Dheeraj Kumar creating a game show for DD

Creative Eye, promoted by Dheeraj Kumar, has also decided to jump on to the gameshow bandwagon. For a change, however, Creative’s game show will not be beamed on any of the satellite channels, but on Doordarshan. Although Dheeraj Kumar is not talking much about the yet to be beamed gameshow, he says that it will be a unique 45-minute programme. Scheduled to go on air in December, the company is about to formalise the modalities of the show.
According to Dheeraj Kumar, the show will be different from both Kaun Banega Crorepati and Sawal Dus Crore Ka in the sense that it is aiming for a target audience which watches Doordarshan which includes non-urban centres.
The game show for DD is in line with the TV software production company’s long association with the national carrier. Says Dheeraj Kumar: "We hold the intellectual property rights of all the programmes we make. And one of the reasons why we stick to DD is that DD lets us keep the rights for the programmes." However, of late, things have changed a bit when Sony and Creative Eye entered into an arrangement, whereby the two parties shared the intellectual property rights and therefore the revenues generated from that.
Says Dheeraj Kumar: "Our new strategy is to branch out to satellite channels and not just be restricted to DD." The reason: "It’s a volume game, you know," he explains. Keeping that in mind, Creative is increasing its 15- hours-a-week programming schedule to 20-hours-a-week pattern. This development will take place over the next 18 months, he says.

UTV arm, WIN Cable float broadband portal
Sharkstream.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UTV, has launched its broadband portal in the country with Mumbai-based WIN Cable Internet, after introducing it in Singapore and Taiwan. The content will be provided on the cable network in the western suburbs of Mumbai in the Bandra-Khar-Santa Cruz area.

However, the Rajan Raheja-owned Hathway Cable & Datacom, which owns WIN Cable Internet’s promoter Bharat Harwani’s cable systems, is not a partner in the agreement. WIN Cable Internet will charge Rs. 50 per month for customers who want to access sharkstream.com’s content.

UTV and Win Cable will have a revenue-sharing arrangement. "We will get around 30-40 per cent of the revenues earned. We are yet to finalise the terms though," said Harwani. Sharkstream’s server will be available in Win Cable’s office and the content will run on the cable system. No cable modem will be needed as it is a complete digital line connection to the customer, Harwani said. The speed would vary between 60kbps to 256 kbps.

Win Cable Internet has laid out 32 km of optic fibre cable in the Bandra-Khar area. "We have invested around Rs. 3 crore and plan to invest a further Rs. 4 crore. The cost per meter comes to Rs. 200," said Harwani. UTV has exclusively tied up with WIN Cable Internet for the Bandra-Khar region but is looking at cable partners in other parts of Mumbai.

Sharkstream has 15 channel partners like Voice of America and Gslot. Besides, it has access to UTV content including the Tamil channel, Vijay TV. Win Cable has 500 paid Internet customers and charges Rs. 1,500 per month. The quarterly fee is lower at Rs. 3,600. Though UTV has roped in a partner, it has not succeeded in getting an agreement with the bigger cable network, Hathway Cable & Datacom.
Sibabrata Das

Sun TV launches Koteeswaran on language channels
Sun Television Network has introduced its Rs 1 crore game show, Koteeswaran, in its other language channels besides Tamil. Surya, the Malayalam language channel, will launch the show after it is established on Sun TV. "We will exploit the game show to the maximum in all our networks," a source in Sun TV said.

Sun TV’s Koteeswaran began telecast from November 4 at 9-10 pm, twice a week on Saturdays and Sundays. Hindustan Lever will title-sponsor the show while Bajaj Auto, Johnson & Johnson, Godrej Soaps and Parle Confectionery will be the associate sponsors.

New Age Entertainment is the exclusive marketing agent for the show. The company has agreed to pay a minimum guarantee and will have a revenue sharing arrangement with Sun TV. "It will be the biggest show happening in Tamil Nadu. The aim is to maintain leadership, create interactivity with viewers and generate excitement on the channel," said New Age Entertainment managing director Suresh Iyer. New Age Entertainment is a joint venture between ETC Networks which holds 51 per cent stake and Iyer (49 per cent equity). Tamil film actor Sarat Kumar has signed a one-year contract (104 episodes) to host the show.

Sun TV has commissioned Tamil actress Radhika’s production house company, Radaan Pictures, for the show Sun, which usually sells time slots to production houses, will own the programme.

The cost of the programme is around Rs. 40 lakh, the source said. The show will have six contestants and only one will have the opportunity to play with Kumar. There will be three rounds. While the first round will have "yes" and "no" answers, round 2 will provide three options and the third round multiple options. The prize money will start from Rs. 2,000 and go up to Rs. 1 crore. The show will be called Clinic Plus presents Koteeswaran. The ad spot rates on the game show will vary between Rs. 25,000-30,000 per 10 seconds.
As Sun TV decided to introduce a weekend game show, it would not compete with either Star Plus’ Kaun Banega Crorepati or Zee TV’s Sawaal Dus Crore Ka. The game shows in Hindi, however, have had little impact in Tamil Nadu. Sun TV’s programmes are already enjoying ratings above 20 TRPs. "The need for a game show was not to boost the channel’s ratings. It is part of an effort to be innovative and increase the level of interactivity with the viewers," said Iyer.

Why did ETC decide to associate with the game show? Said ETC Network director and promoter Yogesh Radhakrishnan, "This marks our entry into the South Indian markets. With this, we plan under New Age Entertainment to create and market software only for the Sun TV Network channels."
SD