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Sony: Revival = longer primetime

Trying to get more viewership, Sony is trying to tap the female audiences through the extended weekday primetime line-up

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Sony: Revival = longer primetime

Sony: Revival = longer primetime

Trying to get more viewership, Sony is trying to tap the female audiences through the extended weekday primetime line-up

Raushni Bhagia | Mumbai | March 3, 2016

sony-logo-new-200Sony Entertainment Television has seen a major decline in numbers over the last two- and-a-half years. Having slipped from the top four rankings among Hindi general entertainment channels(GECs), the channel now has some serious plans for revival. It has recently signed up comedy king, Kapil Sharma, banking on him for a successful weekend primetime show. The channel now senses the need to expand the weekday prime-time slot as well.

Sony expects to expand its primetime from the existing three hours to five hours starting 7 PM, by adding at least three to four shows in its weekday line-up. The weekdays will, moreover get extended till Saturday, adding another five hours of programming to the week. Most of the content will be fiction, primarily the “saas-bahu” sagas.

An industry ballpark is that a normal fiction show should cost anywhere between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh for a single 22-minute episode. Special events like marriage functions and outdoor shoots spike costs further. By this yardstick,an additionalten hours of extra programming should compel Sony to invest at least Rs 1 crore a week.

NP Singh NP Singh

Sony Pictures Networks CEO, N. P. Singh, said, “We have taken a conscious decision of expanding the programming line-up for the weekday primetime. It will happen gradually in a span of two to two and a half month, or sooner. It also depends on which show needs a logical ending and replacement. We have always tried to not stretch any show after the story has found a climax and is still on a high note."

None of the fiction shows of the channel have been on long runs in recent times, even though the channel has had some very popular and high-rated shows. Sony Entertainment did pull the curtains down on some shows that were above average, like 'Parvarrish Season One', 'Bade Achhe Lagte Hain', 'Maharana Pratap' and 'Itna Karo Na Mujhe Pyaar' - to name a few.

'The Kapil Sharma Show' will be coupled with a few more fiction shows in the weekend line-up shortly. Detailed announcements of the shows are expected soon. Everyone has blamed its weak distribution network for the channel's depleting performance, but Singh does not agree with the view.

“We have optimum connectivity in the country. The new measurement system, new sample sizes and inclusion of newer markets have definitely shaken up the ratings to some extent, but that is for every channel and genre. If you closely look at our numbers in the past six to seven weeks, our share of viewership has actually grown. We just want to push it further.”

The first two shows planned in this series of new launches, named 'Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi' and 'Ek Duje Ke Vaaste' hit television screens on Monday, February 29 at 9.30PM and 10 PM. Surprisingly, the two shows didn't have many commercial breaks or commercial ad-films during the show-breaks.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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