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In
the seven years that AXN has been in India, reality has always been
the mainstay. But, perhaps dissuaded by research that indicated
that India was still unprepared for local reality programming, the
channel stuck to sourcing content from abraod. With some good results.
It
was the reality genre that brought in the ratings for the action
and adventure channel. With a line up of shows including the likes
of Who Dares Wins, Guinness World Records, The Amazing Race,
Survivor, Worse Case Scenarios, Ripley's Believe It or Not,
Scariest Places on Earth, Without Warning and latest addition
Fear Factor, AXN introduced Indian audiences to a genre that
were not used to as staple diet on a channel.
Who
dares wins |
AXN
Who Dares Wins India Special, its first local production and
programming effort, which was broadcast in November and December
last year reportedly reached out to over 9.25 million people, 43
per cent of India's total A class population. The channel also managed
to rope in a fair share of FMCGs to endorse its products.
Encouraged by the response, the channel embarked on phase II of
local production, a hybrid version of Who Dares Wins and
Fear Factor Extreme Dhamaka. Anchored by the winners of the
recently held Hot 'n Wild contest, Salil Acharya and Deepica
Sarma, alongside the Who Dares Wins hosts Mike Whitney and
Tania Zaetta, the show is supposed to be colossal in terms of logistical
implementation.
Both
international and local expertise will be used to ensure maximum
security during shoots to get the quality of production on par with
international broadcast standards. The channel has upped last year's
special budget by almost 50 per cent. The action adventure channel
also plans to continue the effort and come up with yet another format
especially for the Indian masses next year.
But isn't that a little too late?
Fear
Factor |
"No,
it isn't," counters AXN assistant vice president marketing
and sales Rohit Bhandari. While music channels may have scored an
ace by marching ahead of AXN in the race to launch desi reality
shows, Bhandari says that these will always be spin offs of AXN's
original shows. True enough, after all MTV's Bum Mein Dum
sounds suspiciously similar to Fear Factor and [V]'s Panga
has VJ Yudi playing Mike Whitney's part.
"Although
they target the youth, music channels have been around for years,
while we, although an adult channel, are young in terms of programming
years," he says.
Speaking
about Hot N' Wild, Bhandari says that they received 5,000
odd entries from participants ranging 18-50 years. "We were
surprised by the sheer diversity of the participants. Being hot
is more of a mental perception than physical. We were there to play
on vanity," says Bhandari. Unlike the American version, the
Indian contest was less edgy, minus the famous turn table and the
laser pointers. According to Bhandari, it was because they were
not supposed to be alike.
Extreme
Dhamaka |
The
channel may have been enjoying a staple share of the TRP pie, especially
urbane viewers', but the reason for the delay could be a different
issue altogether. The general perception is that the Indians are
not gutsy enough. "Frankly every Indian is gutsy, be it an
18 year old or a housewife. Action is addictive and so is the bragging
power, for your average Indian. I think that bravado was, still
is and will remain integral part of us, but the main problem is
application. We don't seem to have enough opportunities to apply
ourselves," says Bhandari. "We have stringent safety procedures
for all our reality shows, while in the set-up in Australia is picture
perfect, it requires a lot of time to establish the same in India,"
he offers.
Reality is an exciting proposition especially to lure in youth power;
the best way to get in touch with the youth of the country. While
the shows are a big success in the West, they garner a mixed response
in India. Despite the number of entries, one of the panelists of
AXN's Hot N' Wild contest did comment on the lack of quality
among the participants.
The
Amazing Race |
When
quizzed about the mixed response to reality shows in India, Bhandari
says, "In India, television is still by and large a medium
to escape reality. It still endorses the larger than life approach.
It also is still a developing country, but the reality genre albeit
mixed, but with a fantasy element, is a good proposition."
So, will reality television ever take off in India? Three years
ago, it seemed like the likes of KBC would hit it off with
viewers. Today, the reality is altered. The genre is making tiny
steps in the country, but in showbiz, who knows?
Maybe there's a Hot N Wild Joe Millionaire, waiting to be tapped,
right among us too.
Also
Read:
Interview with SET's
Assistant VP Marketing Rohit Bhandari
Interview with
AXN Asia managing director Todd Miller
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