Bigg Boss goes regional, ETV Kannada buys format rights

Submitted by ITV Production on Feb 27
indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Endemol India?s big-ticket reality show Bigg Boss is set to enter the regional space with ETV Kannada bagging the format rights to produce it in Kannada.

This shows a growing trend of big shows travelling to regional-language markets. Star India, for example, has shown Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) across many of its regional channels.

With Southern superstar Sudeep as the host of the show, the Kannada version will see its local newsmakers and celebrities from all walks of life entering the Bigg Boss House.

Bigg Boss Kannada will be aired on ETV Kannada in March.

ETV Kannada Programming Head Parameshwar Gundkal said, "Television content is all about story telling. It deals with emotions and drama of everyday life. Bigg Boss deals with this fact in by far, the biggest way. This is the best show available for the viewers to get up close and personal with their favorite celebrities."

Endemol India CEO Deepak Dhar further elaborated saying, "Bigg Boss has connected extremely well with Indian audiences because it showcases reality in its truest, unadulterated form. Season after season, it has been the talk of town and to maintain the same amount of fanfare in its Kannada version, we have incorporated a gamut of innovations and new ideas based on our observations and learning from the Bigg Brother Format world over."

The group of celebrities who will be living together for 14 weeks will bring out the best and worst in each other as they struggle to keep their calm and survive in the Bigg Boss house confines. The Bigg Boss house will not have any kind of entertainment or sources of communication with the outside world.

With cameras tracking their every move 24x7, the contestants will have to do without basics that they hold dear like a television, books, internet or their phones.