Adgully Exclusive | Viewer's delight is advertiser's delight: Colors' Raj Nayak

The most awaited hot property of Colors, "Big Boss', is back and this time it is "double vaat', with Salman and Sanjay Dutt. Last season, the MIB (Ministry of Information & Broadcasting) issued a stricture to Colors to ensure "good taste and decency" in their controversial show "Big Boss'. Instead of changing the image of the show, the channel changed the time slot as per the guidelines issued by MIB, which is the late- night prime-time slot of 10.30- 11.30.

The change is expected to retain the flavor and appraisal of the show. Earlier the slot was occupied by their show "Na ana is des laado' which has now been shifted to the afternoon slot. Also, the show will be competing the highest taped show on Sony, ""Bade Acche Lagte Hain'. Thus putting across a wait and watch situation, as to who will gain the highest TRPs this time!

In an exclusive conversation with Adgully, Raj Nayak, CEO, Colors and Ashvini Yardi, Head of Content, Colors, spoke about the marketing, promotional and format strategies of Big Boss 5.

Speaking about the format this time, Nayak said, "We have changed the sets from a busy place like Pune to Karjat, a very speculated area. This time the sets are like a cage, so that it does not give much space to the contestants."

He says, "Also this time we have added Sanjay Dutt and along with last season's host Salman Khan, one of the most popular and loved actor. So the costs have gone up and it has been compensated through our sponsors, five of them are already there and rest are lined up."

The team is expecting to have eight associate sponsors and one main sponsor, namely, Tata, Sony Cyber shot, Bislery, L'Oreal, Garnier Men, Dixie and etc."

Nayak further said, "The format of the show will allow you to make a lot of integrations and at the end of the day we believe that a viewer's delight is advertiser's delight."

Talking about the marketing exercise, he said, "There are a lot of hoardings all around and one can visualize what kind of marketing has been done in the Hindi heartland. It is a combination of both, country and metros as a show like this is very metro centric so one cannot afford to forget metros." Further elaborating he said, "We are getting into many things and platforms this time. May it be digital, mobile or you tube, or whether it is print, radio, outdoor or television. I don't think we have left any stone unturned, when it comes to Big Boss 5's ground activation.

As per their research, the team has learnt that many people especially in metros are usually unable to get back home and complain that they don't get a chance to watch Big Boss. This, along with the fact being that the 9 pm time slot has been occupied by a new show, "Parichay', were also vital reasons for the time slot selection. Nayak said, "Parichay, is a new show and has just started to gear up and we wanted the show to build up. So it is a conscious decision of taking this show on-air at 10.30. Also such a show of the nature like Big Boss is fit and ideal for the 10.30 slot."

Well, with an interesting list of inmates and the show being pushed a later time band, Big Boss looks as it seems, is near ready to push up the television masala quotient. With the first look, it promises to stick to its definition, building up the image and expectations of "masala and gossips'. Its only for the inmates to provide the quirky, witty and the unexpected to its already excited and enthusiastic viewers, with a wish to keep the 'masala' and 'entertainment' ratio high this season! | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]