Rinky, 10, watches her favourite TV show in rapt attention. No, it doesn’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 ‘Reality TV.’ Earlier we had Zee TV’s Saregamapa Li’l Champs, Star World’s India’s Child Genius and Sony’s Derek O’Brien-hosted Bournvita Quiz Contest. However, over the past few months, there appears to be a glut of reality shows on kids’ channels. Pogo’s Amazing Kids Awards, Hungama’s John Aur Kaun and Disney’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, “Amazing Kids Awards is different, as it’s the only TV awards show. The aim was to encourage rare accomplishments in children.”

The spokesperson for Hungama TV, Aparna Bhosle, Vice President, programming also claims they are not flowing with the tide. Hungama’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 “It’s inspired not by the popularity of the reality format but by John’s own popularity with the kids,” she insists. Meanwhile, Disney’s Little Princess Hunt has been produced to peddle The Little Princess merchandise. As K Seshasayee, head, corporate communications, Walt Disney-India reveals, “For us, TV is just one of the several mediums that we use to build a franchise network for our products.”

... contd.