MUMBAI: For Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, October is going to be an auspicious birth month this year as it will mark his re-entry into television as anchor of the famous game show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, that he so successfully hosted a decade back.

Sony Entertainment Television is still toying with the idea of whether it should launch the show on 11 October, coinciding with the Big B‘s birthday. The Hindi general entertainment channel has, however, decided to display the fourth season of Kaun Banega Crorepati in October and place it in the primetime band.
 
KBC4 will run for 36 episodes. "The show is going to launch in October. We haven‘t finalised the date of its debut airing," says Multi Screen Media president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta.

Sony has already roped in four sponsors. Idea, it is learnt, is the telecom partner and is paying around Rs 120 million for the sponsorship deal. The partnership is based on a revenue-share arrangement for SMS‘ and IVRs.

Cadbury is a presenting sponsor and will be coughing out Rs 120 million, industry sources say. 
 
While declining to reveal any specifics, Gupta admits that the broadcaster has already signed up four sponsors.
Sony is in negotiations with FMCG major HUL.

"We are looking for a total of eight sponsors, out of which two will be co-presenting. Sponsors will take up around 60 per cent of inventory. Our aim is to integrate each sponsor in the show and we are looking at ways to do this. A lifeline could be given to a sponsor. However, there has to be a fit with the brand. It cannot be done arbitrarily," Gupta says.
 
Sony is betting on the fact that KBC is returning after two years on indian television. "There will be an appetite for KBC4 from viewers and advertisers. We expect to close out sponsorship deals by the end of the month," says Gupta.