Priyanka's magic worked for Colors, KKK x3 gets biggest opening TRPs

The Indian television industry today is booming with every passing day, though there are a lot of people saying that TV is passé. The fact remains that TV as a medium still has a lot of channels to offer, a lot of formats to offer and is still an important tool in a media mix.

Indian television today is prominently categorised as fiction and non-fiction formats, while there are channels still telecasting fictional formats, the same channels have explored the reality show format quite a bit. The General Entertainment Channels (GEC) today have a lot of reality shows based on various themes, from singing to marriage to unfaithful lovers.

The reality show format initially started as a medium to explore the singing talents in the common man, however now it is a full blown industry with varied range of themes. Many of these formats have either been big popular shows internationally, and a few others have been conceptualised specially for the sub-continent.

One of such successful reality shows, which has been adapted from an international format, is Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi. The show is based on the concept of the international show Fear Factor, and is currently in its third season in India.

Fear Factor is an American stunt/dare reality game show. The show hit the American markets in the year 2001. The show was hosted by commentator and comedian Joe Rogan, Endemol and NBC had launched the show in the US.

The Indian version is also created by Endemol, the first two seasons of the show were telecast on the Channel Colors with Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar as its anchor. Both the seasons were an immediate hit and garnered quite a few awards too. However, this year the show was launched in its third season and is called Fear Factor Khatron Ke Khiladi-3, and is now being hosted by Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra.

Though the response to the change in anchor was a little jittery and sceptical, but with the flamboyant personality and fit body, Priyanka seems to have contributed to the show in a big way. According to the TAM Week 37 data, the launch episode saw a 26% jump in ratings over last year, the TVR last year was 4.4%. The channel also saw an incraese in overall reach, from 18.4% reach last year to 19.2% this year.

The show has become the biggest reality show launch of 2010 and also is the biggest launch for a Bollywood star since 2008.

Speaking about the enormous success of the show, Rajesh Kamat, Chief Executive Officer, Colors & Chief Operating Officer , Viacom 18, said, "After two successful seasons of Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi, we are encouraged by the overwhelming viewer response to the third season. The exceptional show rating which is higher than the earlier two seasons indicates that the content and the format have been accepted well by viewers. We have taken the show to the next level in terms of scale, credibility and delivering value to our advertising partners."

We spoke to quite a few viewers and media professionals to gauge their response and we gathered that they are really pleased with not only the format of the show but with the fresh change that can be attributed to Priyanka coming on board. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]