SAB strengthens 10 pm slot, launches three shows

The channel is coming up with three new weekly shows and fresh episodes of FIR

SAB, the family comedy channel, in a bid to strengthen its primetime band, has announced the launch of three new weekly shows, Yeh Chanda Kanoon Hai, Sonu Sweety and Thank You Jijaji for the 10 pm slot. The new programming will go on air on August 3.

The half an hour shows will be aired from Monday to Wednesday. For the Thursday 10 pm slot, the channel will air FIR, which till now was being aired on Fridays at 8.30 pm.

The new programming lineup will replace the daily show, Bhootwala Serial, which was launched in February. According to channel officials, the show will be taken off air because it is a one of its kind show and has lived its life.

Talking to afaqs! about the new programming, Anooj Kapoor, business head, SAB, says, "With these new shows, SAB will have some of the biggest names in comedy on Indian television. We are committed to give our audience different flavours and genres of comedy with every new launch."

Thank You Jijaji (to be aired on Mondays) is a sitcom produced by Jaspal Bhatti, which will have Bhatti playing the 'Jijaji' (brother-in-law) of an IAS officer; Sonu Sweety (on Tuesdays) is a light-hearted comedy based on a husband-wife pair, starring Shweta Kwatra and Varun Badola; and Yeh Chanda Kanoon Hai (on Wednesdays) is a courtroom comedy with Juhi Parmar playing the character of Chanda Rani. It will also have Tiku Talsania and Asif Sheikh. Apart from these, there will be fresh episodes of FIR every Thursday from August 7.

In May, SAB had announced a fresh lineup of shows, and these three shows are an extension of that programming mix. Also, SAB recently launched Tedhi Baat Shekhar Ke Saath at 10.30 pm to strengthen its primetime slot. According to SAB, the new lineup is another effort to get the family experience back into television viewing.

To promote these shows, the channel is indulging in an aggressive marketing campaign that will reflect across TV, hoardings, digital screens, multiplexes, malls and hyper markets, print and road shows.

The focus for these activities will be towns with 1 million plus population in the Hindi speaking markets. According to the channel, the marketing activities to promote these shows will strongly work towards using the star power of the actors to drive the audience to the new properties.

Though the channel does not have any new property lined up for Friday, it plans to launch an hour-long comedy show for the weekly slot soon.

By putting weekly shows during the primetime band, the channel hopes to attract the interest of the viewers as there will be something new to look forward to every day.