Big B, Sharmila Tagore to hunt for an ideal couple on STAR Gold

STAR Gold, the number three channel in the Hindi movie genre, is launching a hunt for an ideal couple. This hunt is part of the promotional tie-up with the AB Corp movie 'Virudh'.

As part of the programming, Amitabh Bachchan and Sharmila Tagore will choose the ideal couple based on the kind of relationship they share. The contest will run for a month on the channel. The concept of ideal couple has been initiated as Big B and Sharmila Tagore are playing the role of an ideal couple in the film. The winning couple will get a Rs 5-lakh insurance policy free from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

The channel is looking forward to several such promotional tie-ups around forthcoming movie releases. Ajay Vidyasagar, senior vice-president, marketing and communication, STAR India, says, “Such initiatives in the past, for instance 'Black' and 'Kaal', had paid off well for the channel. While earlier, we were in constant touch with the filmmakers for such tie-ups, now it's them, who are approaching us.”

STAR Gold has managed a few more tie-ups with forthcoming releases. The other movies include Nitin Manmohan's 'Dus' and Amol Palekar's 'Paheli'.

A senior executive of STAR Gold's promotional team, says, “We are trying to build a grand contest around 'Dus', as we are targeting the international audience.” Dus stars Sanjay Dutt and Abhishek Bachchan.

Around the movie Paheli – which has Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee in the lead roles – the channel will launch a contest, 'Paanch Paheli'. A week before the theatrical release of the movie, the channel will run this contest where five questions (one question every day) will be asked around the movie.

STAR Gold has a property called 'Gold Preview' through which the channel shows exclusive footage from a forthcoming release, a day before its theatrical release. The channel has decided to air this show a week prior to the release of the movie.

While such innovations help a movie channel to achieve a sudden spurt in viewership, a channel's viewership largely depends on its library. Some of the films on which STAR Gold is keeping very high hopes include 'Shaadi No 1', 'Black' and 'Hulchul'. The senior executive of STAR Gold says, “To get a bigger share of the market, we will need more attractive titles. So in 2006, we are targeting to add the biggest blockbusters in STAR Gold's library.”

Channel executives are also very excited about the recent performance of the movie, 'Main Hoon Na'. In week 19 of 2005, the movie got a TVR of 3.75 . (Source: TAM Media Research, C&S, 4+, Hindi Speaking Markets). © 2005 agencyfaqs!