The battle ground is set, the weapons are drawn and the leading Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) are all set for intense combat and to emerge victorious in the weekend mega prime time war. Come 1 June, Colors is all set to attack with season six of its popular celebrity dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Ja (JDJ). Sony on the other hand will be unveiling its long talked about and all new Indian Idol Junior (IIJ). Zee TV on its part is counting down the minutes to unleashing DID Super Moms on its viewers. All three are slated to air during the crucial 9.00 pm - 10.00 pm slot every Saturday and Sunday.

With so many reality shows, which show are the advertisers placing their bets on? Dentsu Media India CEO Divya Gupta answers: "All three have potential. With the new formats, anchors, all have something to offer. It remains to be seen, however, how the initial hype will pan out in terms of quality and content. From an advertiser's point of view, the program that is able to pull eyeballs early and keep them is the best bet."

She further says that depending on the number of associates on board currently, and spot buy sales on first episode, the three upcoming shows have anywhere between Rs Five crore to 6.5 crore riding on them this Saturday.

What is it about the weekend prime time slot that has turned GECs into a war zone? Madison Media senior VP head of Pinnacle Mumbai Shekhar Banerjee gives a different perspective. Says he: "Weekend slots over the years have been hosting reality shows across GECs, not that it has better potential and generates higher TVR but because channels don't want to disturb their already running staple fiction shows. Taking off a weekday fiction for a 13 week reality show means breaking a viewer's habit and there is high likelihood that the person may not come back to the fiction show after 13 weeks are over."

For want of a better option or not, the weekend slot has become the hub of reality shows and has ensured cut-throat competition among GECs and an attractive platform for advertisers. "Total inventory based on total number of episodes, not counting repeats, would be in the range of 24,000 to 30,000 seconds totally. The value of a weekend prime slot would depend on product and target prospects. By and large, prime time is coveted by all due to its quick, high reach viewership," says Gupta.

Colors' JDJ's starry judging tri -Karan, Madhuri and Remo : It's all about the madness of dance

Colors has placed high hopes on JDJ which had a successful run last season with an average TVR of 3 and will leave no stone unturned to make this season a thrilling rage over a span of 15 weeks. The show has roped in six associate sponsors including Ultratech, Dove, Sony Experia, Ever Ready battery, Amul Macho and Metro Tyres while Cadbury Bournvita returns as title sponsor and Vaseline is the powered by sponsor.

Talking about the show's USP, Colors marketing head Rajesh Iyer says: "JDJ is a strong property itself and has its niche audience. The format of the show is very different as compared to any other reality show. Here, we have 12 celebrities from different walks of life as contestants and a very strong jury force including Karan, Madhuri and Remo who are masters of their craft."

What is new about season six which sets it apart from the previous seasons is the level of dancing. This season it's the ultimate dance off between the contestants as the jury has raised the bar. Contestants will be seen using unconventional props, graphics and animation for showing the audiences what they have never seen before.

Banerjee, who has placed his bets on JDJ for Madison Media's client Cadbury, says: "When we buy a reality show the key criteria is fitment and the show's potential to deliver on brand's key performer indicators (KPIs). JDJ has been one of the best performing talent shows on Indian television, and even this year we are working with the Colors team to create bigger and better integration that can deliver the desired return on investment (ROI) on the brand scores of Cadbury Bournvita."

Colors' Rajesh Iyer is going into hyperdrive marketing Jhalak Dikhhla Ja

The battle for primetime is not going to take place on screens. The three players are pulling out all the stops on the marketing front to connect with their audiences through every medium. 
The channel has launched an aggressive 360 degree marketing campaign to place JDJ at the top of the game. Iyer says: "Our extensive marketing plan includes home channel promotion with over 2,000 spots and network and cross channel promotion with 40 channels wherein we have bought over 5,000 spots across genres - English news, Hindi news, regional, infotainment, music, Hindi entertainment, Hindi movies and kids."

Apart from TV, Colors has also planned a 10-day campaign with 1,500 plus radio spots across its Hindi speaking markets. Print is also not left unexplored with over 100 ads to be placed across 100 plus cities across the country. In the out of home (OOH) space, the channel has planned a 10 day activity and targeted over 500 sites in the Hindi speaking markets.

Sony, on the other hand, is all geared up to strike a chord with family viewers through Indian Idol Junior (IIJ), which will be running for 14 weeks. Title sponsor being Nissan Micra and powered by Horlicks, this new kids singing reality show has Real Fruit, 99acres.com, Kellog's Oats and Alpenliebe as other associate sponsors. According to the channel, over 6,000 promos spots have been played for IIJ.

"IIJ has one thing going for it," says a media observer. "It is commencing at 8:30 pm, half an hour before the rest. This could well work in its favour in terms of it getting viewers tuning into it Whether it will manage to make them sticky will depend on the show's content."

