MUMBAI: Asianet is launching the second season of its popular game show ?Ningalkkum Aakam Kodeeswaran? on 1 March.

To be anchored by Suresh Gopi, the Malayalam version of the British quiz show format ?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?? will give a person an opportunity to win up to Rs 10 million.

Jointly produced by Asianet and Big Synergy Media, the show will air every Monday to Thursday at 8 pm.

The game show has been adapted by different regions in India in different languages, the most popular being ?Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) in Hindi?.

MUMBAI: The future of the reality television genre is good, particularly with the emergence of digital media. However, the genre is a loss leader for general entertainment channels, despite the fact that it brings in audiences and helps accumulate GRPs (gross rating points). These were some of the points made at a session during the Fusion 2013 conference organised by IMC.

Actress Poonam Dhillon, who took part in Bigg Boss, noted that reality shows are not scripted but manipulated. She, however, agreed that reality shows gave people from small towns an opportunity to show their talent.

"They know how people will react after seeing them for two weeks, day in and day out. Drama, negativity and things that are not pleasant are looked for as channels feel that this is what drives eyeballs. We have to remember that youngsters watch these shows and therefore it is important to offer something that will inspire them," Dhillon said.

Indiantelevision.com Group CEO and Editor-in-Chief Anil Wanvari noted that while serials and soaps form the staple diet of Indian television, it is reality shows that give spikes in ratings.

"The reality shows accumulate GRPs. Youth targeted channels like MTV and Bindass also do reality shows. ?Roadies? has developed a cult following. Youngsters connect to real stuff. Reality also has sub-genres like talent shows and voyeuristic shows like ?Bigg Boss?. Situations are built into reality shows to see participants? reactions," said Wanvari, while speaking at the ?Reality Shows on TV: Beyond Entertainment and Voyeurism? session.

Wanvari noted that a quiz show like ?KBC? went into reality TV by offering back stories of participants which wasn?t done before. He also pointed out that as a reality show goes through more seasons, the core audience sticks to it.

He bemoaned the fact that reality shows in India are toned down compared to what is seen abroad. "Bigg Boss was told to tone down or it would be in trouble," he averred.

People magazine editor Saira Menezes opined that reality shows are not actually real; it is hyper reality that people are put into. "People have to decide what reality they want to be put into. To succeed, participants have to figure out the object and intent of a show. With Dance India Dance, this is clear. With Big Boss a participant needs a storyline to standout and survive. Reality TV will grow. It is democratic and offers opportunities for people in small towns," she stated.

Actor Kabir Bedi who moderated the session, spoke about his experience in Italy doing ?Celebrity Survivor?. One thing he learnt was that people would do anything to win.

Dhillon concurred. "There is a lot of prize money at stake as well as adulation on TV. Reality TV can be cruel. Judges can put people down. Participants sometimes can get depressed," said Dhillon.

Wanvari said that TV is gaining from social media and the reality genre is no exception. "Social media allows you to tune into a show when you want to. It allows for interactive experiences. You could have short format content, clips on YouTube. Producers may cut content especially for the web. This is already happening in Europe and Asia and it will also happen in India," he added.

MUMBAI: A 37-year-old homemaker, Surmeet Kaur Sawhney, has won Rs 50 million in the sixth season of a popular television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC).

Surmeet is the first woman to win a crore (one crore is 10 million) or more in the superstar Amitabh Bachchan-hosted game show, based on UK?s ?Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

She is 12th standard passed and takes tuitions to supplement her small time actor husband?s income. She originally hails from Punjab and is now a resident of Mumbai where she stays in a rented house along with her husband and two daughters.

The episode In which Surmeet won the millions will be aired next week.

The earlier winners of Rs 10 million or more were Harshvardhan Navathe from Mumbai (Rs 10 million in the first season in 2000) and Sushil Kumar from Bihar (Rs 50 million in the fifth season in 2011).

Surmeet plans to donate a part of the money she has won for some Punjabi religious purposes.

BENGALURU: Suvarna will air the second season of ?Kannadada Kotyadhipathi? (Kannada KBC or Who wants to be a Millionaire) from 11 March.

The 80-episode game show will run over 20 weeks and will be hosted by the season 1 host and sandalwood actor Puneet Rajkumar. The duration of each episode is 90 minutes.

The prize money will remain at Rs 10 million (Rs 1 crore), the highest on offer in the southern TV space. The call for entries to participate in the show will start from 15 December on Suvarna, with Puneet Rajkumar asking a question everyday on the Kannada general entertainment channel.

Season 1 of the southern versions of KBC has been very successful for the Star network channels in South India ? Vijay TV in Tamil Nadu, Suvarna in Karnataka and Asianet in Kerala. Big Synergy is the production house of the show.

A number of sponsors and advertisers have shown interest in the property and the channel is in negotiations with some of them, a source said.

MUMBAI: Star Plus is extending the telecast of its leading fiction shows ?Diya Aur Baati Hum? and ?Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai? to Saturdays as part of its ploy to combat against non fiction properties on other Hindi general entertainment channels.

The shows, which air at 9 pm and 9.30 pm respectively, will compete on Saturdays against Colors upcoming show Bigg Boss-6, Zee TV‘s ?Sa Re Ga Ma? and Sony Entertainment Television‘s ?Kaun Banega Crorepati-6?.

Star Plus is not looking at reality programming to contend against these shows and is banking on daily soaps that are slot leaders during weekdays.

"India is a single TV household. Star Plus is extending its fiction programmes to Saturdays. Bigg Boss is coming with a different format this time but Star Plus is taking two very strong properties to Saturdays. KBC and Sa Re Ga Ma are also there. It will be interesting to observe how audience fragmentation takes place," a media agency executive said on condition of anonymity.

The shows will be replacing ?Teri Meri Love Stories? which will end on 7 October. The show, which launched on 11 August and narrates love stories from urban India, has averaged around 1 TVR.

In the past too, channels have aired ?mahaepisodes? (mega-episode) of their fiction shows during weekend to attract eyeballs. Star Plus had once increased the airing-time of its popular show ?Bidaai? from 30 minutes to one hour. The show was a leader in the genre for quite some time and worked well for the channel. It was produced by Director?s Kut, the producers of ?Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai?.

Talking about the extension of the airing of ?Yeh Rishta?? to six days a week, producer Rajan Shahi said: ?Extra content is needed by the channels at times. We have done that in the past with shows like ?Bidaai?, ?Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai? and ?Kuch To Log Kahenge? (Sony). It is the channel?s call; they must be having some strategy in mind.?