Exclusive | From TV to Phones, CNK tickles its viewers across

A show that was started with a an aim of creating a difference in the comedy/entertainment space has gone ahead and broken all records in the digital space. It has been a constant source of joy for the Colors team ever since it started although there were a few hitches during the start. Comedy Nights with Kapil premiered on June 22, 2013 on Viacom18’s GEC Colors, it has  received appreciation and applause from the viewers ever since its gone on air. Touted to be a comedy show with a difference which brought to forth comic elements even from very mundane subjects.

Comedy Nights with Kapil will complete a year in a few days ,however in the digital space it has the distinctioin of being  the first ever Indian television show to achieve such a stupendous high on the digital platforms which only goes to prove the  popularity of the show not only in India but all across the globe. Tirelessly entertaining people for almost a year now and delivering fun unlimited, Comedy Nights with Kapil  has earned social media admiration beyond words.

Adgully caught up with Vivek Srivastava, Digital Head – COLORS and spoke about the wide popularity of the show across the globe and his thoughts on reaching such an enviable social media HIGH which has eluded quite a few top shows across channels …

Srivastava said, “We started with an aim to entertain our audience and initially we did not expect such a spike in the digital space. Also looking at the milestone it has reached today we surely were not expecting such a positive or I should say astounding response from our viewers. Obviously we have worked really hard to reach this position but in terms of expectation we did not expect such a phenomenal spike.”

Amongst the Colors bouquet of shows the only other show that compares with the sucess of Comedy Nights with Kapil in terms of achieving digital success  would be Big Boss which had 24X7 Social Media presence and engagement with its audience, updates and in house gossips were available on the Facebook page of Bigg Boss, which in its first three weeks had  reached 2.7 million likes.

Vivek says, “Bigg Boss was also one of our shows that had strong digital presence but the only difference between Comedy Nights and Bigg Boss is the show duration. Bigg Boss is aired  for three months and Comedy Nights has been around for a year now.”

Comedy Nights has not only broken records nationally but has also been acclaimed internationally. The show stands much taller than some international properties like ‘Breaking Bad’, Dancing with the Stars’ and many more. A proud Srivastava stated, “Yes, we have been tracking the traction and the show has touched and crossed a substantial  mark nationally and internationally.”

He also believes that more than numbers it is about reach and building connection. So what approach has helped the team in reaching  this? Responding to this he said, “Digital medium is very unpredictable hence the strategies in terms of campaigns and steps taken on this platform have to be very cautious. You need to hit the right chord so that it gives you right engagement opportunity”.   

To create more engagement and buzz, the channel also initiated  a contest ‘Want to be a part of the 10 million likes celebration on ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil’’ where the fans were asked to mail their picture and see themselves on the cover image of the show’s page.

As Srivastva mentioned above, digital medium is one of the most unpredictable mediums it is also a fact that not all shows achieve likability in the e-space . On asking about was there a different game-plan designed  towards this show specifically, he said, “Well, every show has its own charm. Though comedy is an easy format to tickle and buzz our audience but still it made us work really hard to make it work on digital medium. Also during the normal airing time, that is Saturday and Sunday, of the show a lot of interaction was witnessed on digital media. But when we took the show on Facebook we had decided that we will deepen the engagement  by way of a post or comment or memorable highlight of the passe episode  every other day on Facebook.

On an average an episode posted on YouTube receives about 1.5 million views at the very day and not only that but on Twitter too every key character from the show including Kapil Sharma, Kiku Sharda (Palak), and Navjot Singh Sidhu have witnessed a phenomenal increase in the number of followers since the launch of the show. The most popular episodes on YouTube were Sushant and Parineeti episode, Shahrukh’s episode, Salman’s episode and many more. 

Also apart from acheving success on the digital platforms The Comedy Nights with Kapil mobile application also witnesses an average of 1.5 lakh downloads every month enabling the consumption of not only full episodes but also episodic mini-clips. The mobile app is more of a catch-up app wherein the viewers can watch the show anywhere and anytime. 

In terms of geographies the show has garnered around 75–80 per cent fans from within India, while the rest are from countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, the UK, US and UAE. Srivastva shares  though the show is very popular among all age-group but  it is highly  appreciated by women also. He says, “The show has the ability to unite different segments and that is what makes the format all the more strong and appreciated.”

Comedy Nights with Kapil  is turning out to be one of the hot favourarites  with  the Indian television's  audience , we at Adgully wish the team at Comedy Nights with Kapil and COLORS good luck!