Indian Idol Junior judges Shekhar, Shreya & Vishal will be innovating while dealing with kids on the show

That is a legacy story, says Sony Entertainment Television (SET) marketing head Gaurav Seth. But what sets IIJ apart from the rest is its brand positioning, he adds. He further elaborates: "It is a brand extension of the very popular Indian Idol format on SET. We believe children have a lot of potential and talent on offer and hence, we wanted to explore this segment and showcase it to pan Indian audiences. We conducted a massive nationwide hunt to search for these kids through our eminent judges and we believe our viewers are going to be stunned with the talent on display through the rounds. Kids have a lot to offer in terms of their innocent, spontaneous and completely endearing actions which makes for compelling television viewing."

Sony's Seth has marketing for Indian Idol Junior covered from all angles

Launching an extensive campaign revolving around kids, Sony is comprehensively promoting the newest branch of its much loved franchise. Seth explains: "We have executed a huge national communication roll-out to inform TV viewers across India about the show and what to expect. This has been across all major media platforms and has succeeded in building immense recall for the show prior to launch. As it progresses, we believe that the talent on display will continue to attract loyal viewers interested in following the fortunes of their favourite contestants."

Sony plans to sustain viewer interest through city concerts, activation and celebrity episodes designed to keep highlighting the high-points in the show throughout the current season. Says Seth: "It has been one of the most popular talent shows on television and we hope to keep the success of its past editions alive with this new and fresher avatar. Indian Idol is a profit maker and the latest offering has received a favorable response from our advertising partners."

Zee TV is counting on its all new concept of DID Super Moms derived from one of its most successful properties - Dance India Dance (DID) to do the trick for it. For the first time, mothers, who always have been seen supporting their children in DID, take center-stage in this unique dance reality show focused on moms.

DID Super Moms team are looking at replicating DID's success

Zeel marketing head Akash Chawla asserts: "With DID Super Moms we wanted to capture the emotions of the audiences where a mother is a very important part of our lives and she always played a crucial role in our success. Our communication revolved around the fact that now it's time for mothers to be in the spot light and we should cheer them and support them helps them to fulfill her dreams."

Coming back to JDJ, one of the innovative strategies launched by Colors exclusively for the show is a promotional tie-up with YRF's upcoming Ranbir Kapoor- Deppika Padukone starrer Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani. "We will be running JDJ promos during YJHD. We have targeted 900+ screens in over 40 cities. While in terms of amplifying the campaign with the help of cable TV, we have planned a 10 Day activity in 130 cities and have bought over 1,000 spots," adds Rajesh Iyer.

Movie promotions are what IIJ will be banking on too to rope in celebrities and also heighten viewer engagement. Seth reveals: "There will be movie integrations at a later stage once gala rounds begin. We will also form strategic tie-ups with news channels to promote content and/or activation and concerts."

Season six of JDJ is being lauded for its aesthetically beautiful promos directed by Colors' in-house team led by Monica Nair. JDJ is being heavily promoted on the channel with promos not only seen during the ad breaks but within shows as well. "In order to increase the recall value of the viewers, we're trying this different mode of in-show promotion wherein we show a JDJ promo even before the advertisement break - between the show and the coming - up of the next segment," asserts Iyer.

Sony's IIJ also has commendable creatives designed by Leo Burnett, with a strong positioning- Gaanon ka wohi jaadu ab bachchon ki awaaz mein. The promos, directed by the creative team at SET along with Fremantle Media, depicting young kids singing old classics have become quite popular. It has been an immensely clutter breaking campaign on all media especially TV with the spots getting high salience and recall," says Seth.

JDJ has targeted the space of ambient marketing as well, with over 500 hoardings across 12 cities. The creatives - both outdoor and print, are spearheaded by creative agency Marching Ants. Iyer says: "Last year we focused on the symbolic shining disco ball as a promotable. The idea this year was to take JDJ outside the environment of the studio to outdoors build scale. You will see that both in our launch promos as well as creatives."

However, in terms of ambient marketing, Sony is way ahead as it claims to have stationed over 4,000 outdoor advertising units across 24 towns promoting IIJ.

Seth elaborates: "We have targeted our viewers across their daily touch points from whenever they step out of their houses to when they return. This includes innovative branding and presence on major roads and arteries across 24 key towns of India through large and small format billboards. In addition, we have taken branding inside and outside major transport hubs and vehicles such as trains and buses both intercity and intra-city. We have also targeted malls and shopping centers and even cinemas to ensure all touch points are covered extensively."

Sony also has several out-of-box promotional campaigns planned for IIJ. "We will be carrying out an activation titled "Society Idol Junior" across 12 cities in which we will be conducting mini auditions and talent performances judged by local celebrities in various residential societies and colonies. We will then be crowning individual winners from this age group from each of these. In addition we will also be having mega Idol city concerts featuring our final contestants and of course our talented judges," informs Seth.

On the online, digital and mobile front, Colors has created a dedicated microsite, web chat and dance tutorials wherein it has tied-up with dancewithmadhuri.com, which is Madhuri Dixit's online dance academy. There are also plans to create a mobile application for the show.

"This year we are taking the brand JDJ and our promise to make non-dancer's dancers to the next level by giving them a taste of true dance with Dance Tutorials & Dance with Madhuri contest," says Iyer.

