Sony to launch Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao on July 13

Ankit Jain - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
After weeks of foundering viewer ratings, the revamped Sony Entertainment Television may have found a show that can catapult it back into the thick of TRP wars. The channel will launch an new show that will be entirely shot in the jungles of Malaysia. Titled 'Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao', the show is the Hindi version of the hit English TV show - 'I'm a Celebrity.. Get Me Out of Here'.

'Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao' is set to go on air on July 13 and will be telecast in the 10 pm slot, Monday to Thursday. The eviction episode will be aired every Friday at 9 pm. The show will replace Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega.

The reality television show will feature 10 celebrities, who have given up the comforts and luxuries they are used to and are staying in camp-like surroundings, complete with hammocks, makeshift toilets, amphibians and arthropods.

The format of the show is such that each day, trials or challenges are assigned to each individual and to groups. Two not-so-popular celebrities get nominated for the eviction round, wherein they fight to stay.

In this physically and mentally challenging show, television stars Shweta Tiwari, Chetan Hansraj and Aman Verma, and former model Marc Robinson, among others, will battle to survive in extreme conditions to win the title of king and queen of the jungle and the prize money.

The marketing plan will commence from July 9. With just five days to promote the show, the channel will use extensive outdoor and radio. Among other initiatives, blogs by the two hosts of the show, Mini Mathur and Yudi, fan pages on social networking websites and unseen footage on YouTube will be implemented.

Meanwhile, Sony's revamped programming has not yielded any returns till now. Shows such as Bhaskar Bharti and Ladies Special record an average TVR of 0.8 and 0.5, respectively, in the past four weeks, according to TAM data.

Gurdip Bhangoo, senior vice-president and programming head, Sony, whom the senior management of the channel calls “the architect of the new Sony”, is looking at new and innovative idea notes to push the channel ahead.

"We are not expecting a miracle, a Colors kind of a rocket to the No. 1 position in just a few weeks. The idea is to take the first steps towards taking Sony back to what it was - the alternative content provider that will also be a leading player in the GEC segment." Gurdip says, adding that "for a channel which hasn't had any successful fiction show, we are heading in the right direction."

Prior to the relaunch, Sony's research team studied 35,000 people in all the metros and tier II cities before concluding that although Indians below the age of 35 are economically affluent, progressive and open to watching new kinds of films and TV shows, they are very rooted to traditional family values and family-oriented stories are the safest bets on prime time TV.