Entertainment - Endemol to venture beyond reality

Endemol India, the television production house which specialises in reality shows, plans to make serious inroads in India not only in non-fiction but also in the fiction genre and regional space.Since its launch in 2006, the Asian subsidiary of Endomel NV, Endomel India, has launched successful format shows — which it owns internationally — for the Indian audiences. The production house had four shows on air this year — the fourth season of The Great Indian Laughter Champions on Star One, Bigg Boss Season 2 anchored by Shilpa Shetty (Indian version of Big Brother) on Colors, Akshay Kumar hosted Khatron Ki Khiladi (Indian edition of Fear Factor) both on Colors and Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar on Star Plus.Deepak Dhar, CEO, Endemol India, who joined in February, says the company is gearing up to launch Indian avatars of 4-5 shows of its international formats by early 2009.“We intend to launch more of edgy shows for the Indian audiences. The viewership patterns in India highlight that audiences like 50-52 episode shows, while international viewers prefer 10-12 episodes,” said Dhar.Endemol will come out with three shows this year and is close to signing on broadcasters in the Hindi general entertainment space. Wipe Out, Divided and One verses hundred are the three shows.Divided is a game show that has been successful in Europe and West Asia. The show, with no anchor, has three participants who over a game of question and answers have to decide on how to split the money won at each stage.Endemol is in talks with filmmakers to churn mini series or mini shows that will be developed based on the starcast or the track of the film. “Increasingly, filmmakers are using innovative ways to communicate with the audiences about their movies. This could be one,” said Dhar.The production house continues to work with advertisers to develop advertisers funded programs like it did for Hindustan UniLevers’ RIN Mera Star Superstar.Endemol also plans to take its shows to the regional platform. Dhar said that the company had been receiving enquiries from regional broadcasters, who have shown interest in shows such as Bigg Boss, Deal Ya No Deal, Set For Life among others. These shows will not be dubbed, but will be adapted in regional languages with participants from the South. The company is setting up a separate team to cater top the Southern channels.Endemol is also exploring new frontiers for India like Call TV and Gaming. Call TV is a show wherein viewers can interact with the TV show host through a mobile. These shows generate high SMS revenues and the cost for the program is covered through the same.Dhar said: “As of now the Call TV initiative is at the drawing-board stage and we are speaking to Colors and NDTV Imagine for designing such a show. We have 4-5 properties in the Call TV format which we intend to introduce in India by 2008-end.”Endemol is present across 25 countries. Most of its shows extend through merchandising and gaming. The India office, too, is considering introducing merchandising for some of its shows in the future. “Internationally, we do have games built around our shows. In India, we are planning a strategic alliance with a gaming company to explore this opportunity. However, this alliance can be with multiple game developers and be show-specific,” Dhar said.