Sharada Sunder replaces Gitanjali Murari at Real

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent | Mumbai
Gitanjali Murari, content head, Real, has quit from the newly-launched Hindi GEC. She joined the channel in May 2008 and was responsible for developing and producing content for the channel.

Meanwhile, Sharada Sunder, president, Real Global Broadcasting (RGB – a JV between Turner International and Alva Brothers Entertainment), will be overseeing programming till a suitable replacement is found.

During its launch, Real had marketed itself as a channel with unique entertainment offerings. The channel made its debut with a programming mix that has 50:50 ratio of fiction and non-fiction shows.

Generally, non-fiction shows form 30 per cent of the programming mix of GECs in India, that too scheduled towards the weekend, while weekdays are largely dominated by fictional programming.

Real, on the contrary, had launched with an equal amount of non-fiction dose for the audience even on the weekdays. The flagship show of Real is a reality show, called Sarkar Ki Duniya, which is telecasted on weekdays.

Today, Real is struggling with ratings and has not been able to go beyond 20 GRPs, which is even less than 9X, which is presently running re-runs of shows. However, Real is sprucing up its marketing strategy and is hopeful of the numbers going up once the Indian Premier League (IPL) is done.

Prior to Real, Murari was with Pix, the English movie and event channel under Multi Screen Media, where she was the programming head. She was also involved with the brand's marketing and advertising sales functions.