Bindass to launch its most expensive reality show The Big Switch

Ankit Jain - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Taking a cue from the success of Slumdog Millionaire, UTV Bindass will launch a new reality show, titled The Big Switch, which revolves around 12 youngsters picked from affluent backgrounds who will live with 12 slum kids.

The 'rich kids' will have to perform tasks like selling trinkets and other wares at traffic signals or polishing shoes at the railway station. Of course, they will also have to do the regular household chores of a slum kid as well. Finally, each will help the slum child realise his dream as well.

"The objective is to put two clashing worlds together and we are sure the outcome will be magical. Each rich kid will have to eat, sleep, work and partner with one slum kid," says Heather Gupta, channel head, Bindass.

Gupta suggests that inspiration for this idea came from last year's popular English movie, Slumdog Millionaire. The movie is a western take on millions of Indians who live in slums. So, the channel is making an attempt to put things in perspective by mounting a series that uses slums in a realistic way.

The Big Switch, which is likely to comprise 13-15 episodes, is produced by Endemol India. The channel is yet to take a call on the time slot for Big Switch, but it is learnt that the show will be aired on weekends in a prime time slot.

Bindass is spending generously on marketing the new show. Apart from the traditional advertising, the show will also see a lot of on-ground activities. It will also have Bollywood celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Karan Johar and John Abraham making an appearance for BTL activities.

The channel is spending a whopping Rs 7 crore on the project, with Rs 2.5 crore solely dedicated to its marketing. Bindass' other reality shows such as 21, Beg Borrow Steal and Cash Cab have been made on much smaller budgets.

Reality shows as a genre has caught the imagination of the Indian audience. Channel after channel is launching a new one everyday, so much so that even music channels like Channel V and MTV have tweaked their content in line with this trend.

Bindass' content mix relies more on reality shows than soap operas. And over the next three months, the channel will launch six more reality shows. The ratio of reality shows to soap operas stands at 4:1 for Bindass.

MTV, Zoom and Channel V are the competitors to Bindass. Chanting the interactive, reality show mantra is not enough. Today, there are non music youth channels that are competing directly with music channels such as Bindass that's at No. 3. The Times Group's Zoom, a lifestyle and film-based channel, is at No. 2.

Today, music channels together earn about Rs 200 crore in advertising revenue a year, which is less than 1 per cent of the total TV ad pie, with Vodafone, TVS Scooty, Limca, Hero Honda and Axe deodorants being some of the most advertised brands.

Importantly, also till a year ago, brands that wanted to tap the youth segment spent about 95 per cent of their ad budget on TV with the balance on print. Today, the ratio has changed, with 80 per cent on TV, 10 per cent on other media and the remaining 10 per cent committed to the digital media.