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.”

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