Are Big Ticket Non-Fiction Shows Dying?

The early 2000s saw the launch and entry of the big ticket, international super formats into India starting with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Kaun Banega Crorepati) followed by music, dance, variety entertainment, adventure and cookery formats. India had never seen entertainment so scaled up, larger than life and dialed up with massive doses of bollywood stars, high pitched marketing and premium advertising. Some of these international formats tanked and some formats have gone on to become extremely successful, established brands in the market.

Over the years there have been several indigenous ‘me-too’ formats, as well as some smart adaptations that succeeded in providing the same shot in the arm for broadcasters but at half the cost. Regional channels came up with their local versions that were substantially cheaper.

As the viewership gets increasingly fragmented, the pressure to reduce the cost of these big-budget non-fiction shows and justify the visibly lower ratings, will increase. The ones laughing all the way to the bank in the meantime, are the celebrity judges who never had it so good. One day in the week for three months or less and they stroll home with ready finance for the next film or the next holiday home! As for international reality formats, the license fee and ancillary rights take away yet another sizeable chunk of the show budget.

Eventually, it boils down to the business of entertainment. There will be a few notable developments in this space.

1. There will be many more locally created formats that are budget friendly and still deliver the marketing and brand positioning for broadcasters.
2. International format companies will be forced to reassess pricing to survive in the high pressure, competitive market. New and contemporary formats will make their way into the market.
3. The current shiny floor shows will become increasingly vicarious and will up the game in their search for talent and skill.
4. New formats will need to be highly interactive and enable digital spin-offs to bring in new viewers, paving the way for data mining so crucial for any brand today. Viewers will be lured from passive consumption into committing more of their time and engaging directly with content. This will lead to revealing more of their tastes, their preferences, their needs thus feeding the eternally hungry algorithm monster.
5. There will be the new non-fiction in the guise of finite, upscale, character driven, ‘real’ stories that will pepper the digital arm of broadcasters. Heroes will emerge from local stories and myths, inspiring and educating the audience about their history and culture.
6. Non-scripted events and big ticket shows will always have to deal with their lack of repeat value, and to compensate will have to be increasingly live, experiential and interactive in their offering.
7. Talk shows will find their way in as high voltage, contemporary and entertaining take on the socio-cultural and political environment. The format lends itself to social media presence and encourages the growth and discovery of new heroes, changing trends and social commentary.
8. New celebrities will enter and replace the tired and jaded faces that have monopolised the shows. Celebrities will be redefined as the bollywood star system struggles to survive on its old terms. No one has the patience to invest in and pander to faces that have done their time.
9. The real space will need to reflect the reality of society today. Current and contemporary issues of the youth, trapped between the old world and the one that is pushing its way through and no longer willing to be ignored or repressed, will become a part of these shows.
10. Inclusion in shows will slowly move beyond the same tired demographic buckets. There will be more diversity and range in ethnicities and gender on these shows.

There is immense fatigue in the content space and it is poised for a revolution. New entrants and surprises await the naysayers, as well as viewers who are increasingly seeking an alternative to the old, repetitive, recycled content. Platforms that show a willingness to move away from the predictable ways of doing business will build a new trajectory for the industry overall.

What else do you think will change in the big ticket reality shows we see today or the way we engage with them?