KBC's Win or SDCK's Loss?

In early 2000, to beat Zee TV in TRP ratings and increase the viewership, Star Plus, the second most
viewed TV channel sought the help of research agency MARG to improve its TRP ratings. MARG stressed
on a new brand positioning for the channel to garner more viewership. On MARG's advice, Star Plus
launched the biggest game show in Indian television history 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' (KBC). It was
hosted by none other than Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan. Overnight, KBC pushed Star Plus
into the leadership position.

Channel audience share peaked to a high of 8.7% during the eight weeks beginning July 2nd 2000,
compared with Sony TV's 7.2% and Zee TV's 6.8%. By September 2000, the channel had 12 of its shows
on the top 50 charts.

In the top 20 program list, Star Plus had 8 programs, versus Zee's 9 and Sony's 3, as compared to the
pre-KBC figures of 12 shows for Zee, 5 for Sony and just 3 for Star Plus. From November 2000, Star
managed to occupy 12 top slots in the TRP ratings. Post KBC, the image of Star Plus as foreign channel
changed considerably with viewers switching in hordes to the channel. Riding high on the success of
KBC, Star Plus launched follow-up programs for KBC to sustain viewer interest in the channel.

The prime time slot was changed from 9-10 to 9-11 with two family dramas being aired right after KBC.
This succeeded in retaining the viewership of the channel. Putting KBC in the prime time slot (9-10 p.m.)
paid off for the channel, largely at the expense of Zee TV's prime time slots. Sony also suffered to an
extent and had to revamp its prime time serial slots, but it was Zee, which faced the maximum erosion
in its primetime viewership ratings.

KBC's success changed the ground rules in the TRP race between the television channels. Zee TV had to
pool all its resources to combat the effect of KBC. Zee even changed the timings of its popular prime
time soaps. To lure back the audience lost due to the KBC effect, Zee launched its Malamaal interactive
contest. However, the promotion did not do the trick for Zee, and the KBC menace continued to eat into
its TRP ratings and ad revenues. It was at this time that Zee TV decided that it had to come out with a
program, which could match KBC. Thus was born Sawal Dus Crore Ka (SDCK). Zee seemed to have hit the
wrong note from the very beginning, when it decided to make SDCK a replica of KBC with Anupam Kher
and Manisha Koirala as anchors. To lure away KBC viewers, Zee decided to feed on their greed by
offering prize money of 100 million to the winner, as against KBC's 10 million, giving the show a
tremendous response initially.

SDCK had inaugural TRP ratings of 7.9 when it was launched in October 2000. However, it slipped down
to 3.7 within 3 weeks. During the same period, KBC moved up from 9.3 to 10.5. Thus December 2000
was a time of sweet victory for STAR TV's Indian arm. Archrival Zee TV's (Zee) desperate attempt to cash
in on the gameshow craze with their 'Sawal Dus Crore Ka' (SDCK), was making headlines for all the
wrong reasons. SDCK never really managed to hit it off with the audience. SDCK was never able to reach
the rating of its inaugural show in its short lifespan. SDCK failed to sustain the viewer's interest in the
show from the very beginning.

Also, its anchors could not match the charisma and screen presence of Amitabh Bachchan. SDCK was
aired on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. putting it in direct competition with
KBC, which was aired on all weekdays, except on Friday, between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. Media analysts
commented that SDCK had failed to capture the imagination of the audience.
The me-too image of the show was seen as a major hindrance to its popularity. SDCK sets looked similar
to KBC's with the same seating arrangement and similar blue lighting. But there were undefined arches
under which the contestants seemed to disappear. Even the audience section was badly lit. On the
program content front, SDCK's elimination rounds were confusing - making things long and dull for the
viewers. The language of the questions seemed to be complicated to the viewers. It seemed as if even
simple questions were complicated, and this seemed to create confusion in the minds of the audience.

Instead of the 'three lifelines' of KBC, SDCK had three trumps; instead of 'lock kiya jaye,' it was 'freeze
kiya jaye.' There seemed to be no spontaneity in the show as the anchors failed to strike a comfortable
relationship with the participants. Lack of a healthy working relationship between the two anchors also
marred the show. Some analysts felt that the presence of two anchors created confusion. Viewers
seemed to be irritated when both anchors spoke at the same time. Gajendra Singh, Director, SDCK
commented, "They had massive ego clashes and I think it showed on screen." Reacting to Zee TV's
comments on SDCK's failure being due to his and Manisha's incompetence,

Anupam Kher said, "When they have anyway thrown the two of us out, why not go on with the existing
format if we alone are to be blamed for its failure?" Manisha Koirala also came out strongly against
SDCK and Zee in the media. She remarked, "When I first caught the telecast of SDCK in the second week
of November, I was appalled by its poor and tacky production. There were flies sitting on the
participant's faces and many of them were sweating not because of tension but heat in the studio." .

Thus, while the anchors failed to win over the audience, whereas KBC's anchor, with his immense
popularity, had completely won over the viewers. There was an also lot of audience interaction in KBC,
which seemed to be missing in SDCK. Before launching KBC, Star Plus had spent months preparing
Amitabh Bachchan for the show. However, according to Anupam Kher, they could not rehearse for even
three weeks before the shooting of the show commenced. Meanwhile, KBC gave SDCK a tough time by
airing 'special' shows with Bollywood celebrities on the occasion of Diwali and New Year. Considering
the show's miserable TRP ratings, and the fact that it was drawing flak from all quarters, though plans of
revamping SDCK and of signing new anchors to host the show were made public, Zee TV eventually
pulled the program off the air.

Questions

1. Which managerial functions do you analyse to have been reasons behind SDCK's failure?

Ans. The failure of SDCK's failure can be attributed to the failure of its management in performing all the
functions of managers, viz., planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling.

Planning, because

(a) The counter strategy against Star TV was badly planned by a look alike show.

(b) The timings of the show were badly planned

(c) The schedule to be followed, the format of the show did not have any appeal

to the viewers

(d) The anchors planned to be chosen lacked mass appeal.

Organising, because
(a) the resources were improperly organised,

(b) the audience was not visible,

(c) the participants were not comfortable,

(d) the ambience was full of heat, with improper cooling system.

Staffing, because

(a) Such people were chosen to be the anchors that did not have a good bonding with each other, as
well as the audience.

(b) Two anchors were recruited while just one would have sufficed Notes

(c) On the training part, one of the anchors himself admits that they were not given enough rehearsals.

Directing, because if a project fails, the main reason for that it that was not properly directed.

Controlling, because

(a) The production house could not protect the situation go awry even when they had foreseen the
failure of the show.

(b) There could have been a possible revamping of the show.

(c) The anchors (if at all they were the sole reasons behind the failure of the show), should have been
managed well in the initial stages of their conflict.

2. What role did Mr Amitabh Bachchan, the anchor of KBC excelled at while managing the show?

Ans. Mr Amitabh Bachchan excelled at performing the interpersonal role of being

(a) Figurehead Role: by greeting, welcoming the visitors of the show. Many participants admitted that
they went to the show only so that they could shake their hands with the living legend.

(b) Leadership Role: by becoming the face of KBC. Whatever might have behind the scenes, Mr Bachchan
guaranteed that he took the show off with excellence.

(c) Liaison Role: by serving as a connecting link between the production house and the audience/TV
viewers.

3. List some interpersonal skills that might become the reason for the success/failure of a game show.

Ans. Ability to work with, understand, motivate, encourage, etc.