How the Idiot box makes an Idiot of you!

It’s been a while since my last post, although I love to blog I’ve just not had the time. However, I’ve decided to make time for what I like doing, so as they say in the movies “I’m back”. There are tons of things that I’ve been wanting write about for the past few months, so going to start with what is most fresh in my memory.
The other night, I was surfing channels on my Television at around 1 am when I stumbled upon this channel, I think it was Bindass movies, that was broadcasting a show called “guess the celebrity” (I think that’s what the name was). For the benefit of those who haven’t heard of this money machine of a show, let me just explain what this show is about. The show has male and female anchors, who are usually showing a picture of some part of a celebrity’s face and asking the viewers at home to call and identify the celeb and win and obscene amount of money. So to most average Indian men awake at that time of night in search of some sleaze on television this seems like an easy way to win loads of money and be able to afford pay per view porn ;).
So getting back, I saw this female anchor showing a picture of the jaw of some Bollywood actress with a “guess and win rupees 80000” tag! A half a second glimpse at the picture and I could make out that it was Vidya Balan! So then I watched this for another minute, people were constantly calling and naming every actress in Bollywood except Vidya Balan! So I said to myself, what’s the harm in giving this a shot and picked my cell phone and made the call.
My call was instantly connected to a recorded voice, which kept giving me the assurance that I’d get connected any moment and my life would change the minute that happened! So I held the call for a couple of minutes with no luck, and impatience started creeping in, I think the recorded voice sensed this, because it started saying things like “you are very smart for holding on so long, any moment now your call will be connected”, so I held the call for another minute. While I was doing this I went closer to my TV screen and read the fine print, which said that this call will cost me 12 rupees per minute!! I just flipped!! That is more expensive than a call to Africa or the Middle East (these regions are the most expensive to call as per my knowledge). This is when I realised that this whole thing was just a scam to make money out of callers like me! For all you know, the guys calling and giving all those wrong answers must be people they’ve hired! So anyways even after realising that this is scam and my call might not get connected, I held on for a couple of minutes! The gambler in me was still hopeful, but the sensible me triumphed soon and I ended the call.
So here’s the deal, I’m sure you guys have figured out their business plan by now. They lure people to call them using large sums of money as the bait and charge them a lot of money for that call. They probably only connect genuine callers after they’ve made more than double the bait amount through calling charges. It seems like an awesome business plan that’ll make you rich quickly. I however, disagree. I think it’s an unethical and short sighted business plan. The channel might have made money but on the other end you just have angry viewers who feel like idiots and probably never try this again.
Here’s what I think someone with a vision would have done:

• If this is going to be an interactive quiz/puzzle format, I’d make the questions a little more interesting and tougher. I don’t believe the Indian audiences are dumb! KBC is proof of this.
• Get a better host, maybe a mini celeb!
• Make money through ad revenues and brand integrations (in the questions and puzzles), and make the calling charge for the viewers nominal. This would build loyalty for the show (you’ll make more money in the Long-term)
• Establish myself as a pioneer in interactive television gaming and see how I can take it to the next level.

Phew! That’s my take on this. I’m not always right, maybe there are people who are already doing this but I’m not aware of them. I just call ’em like i see ‘em :P
Let me know what you guys think about this. Until next time, take it easy.