Colors bets big on Ranveer, Salman to overcome 3 Cs – Cricket, Covid, and Caution of advertisers

‘Bigg Boss’ is one of the most expensive television propositions in India. The show is hosted by Bollywood star Salman Khan, and costs the general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors around Rs 150 crore. It is a marquee property for Colors, and what rides on it is more than just ratings.

The Hindi avatar of the British reality series ‘Big Brother’ is produced by Endemol Shine. The show locks celebrities in a house for 107 days. A new episode is aired every day.

As it is a tentpole property, Viacom18 sells inventory during the show at a high price. ‘Bigg Boss’ is currently on air, and Colors is also gearing up to launch ‘The Big Picture’, an entertainment quiz show starring actor Ranveer Singh, in mid-October.

It is clear that the network has set its eyes on the festive season, when the brands tend to spend the most amount of money on advertising. However, owing to the second COVID wave and the disruption in the economy, the brands are cautious about their ad spends.

Things have only become trickier for the entertainment channels because of cricket. The second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is currently on air and soon after it ends, the Men’s T20 World Cup will start, taking most of the prime time slot.

Despite the odds, Viacom18 is upbeat that it will get high values out of its marquee properties. Mahesh Shetty, head – network sales, Viacom18, tells afaqs! that 18 brands have associated themselves with ‘Bigg Boss’. The network has already signed six brands for ‘The Big Picture’.

So, despite COVID and cricket, Shetty seems cautiously optimistic, and talks about the challenges and opportunities.