"Reality shows give brands an ROI that is beyond a 30-second-slot": Nina Elavia Jaipuria

It's the women who control television remote in a household on an India's evening. The soaps run one after another on general entertainment channels. Male members or the young of the house generally give it a skip. Non-fiction or non-scripted content, popularly known as reality shows in India, manage to break the pattern, believes Nina Elavia Jaipuria, Head, Hindi Mass Entertainment and Kids TV Network, Viacom18. She believes that the entire house watches reality television sitting together because it appeals to everyone.

The number one paid Hindi general entertainment channel, Colors, just premiered the finale of its marquee property - Bigg Boss, and is gearing up to air the Indian version of Fear Factor, Khatron Ke Khiladi. While Broadcast Audience Research Council of India is yet to declare the final viewership numbers of Bigg Boss, Colors has declared that the 2019-20 edition has been the format’s best so far.

Reality television is an expensive proposition in India. While general fiction programmes cost broadcasters around Rs 10 - 12 lakh per episode and Rs 25 - 30 lakh for VFX, heavy supernatural ones, when it comes to reality shows, the investment goes up manifold. If the sources are to be believed then Bigg Boss costs Colors around Rs 150 crore for the 105 episode project while for a 20 - 26-episode Khatron Ke Khiladi the channel dishes out Rs 60 crore. If the project cost goes up then so do the ad rates. For the number one show in paid GEC, ‘Kundali Bhagya’ Zee TV charges around Rs 1.2 lakh per 10 - second - slot, whereas during the weekend episode of Bigg Boss featuring Salman Khan, Colors ups the ad rates to Rs 3.5 lakh to 4 lakhs. Jaipuria believes that these premium ad rates make reality television profitable.

In a chat with afaqs! she talks about the advantages of non-fiction programming, how advertisers react to it and the implications of the economic slowdown…

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