08 August,2010 12:31 PM IST | | Janaki Viswanathan
A music channel is airing a sit-com, and contemplating airing documentaries. A crime show is playing on a Bollywood channel. Non-fiction channels are offering urbane audiences fresh meat. Coming up: a 'freality' show
Fiction television's most neglected target group? You and I. The means of grabbing our attention? Shows that we can relate to on channels we are most likely watch.
That's exactly what music station Channel [V] and Bollywood channel Zoom are doing. The two recently launched a weekly sitcom, Roomies, and a drama, Crime and Bollywood.
Manish Gupta, film director (Karma, Confessions and Holi) and producer of Roomies, says, staying away from a general entertainment channel (GEC) aka Star Plus, Zee was a conscious choice. "I wanted to take my idea to a non-fiction channel because Roomies is for the hugely ignored urban crowd, that's now crossed 300 million."
Logically too, it's simpler to experiment on a niche channel than on a GEC. Prem Kamath, GM,u00a0 [V], puts it down to the fact that they don't object to any format as long as it's relevant to their viewers. "We are agonistic towards genres. We simply make shows that our audience will enjoy." [V] is now looking at documentaries, talk shows, and some more fiction.
Crime and Bollywood too, has opened doors for more fiction on Zoom. Ajaz Khan, who plays a pivotal role in Crime and Bollywood, says, "It's a show that will look good only on this channel. The channel isn't for housewives and small-towners. It's for the youth, for those who watch English movies."
Perhaps a different channel?
Gupta agrees. "Take the YRF shows (Powder, Seven, Rishta.com and Mahi Way, which launched in January on Sony and shut shop a month ago), for instance. They didn't work despite compelling content, because they were aired on a GEC. The target audience wasn't even watching the channel."
Shruti Seth, the lead in Rishta.com, blames it on poor marketing. Seth agrees that a niche channel lets you experiment, but feels it could have worked if Sony had a better promotional campaign. "Sony wasn't clear about its target audience. When you launch weekly shows on a 'daily' channel, you have to remind the audience to tune in."
MTV did quite a good job of promoting their first foray into fiction in 2004, Kitni Mast Hai Zindagi. However, Aditya Swamy, senior VP, sales and marketing, denies consciously trying out fiction. He insists Ekta Kapoor's production was picked because of its story. "A small-town girl with dreams of becoming an RJ worked then because radio was making a comeback." Swamy says fiction and non-fiction divides hardly matter. "Would you compare a F.R.I.E.N.D.S to a 24? They are both fiction, but worlds apart." What matters is whether a format works or not.
Come September, MTV will launch MF 101. An "exaggerated reality show", it revolves around four lucky young men who get to live out their fantasies in a posh bachelor pad in Bangkok. The show is being touted as part-reality-part-fiction, because there are no competitions and eliminations. It's drama in real time. Freality,
anyone?
