Sony to launch new reality show Dance Premiere League

Ankit Jain - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Sony Entertainment Television, the Hindi GEC from MSM India stable, will launch a dance competition show, called Dance Premiere League (DPL), which is produced by Cineyug. The new reality show will go on air from October 9 and will be aired in the prime time slot at 8 pm, Friday and Saturday.

Mohammed Morani of Cineyug says, "The new reality show will continue for three months, in which you will not find celebrities competing. The idea is to promote various Indian dance forms and it is solely for common people. The first set of auditions has already started for the north zone."

DPL will replace Boogie Woogie, which will be on a seasonal break for three months. Dancing queen Madhuri Dixit has been roped in to judge the 12 week long DPL contest. Sarah Khan and Eijaz Khan are hosting the show.

The format of the show is like the Indian Premiere League (IPL), another broadcast property that belongs to Sony. There will be six teams competing - five representing Indian zones, while one team would be NRI-dominated. Each team will be headed by a professional choreographer.

After being finalised, they will compete for two points in every episode, the way there are league matches in the IPL. The two teams with the highest scores will compete in the finals.

Morani adds, "Shiamak Davar will be overlooking the competition. His role in the show is modeled after an umpire in the cricket field. So far, we have only named the north and the south teams as Uttar Ke Puttar and Southern Sizzlers. Each team will have six participants, chosen through nationwide auditions."

Just a few months back, Sony Entertainment Channel had gone in for a major overhaul of its prime time content with the launch of seven new shows at a single stroke to take on the top top three Hindi entertainment channels - Zee TV, Colors and Star Plus. However, the ambitious plan hasn't really worked.

According to the TAM ratings, none of the shows that came after the re-launch have garnered encouraging ratings. The scores have ranged between 0.4 and 2 consistently over the last eight to 10 weeks.

Danish Khan, marketing head, Sony Entertainment TV, says, "Despite not breaking into the top three, we are a clear number four now. The channel is moving progressively. We have grown from 70 GRPs to 130 GRPs in three months, which is commendable. With Dance Premiere League, we hope it gets better."

Apparently, two of the channel's prime time shows - Palampur Express and Chittod Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johur - have been pulled off air recently, thanks to plummeting ratings. The only show that brought hope was Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega, which is returning with a second season.

Khan states, "Rani Padmini surely didn't break the ice; neither did Palampur Express. Audiences have rejected them and we have pulled them off air. A couple of new shows will replace the existing ones in the daily prime time slots."