He adds: "Throughout the season every day, we will release one dance tutorial for our viewers. This will be from different dance forms for example seven steps salsa in a week etc. These videos will be released every week on our website, JDJ app and Colors Facebook page for viewers to easily access while on the go. To make this more even more exciting we have tied up with dancewithmadhuri.com. Viewers can now learn practice and upload their videos. Madhuri Dixit will herself select one lucky winner who will get a chance to dance with the Diva herself."

Apart from all of the above, Colors has a lot in store for online viewers before the grand premiere- a Live Chat with Madhuri, the video of which will be uploaded on the channel's official website. A web premiere is also on the lines, wherein 20 minutes of the grand premiere will be uploaded on the channel's official YouTube channel at 3.00 pm on Saturday. All in all, the online buzz around #Jhalak (the official hash-tag) will be kept alive through live chats, web premiere, contests and the works!

Sony has also launched several web/digital initiatives for its debutante property. Myindianidoljunior.com is the official website for all news, views and happenings from the show. Seth says: "Exclusive content regarding the contestants, engaging apps etc will only be available there. In addition we launched the IIJ audition app which allowed smartphone users to enter the selection process by auditioning through their mobile device. There are lots of other interesting features on our social media pages and handles as well."

Zee TV has also launched several interesting social media initiatives for promoting DID Super Moms. Chawla states: "For Zee, the consumer has always been at the centre of business decisions. The channel has pioneered many digital and mobile initiatives with the intention of interacting with the consumers at every touch point. Committed to presenting out of the box ideas to market its shows, this time around some innovative features have been added in the DID Super Moms mobile app".

To amplify viewer engagement, a new feature called Tap on has been introduced. Here a user can hold the phone to capture the songs played during 'DID Super Moms.' Every time he does that, some exclusive content that is high on engagement would unlock on his phone giving him additional interesting information about the show. This content can be an exclusive live tutorial, images or some trivia from the show.

Another feature is a chat room called Check In where everybody watching the show can check in and shares their viewpoints with each other. With the pattern of content consumption becoming more dynamic, the features introduced in the mobile app will keep the viewer engaged throughout the show via his/her mobile phone. This is a more personal way of interaction, engagement and entertainment.

Talking about a recent online promotional activity, Chawla says: "The Masters of Zee TV's DID Super Moms, Farah Khan and Marzi Pestonji along with skippers, Raghav, Prince, Jai and Siddhesh kicked off a virtual conversation on Google Hangout with 10 of their lucky fans on 24 May! These lucky winners were selected via a twitter contest where the 'netizens' were asked to use #dancingtome and write what dancing meant to them. In this online event, the masters and skippers not only shared interesting trivia's and anecdotes but also showcased their signature moves to their admirers. For those who didn't get a spot in the lucky 10, watched the hangout LIVE on Zee TV's YouTube page."

what more?! DID Supermoms is going to have an impact on the digital space with a roadblock of two major portals in India - youtube.com and yahoo.com (YouTube mast head and Yahoo super take over). Its micro site has various engagement platforms for 'netizens' where all the super moms can upload their dancing video on the DID title track. A video wall with all these entries would be published during the sustenance of the show.

Sony has had a successful integration with its network channel's popular IPL show called Extraaa Innings T20 on Max. Besides, there is a countdown bug on the channel and a very high ratio of promo slots devoted to IIJ launch.

The smartest move by Colors is that of the show's Grand Premiere which is aimed at garnering maximum eye balls. The launch episode will be as big as the show itself.

Kick starting the show will be dancing queen Madhuri who will team up with Ranbir for a stunning performance on their new item number- Ghaghra. Next to enthrall viewers will be an entertaining performance by Sushant Singh Rajput and actress Jacqueline Fernandez who will be introducing the 12 celebrity contestants.

The launch episode week will also see the three Deols - Sunny, Bobby and Dharmendra shake a leg with the Jhalak contestants adding on to the commencement of the power packed journey of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.

To further heat up the competition, Star Plus is upping the ante on its dance reality show India's Dancing Superstar (IDS) which has been on air since 27 April at 9.00 pm. It has planned a special maha episode. Explains Star India vice-president marketing Nikhil Madhok: "For 1 June, IDS will have a two and a half hour dance ka maha episode which will start at 8 pm. The episode has one of the legends of dance, Govinda, doing something he has never done before on Indian television. Viewers will see him play a double role in an extremely entertaining dance act. The episode will also see the beginning of the face-off round, which is a very unique concept for a dance show in India."

Star marketing head! Nikhil Madhok

Sounds great, but what is the media view of all these intense content creation and marketing initiatives that the GECs have drawn up?

Madison's Banerjee proffers a perspective. Says he: "Such overcrowding of reality shows on weekends will lead to cannibalisation both in terms of viewership and also revenues. Channels need to understand that with such high investment they should look for a clean window or time-bands that assures them of the best return."

He further points outs: "These shows can coexist with smarter planning. Next season, even advertisers will get wary of investing if average ratings of these shows come down."

Now that's a piece of advice, none of the GEC players should ignore!