MUMBAI: Colors is gearing up to launch another international format show for the weekend slot.

Ring ka King? Wrestling ka Mahayudh, a sports entertainment reality show, is produced by Endemol India in association with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, a privately held professional wrestling promotion company founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett.

The show combines elements of reality and fiction and is about TNA wrestlers and the Indian wrestlers who will fight for the title of "Ring Ka King".

Interestingly, in 2009, Colors had aired an Argentinian format show 100% - De Dhana Dhan, also produced by the same production house. However, it could not manage to get eyeballs and the channel never launched another season of the show.

When asked about the similarities with 100%, Endemol India MD Deepak Dhar said, "It is similar but very different. Our partners are different, wrestlers are different. It is a completely new format. And we have put in a lot of time and efforts to groom Indian wrestlers."

Colors has roped in Tata Prima Trucks as the title sponsor of the show, while Harbhajan Singh is the goodwill ambassador.

The show will run for 13 weeks and will go on air on 28 January at 8 pm, on Saturdays and Sundays. At present, the channel airs movies during that time.

The show will feature 14 Indian and 16 international wrestlers including Jeff Jarrett, Matt Morgan, Scott Steiner and Monster Abyss. Indian wrestlers to participate in the show are Jwala, Mahabali Veera, Romeo Rapta, Zoravar and Deadly Danda amongst others.

Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, "India, for the first time will witness the excitement of a sport and the intensity of a drama, both rolled into one. We believe that the show will appeal to our viewers and advertisers who are constantly looking for new and innovative platforms to reach out to their audiences."

Colors is also looking to regain its lost glory. The channel, which has fallen to number third position, is eyeing to fix its weekend with the launch of this show, post which it will look at resurrecting its afternoon slot.

"Once we fix our weekends, we will eventually lift our afternoon programming and then try to improve ratings. We want to be No. 1 but not at the cost of profitability. We are trying to get the right balance and make sound investments so that we first consolidate our position as No. 2 and then climb to No. 1," said Nayak.

Dhar added, ??It?s an exciting format for us to work with. While the focus of course will be on the wrestling matches, it is the entertainment and the drama aspect of the show that will put the matches in perspective making them a lot more interesting. Endemol has entered into a partnership with TNA Entertainment, to popularise professional wrestling."

For selecting the participants from India, Endemol?s team went to 13-14 cities except Mumbai and Delhi. "We went to the smaller cities of Haryana, Punjab and UP," Dhar said.

According to Nayak, the core target group for the show is males in the age group of 16-35 years. "The show will also attract kids and lot of young women audiences."

The channel is going to heavily promote the show. Colors AVP-marketing Rajesh Iyer said, "We will be having cross channel promotion for five weeks. We will be rolling out outdoor communication in more than 70 cities. In print, there will be more than 100 ads on the day of launch. We will also be having radio innovations by putting up disruptive advertising between content. For the same, we have tied up with few stations. We are creating two characters on radio, who will be talking about Ring Ka King."

The channel will be active on the digital media as well. "On digital we have applications that we are creating. We are associating with Agneepath for promotion in Cinema. For on ground activities, we are going to 25 cities, where we will be doing road shows. There will be innovations on outdoor and on print with Mid-Day on its 28 January edition," said Iyer.
 

MUMBAI: Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel from the Viacom18 stable, has got the telecast rights of Screen Awards.

The 18th Edition of the Screen Awards, a property of The Express Group, will be aired on Colors in January 2012. One of the highest rated awards property, Screen Awards has been associated with Star Plus for the past 11 years.

Initiated in the year 1994, the Screen Awards were instilled to recognise upcoming talent and professional excellence in Indian Cinema.

Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, "The Screen Awards is one of the most popular and recognized award functions in the Indian film industry?s calendar and we are extremely proud to be associated with it."

The Screen Awards celebrate achievement and excellence in over 30 categories that cover the entire sweep of film-making in Hindi and Marathi.

"The Screen awards set the bar for excellence in Indian cinema because it embodies the fundamental principles of the Express Group: credibility and independence," said The Express Group Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta. "Cinema is bristling with talent; these awards applaud and celebrate this creative upsurge."

The awards follow a two-step screening process that includes a Screen Selection Academy. Its members send their recommendations to a select Screen Jury which is not bound by these.

Previous jury chairpersons include Ramesh Sippy, Amol Palekar, Jeetendra, Asha Parekh, Shatrughan Sinha, Waheeda Rehman among others.

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has sold the format for its magazine talk show, ?The Dr. Oz Show? to Colors.

This marks the first time a US talk show format will be produced in India and the first formatted medical show to air in the region. Details of the Indian broadcast are yet to be announced.

Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, "Acquiring the format for ?The Dr. Oz Show? is our attempt to bring to the Indian audiences a successful and useful show that creates awareness on health and wellness - something that has not been on air in India. The show will be called "All Is Well" and will connect with our audiences by showcasing the physical and emotional impact of illnesses on not only their own lives but also the lives of their family and friends."

Apart from Colors for the Indian market, SPT has also sold the rights of the show to TV Romania (TVR) for the Romanian market.

With the development, the show format reaches 10 territories around the world. Other territories to develop a series based on the talk show format include Brazil (TV Record), Colombia (RCN), Chile (Mega TV), China (Zhejiang TV), Russia (Rossiya), Armenia (Shant TV), France (TF1) and the Middle East (MBC1). Meanwhile, the print version of The Dr. Oz Show can be seen across five continents and has been sold in 112 countries.

In Romania, TV Romania (TVR) has ordered 100 episodes of the show, marking the first time the format will be produced in the territory. The announcement was made by SPT president, international distribution Keith Le Goy.

In Romania, the local version of ?The Dr. Oz Show? will begin airing next year.

?The Dr. Oz Show? is a magazine talk show full of audience participation and viewer interaction, with its highly qualified medical host and team of specialist advisers serving up daily plans and challenges for ordinary people.

MUMBAI: Colors, the Hindi general entertainment channel from the Viacom18 stable, has roped in Balaji Telefilms creative head Prashaant Bhatt as the head of fiction.

He will be responsible for driving the fiction properties on the channel and take key decisions on new show productions.

Bhatt will join the channel on 1 December and will be reporting to Colors CEO Raj Nayak.

Nayak commented, "Given Prashaant‘s experience in delivering compelling content for multiple successful fiction properties over the years, we are confident that he will take the Colors‘ fiction shows to a new peak. I am proud to have him on the team, and look forward to co-creating new frontiers in fiction programming on Colors."

Bhatt added, "I have tremendous appreciation for Colors‘ constant attempts towards providing new and innovative content to the viewers through their shows. I am looking forward to working with this incredibly talented group of people and apply my knowledge and experience and contribute to the fiction programming."

Bhatt has over 16 years of experience as a writer and creative director of various fiction properties. In the last few years, he has also been involved in conceptualising shows and creatively heading them for various production houses, which include Rajshri Productions, Cinevistas, Creative Eye, AK Films, UTV and Shreya Creations among others.