By RENELLE SNELLEKSZ
Indiantelevision.com Team

(13 March 2007 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI: With KBC more than half way into its third season, the latest Tam data does suggest a gradual down hill trend with week six (26 Feb - 1 March) clocking an average TVR of 7.6.

Although, the hype generated at launch propelled the show to an average TVR of 9.84 in its opening week (six week average 8.42 TVR), the network and it's advertisers do not seem to be very perturbed by the current sliding situation.

Even though the numbers are slipping, what's left to determine is whether the big 'moolah' pumped into the show is paying off?

Star India president advertising sales and distribution Paritosh Josh claims to be satisfied with deliveries of the show, saying that from a pragmatic standpoint and from an advertiser's perspective, what matters is the number of people watching the show. "While we worry about TVRs, the marketers will measure the impact of their brand on other variables like brand recall. If we were not giving the advertiser his bang for the buck we would not have such support."

"In terms of audience deliveries, the show has consistently been rated among the top 10 shows (HSM) throughout its duration. We have thus cornered a substantial TV audience that resort to appointment viewing."

Apart from the extensive PR support generated from national media, "Surprisingly the level of interest from local media like from Jharkhand, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Kashmir have surpassed our expectations. On a more global scale, the show has also been featured on Youtube."

However, Joshi laments to the fact that there is room for better deliveries, which was largely obstructed by the sudden onslaught of a changed ratings system in January. He adds, "We could have done much better, but there is a reality we have to deal with. In the absence of which we may have continued delivering ratings in the region of 10 and 11."

"It is not logical to define an audience by C&S 4+ as viewership is far more segmented."

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Joshi adds, "Currently, there is no significant evidence of money rapidly shifting towards cricket. We expected an impact on our inventory, however for the rest of the month our bookings look healthy. But three weeks from now there will be a big impact, however we have factored that into our budgeting for the year."

Fact is though, that even in the excitement of KBC's opening week, the game show was bowled out by the India Vs West Indies ODI match, so will the coming weeks have Star biting their nails hoping that the housewife is empowered enough to command a mid-match break to watch KBC?

Among the key sponsors for the show, telecom partners Airtel have definitely left no leeway and have also invested in spot buys to gain maximum weightage from cricket. "A fall in ratings is expected, we also saw a similar drop during the Tri-series held earlier. But all of this has been factored in therefore, we have extended our presence and visibility to the World Cup, KBC will play a support at this time," says an Airtel spokesperson.

Another big investor in KBC, Pantaloon Retail head corporate communication Atul Takle opines, "We suspect that there will a drop, but at the same time the lady of the house is likely to request for an hour's break to tune into KBC. On the days that India is playing, the drop will also largely depend on whether India opens the batting or not."

But Star has maneuvered itself well around cricket to close the season of KBC on the 19 April, just days before the semi finals which kick off on 24 April. Interestingly the days India is playing has conveniently been positioned on weekends, so apart from the four week days (19 March, 2, 11 and 19 April) that coincide with KBC, the show is likely to escape being smothered with a 'full toss' from cricket.

Lodestar CEO Shashi Sinha asserts that KBC is the biggest show on television at the moment and although problems will creep in with the onset of cricket, the initial India matches may not pose a major threat. But from a larger perspective one off peaks and falls are insignificant."

For Lodestar which initiated the product integration for client Metlife with the clock timer branding, Sinha opines that in the larger scheme of things, ratings do not matter as long as the product integrated in remembered, which is what counts.

As opposed to expectation, no one seems to be fretting over ratings drops or cricket fever! Motorola India director - marketing Lloyd Mathias says that they have been reasonably satisfied with delivery of the show and have derived several positive associations from the initial hype and leading upto its current position.

In fact Pantaloons' Takle says that following the television spots for its shopping portal Future Bazaar on KBC, they have witnessed incremental peaks of business on the site from Rs 40,000 - 50,000 to presently crossing Rs 500,000.

As for Star, spirits are high and despite all media-generated comparisons with the Big B (a point to mention - it benefited the show), Joshi adds, "We feel completely validated with our choice of talent."

Given that King Khan has been roped in for two seasons of the show and Star has signed up with Celador to hold the contract for the format for five years, he concludes, "You will definitely see Shah Rukh next season. That should kick off about the same time next year."