Reality shows on kids146; Channels

Rinky, 10, watches her favourite TV show in rapt attention. No, it doesn8217;t feature a cartoon character but has children her age singing

Rinky, 10, watches her favourite TV show in rapt attention. No, it doesn8217;t feature a cartoon character but has children her age singing, dancing and performing. How Rinky wishes she could be a part of that show! There are numerous children whose interest in shows has been kindled by 8216;Reality TV.8217; Earlier we had Zee TV8217;s Saregamapa Li8217;l Champs, Star World8217;s India8217;s Child Genius and Sony8217;s Derek O8217;Brien-hosted Bournvita Quiz Contest. However, over the past few months, there appears to be a glut of reality shows on kids8217; channels. Pogo8217;s Amazing Kids Awards, Hungama8217;s John Aur Kaun and Disney8217;s The Little Princess Hunt and My School Rocks contests, to cite just a few.

Monica Tata, Vice President, Ad Sales and network South Asia for Pogo says, 8220;Amazing Kids Awards is different, as it8217;s the only TV awards show. The aim was to encourage rare accomplishments in children.8221;

The spokesperson for Hungama TV, Aparna Bhosle, Vice President, programming also claims they are not flowing with the tide. Hungama8217;s John Aur Kaun, a talent hunt that entices young viewers with the promise to star in a movie with John Abraham is projected as different simply because 8220;It8217;s inspired not by the popularity of the reality format but by John8217;s own popularity with the kids,8221; she insists. Meanwhile, Disney8217;s Little Princess Hunt has been produced to peddle The Little Princess merchandise. As K Seshasayee, head, corporate communications, Walt Disney-India reveals, 8220;For us, TV is just one of the several mediums that we use to build a franchise network for our products.8221;

While channels claim its a hit, the claims do not match TVR figures furnished by TAM Media Research. In January this year, John Aur Kaun8217;s TVR was mere 0.29, while that of Pogo8217;s Amazing Kids Awards stood at 0.17. The highest rating of 1.44 was recorded for Cartoon Network8217;s Richie Rich, which incidentally is not a reality show.