• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Meera Mohanty

New Delhi March 24 Star Plus may not be celebrating the early exit of the Men in Blue, but it has enough reasons to smile.

"The unique situation (India's loss) has a lot of advertisers for cricket, desperately re-evaluating their ad spend. Except for the die-hard cricket fan, the tournament is pretty much over for advertisers from this part of the country. And it's general entertainment that stands to benefit," says Mr Paritosh Joshi, President, Advertising Sales & Distribution. And for Star which has lined up a two-part special episode, this gain could be to the tune of Rs 3.46 crore during the Monday's and Tuesday's prime time hours.

Up against competitive viewership of the cricket series, Star had lined up a mega episode, where the characters from three of its popular serials Kahaani Ghar..., Kyunki... and its latest Kayamath are to meet.

Banking on a 30-40 per cent increase in viewership, the network is selling its ads spots at a premium. "Its all the better," with the Indian team being out of the World Cup, says Mr Harsh Rohatgi, General Manager, Marketing and Content, STAR India.

"With money locked in for cricket, we had factored in a dip in April. But it's turned out to be a fillip instead," says Mr Joshi. And it's just the start of a long summer run for the network.

"This is any way the peak season, and all tax-related products, finance and insurance players will intensify their campaigns before the financial runs out. And in April, May, June skin care and white goods (air conditioners and refrigerators) will start airing their ads," adds Mr Joshi.

The network will not disclose the budget, but says the episodes have been produced by Balaji on a "grand scale." Eighty characters, 156 junior artists, five directors including Ms Ekta Kapoor, Balaji Telefilms, put the show together.

The marathon episode will be aired in two parts on March 26 and March 27 from 10p.m. to 11.30 p.m.

More Stories on : Radio/TV | Advertising

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
DD to launch mobile TV soon

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line