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Put on your dancing shoes – it’s time for battle
Even as the contestants of ‘Nach Baliye 3’ and ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 2’ begin to battle it out, the two shows are in for some serious competition for advertisements. Here’s how media planners are deciding which show they’re betting on
Reality TV has donned its armour and shield once again. As the music talent hunt shows draw to a close, the battle moves to the dance floor. ‘Nach Baliye 3’ (‘NB3’) premiered on September 21, 2007, on STAR Plus in the 8 pm slot, while ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 2’ (‘JDJ2’) will launch its second season on September 28 at 9 pm on Sony.
It will be interesting to see which show manages to stay on its toes till the very end. In its third year, ‘NB3’ has included wild card entries, celebrities and increased audience interaction. ‘JDJ2’ will air two episodes before commencing the elimination of couples. All the female contestants will perform in the first episode, while all the men will perform in the second.
There’s more good news for ‘NB3’: The show has already established itself over the last two seasons, while ‘JDJ2’ is a season behind. “Viewers' familiarity with the former will work as a plus for the show,” says Anita Nayyar, CEO India, MPG. In its first season, ‘JDJ’ garnered eyeballs, although it didn’t do as well as ‘NB2’.
CD Mitra, president, OMS, says, “‘NB3’ has a much bigger platform with the STAR Network. The larger audience reach, better promotions and marketing will stand the show in good stead.” Mitra points out that the time slot (8 pm) will help ‘NB3’ attract more eyeballs, as this implies an extra hour of viewing over ‘JDJ2’, which begins at 9 pm.
Though ‘NB’ scores over ‘JDJ’ because of its Indian content, the jury and contestants of ‘JDJ’ are more promising this season – Urmila Matondkar, Shiamak Davar and Jeetendra. Malik says that the jury for ‘NB3’ (Vaibhavi Merchant, Isha Koppikar and David Dhawan) isn’t a match for even the previous season’s jury.
True to the show’s format, the contestants in ‘JDJ2’ are novices in the field of dancing or have been out of the dance circuit for a long time. “This time, ‘JDJ’ will score on increased audience interaction, better jury and good participants,” says Malik, clearly not besotted by the advantages that ‘NB3’ offers.
‘NB3’ is about celebrity couples dancing to win the title, whereas ‘JDJ2’, based on the BBC Network show, ‘Dancing with the Stars’, is about celebrities coupled with a choreographer each.
‘NB3’, originally a STAR One brainchild, was shifted to STAR Plus to garner higher viewership – a trend it has maintained this year. “This could also be viewed as a gamble the network is taking to keep TVRs,” says Mitra.
Stepping away from the dance floor for the moment, media planners agree that the reality television cup is, in reality, overflowing. “Though the shelf life for this kind of television still exists, it won’t be long before viewers will not receive the shows with the same enthusiasm,” Nayyar concludes gravely.