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VIRAL EXCLUSIVE
Oct. 30, 2023
India’s Formats Spark Higher Audience Numbers
India’s format shows have garnered plenty of attention in recent years, enjoyed by international audiences and achieving success with trending numbers worldwide. By: Dylan Low
In current times, India’s non-fiction and reality television industry has significantly grown to become popular with locals and international audiences worldwide.
India has made use of trending show formats such as reality television series and non-fiction programmes, turning them into their own Indian adaptations. Referencing popular American series such as Shark Tank, India has created their own version of reality shows, bringing in local talents to feature in the series.
Reality shows and their impact
An example of a popular reality show is Shark Tank India. Adapted from the original series Shark Tank, it entails entrepreneurs pitching business ideas to a panel of five investors or sharks, who will judge whether to invest in their companies. The show ran for a one and a half months
Its popularity skyrocketed since its debut as it gained traction amongst locals in the country. It has become mainstream to the point that it’s being discussion at the dinner table, earning start-ups a significant reputation in the industry.
In light of the success surrounding the business reality show, Media and Entertainment company Sony Pictures Television will be introducing more international format shows, consisting of both scripted and unscripted content. Some of these include The $100,000 Pyramid and Raid The Cage, which are esteemed by global audiences and are set to bring many brand and product placement opportunities. This capitalises on the local Indian audience who have previously enjoyed Shark Tank Asia.
Sonika Bhasin, Vice-president of sales and distribution in South Asia’s Sony Pictures Television, revealed in a statement, “The most significant aspect of curating unique entertainment offerings for the Indian audience is to take the right programming decisions at the right time to be able to connect with the masses. We aim to create a space for innovation by bringing our popular international formats to India, which will add value to our clients’ platforms and have high success rates,
“We are optimistic about the scope of extending our iconic formats to leading broadcasters and Shark Tank India who are equally committed to bringing global properties to the native audience," He added.
India - an international production hub
Founder and CEO of Banijay Asia Deevak Dhar has previously announced that India will be an international production hub for international hit reality formats Survivor and Temptation Island.
With such plans already announced last year, they are finally set to take place. Survivor has more than 50 international versions while Temptation Island has more than 20.
“Significant progress has happened in the last six to seven months in setting up the runway to really pave a lot of productions to happen in India, both reality and scripted. Reality is something that we’ve been pushing, because of the might of our Banijay Group catalogue formats – shows like ‘Survivor’ and ‘Temptation Island.’ We are on the verge of setting up a ‘Temptation Island’ hub and ‘Survivor’ hub and a whole lot of the Banijay Group companies would come film here,” Dhar revealed to the press.
He mentioned, “This is really giving them a full experience of what Indian landscapes could look like and how it would really enrich their shows and their formats as well. And, of course, importantly, make this very cost effective for them – everybody is wanting to still deliver great content, but also wanting to figure out cost efficiencies as well.”
Hence, India has plans to be the host centre for both Asian and worldwide editions of the format shows, with both local and global audiences benefitting through the broadcast of their formats.
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