to spend over and above the current allocation on television per se.
So, while Star will manage a total of Rs 100 crore via ad sales, it is going to be a mammoth task for the broadcaster to bring in 10 sponsors as the plan seems to be.
With a total investment of about Rs 70-80 crore spread over SRK’s fees, the format owner fees and the steep production cost, Star is likely to rope in Rs 70 crore from the main sponsors and the remaining Rs 30 crore from spot sales, telecom partners and the branding associations with different
properties on the show.
So, what’s really the inside story on getting on board SRK? While the company maintains that Big B was not inclined to doing the third season, very clearly AB for the third time would not have worked the KBC magic as has been the case the previous two times.
The real story however is that if SRK, who was the Star’s only choice was not available, Sameer Nair, the creative mind behind the show would have clearly not gone ahead with the third season in January. So, KBC 3 fell in place when SRK agreed and then the strategy of fitting it in with the last
quarter of the fiscal 2006 -2007 made perfect sense.
Says a Star official, “We decided to do the rounds and garner as much revenue, much before cricket starts to eat into the pie. Also, given the fact that with the year end, most advertisers have an advertising budget to finish, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Also, due to fragmentation, Star’s effective ad rates have seen a downslide; some of the advertising been rationed off to Zee and Sony’s newest stunt Big Boss. Star’s seasonal gimmick with KBC, is an endeavour to get back ad revenues and then rejuggle programming slots, so as maintain the 8:30 -
11:30 pm band unbeatable. However, a point in note being that post KBC 2, Star’s weekend band (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) which contributed about 12 -15% of the entire revenue stream, now accounts for 25%, the remaining coming from the weekdays - Mondays - Thursdays.
On whether, all of the objectives will be met, only time will tell!
The new avatar of KBC is expected to bring in Rs 20-30 crore profit, besides killing the current irritant from Star’s scheme of things - Zee TV and maintaining its image and status value and the attempt to bring the fragmented audience back on to the network.
Star India is not only ensuring that the SRK ropes in larger audiences, but also using the SRK charm to woo the advertiser community, with Hyundai, ICICI and Pepsi close to sealing the KBC deal for Rs 7 - 10 crore, state sources close to the deal. What is interesting to note is that Star began scouting the market with an asking price of Rs 13 crore, and is now settling at Rs 7 - 10 crore, given the fact that a large chunk of the advertisers have already made commitments to cricket.
Sony which has roped in Videocon, Pepsi, Reliance, Nokia, LG, Maruti, Hero honda and ITC have committed close to Rs 300 crore as sponsors for Champions and the upcoming World Cup. Further close to Rs 60 crore is still to be sold as 10 second spot buys.
The others in talks with Star are interestingly Coke, HDFC, BSNL, Ford, Maruti and Hutch.
However, FMCG players have not shown any interest in the show, as most of them are in any case large spenders on Star Plus, and are not willing to spend over and above the current allocation on television per se.
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So, while Star will manage a total of Rs 100 crore via ad sales, it is going to be a mammoth task for the broadcaster to bring in 10 sponsors as the plan seems to be.
With a total investment of about Rs 70-80 crore spread over SRK’s fees, the format owner fees and the steep production cost, Star is likely to rope in Rs 70 crore from the main sponsors and the remaining Rs 30 crore from spot sales, telecom partners and the branding associations with different
properties on the show.
So, what’s really the inside story on getting on board SRK? While the company maintains that Big B was not inclined to doing the third season, very clearly AB for the third time would not have worked the KBC magic as has been the case the previous two times.
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It would have got a little stale and the novelty factor, has clearly worn off and more importantly advertisers would not have wanted to bet on AB and the show at a time when cricket is a healthy competitor. A third time with AB, would have been an average innings with KBC, not worth Star’s while clearly.The real story however is that if SRK, who was the Star’s only choice was not available, Sameer Nair, the creative mind behind the show would have clearly not gone ahead with the third season in January. So, KBC 3 fell in place when SRK agreed and then the strategy of fitting it in with the last
quarter of the fiscal 2006 -2007 made perfect sense.
ADVERTISEMENT
Says a Star official, “We decided to do the rounds and garner as much revenue, much before cricket starts to eat into the pie. Also, given the fact that with the year end, most advertisers have an advertising budget to finish, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
Also, due to fragmentation, Star’s effective ad rates have seen a downslide; some of the advertising been rationed off to Zee and Sony’s newest stunt Big Boss. Star’s seasonal gimmick with KBC, is an endeavour to get back ad revenues and then rejuggle programming slots, so as maintain the 8:30 -
11:30 pm band unbeatable. However, a point in note being that post KBC 2, Star’s weekend band (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) which contributed about 12 -15% of the entire revenue stream, now accounts for 25%, the remaining coming from the weekdays - Mondays - Thursdays.
On whether, all of the objectives will be met, only time will tell!
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