Asterix to add muscle to Sabe TV's toon band
The Gauls are coming to your drawing room.
The Gauls are coming to your drawing room. For the first time in Indian TV history, Asterix and his band will regale generations weaned on the antics of the merry Celtic warriors. Sabe TV will start airing Asterix the Gaul, the cartoon series, from 31 December on weekdays. Asterix follows in the wake of Turtle Island, with which Sabe made a foray into toon programming from 19 November this year with a special band, Toon Time. Targetting kids in the 7 to 7:30 pm band, the channel claims to have notched up TRPs that hovered over 4 for the band from the first week itself. Asterix, Obelix, the rest of the Gauls as well as the invading Romans will speak in Hindi on Sabe, though. Their fun filled adventures that filled those large sized comic books will now fill the small screen in animation as the Romans end up getting beat at their own games by the canny little warriors at the end of each half hour episode. For those who came in late, Asterix and Obelix are two boisterous Gauls who live in a village that is the last French village holding out against the might of the Roman Empire. Protected by the village druid Getafix?s magic potion that gives Asterix superhuman strength, all of the most perilous missions are entrusted to Asterix. He is a clever and levelheaded warrior but knows when brawn is better than brain. Sabe has so far managed to rope in interesting shows in the toon band, with Turtle Island (also dubbed in Hindi) too making its first appearance on Indian soil on the channel. It?s now time to watch if Goscinny?s classic Celtic series will give Sabe the much needed edge over its rivals. |
When Zee TV announced its relaunch in August group broadcast CEO Sandeep Goyal had stated that what the Indian viewer wanted in the shows that she/he would like to watch were exotic overseas locations, other marital relationships, music-based shows, tangled love stories and interactive show formats.
When Zee TV announced its relaunch in August group broadcast CEO Sandeep Goyal had stated that what the Indian viewer wanted in the shows that she/he would like to watch were exotic overseas locations, other marital relationships, music-based shows, tangled love stories and interactive show formats.
All the 24 shows that were launched at the time incorporated one or more of the above factors.
That formula fell flat and now Zee is hoping that two heavy-duty mythological shows that it is launching today will be showered with blessings from viewers who have hitherto been ignoring its programming initiatives.
Jai Santoshi Maa is a half-hour programme airing at 8 pm, while Mahabharat produced by film actor Sanjay Khan?s Numero Uno productions is a one-hour show going on air at 10 pm. The strategy: capitalise on Jai Santoshi Maa worshippers on Fridays and create a tune-in viewership for the expensive programme Mahabharat.
Industry sources confirmed that the per episode cost of Mahabharat is Rs 1.4 million, which indicates that Zee is sparing no expense to offer a new age series. Additionally, it is using religion - which is close to most Indian?s hearts - as a tool of programming differentiation. And it is being innovative about the time that it is dishing out the religious fare: Friday evenings and prime time.
Its chief rivals - market leader Star and No 2 Sony - are at loggerheads on Fridays with similar programming genres. Both the channels have game shows in the 8 PM slot culminating in a thriller at the 10:30 - 11 PM slot.
Zee TV on its part has also taken to off-air promotions in the form of road shows with vehicles carrying the cast of characters from the series beating the streets. Hoardings, ads in the print media and an internet promotion with indiatimes.com, are some of the devices it is using to tease viewers to sample its mythological programmes.
Now it?s up to viewers to fall in line. Are you listening, King Viewer?
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