After songs, dances and dates, cricket is set to take a leap on to reality television.
Taking a cue from Lalit Modi’s successful Indian Premier League (IPL) format — eight states competing in a 20-overs-a-side tournament — media company Percept Ltd’s joint managing director Shailendra Singh is gearing up to launch a big-ticket cricket reality show on a general entertainment channel.
The Rs 2,617 crore group’s sports marketing agency, Percept Sports, has conceptualised the show and is pitching the idea to channels.
Media rights company Emerging Media too is banking on IPL’s success to revive its cricket reality show, Cricket Star, which was first aired in 2006 to scout for cricket talent.
The company, which owns the Rajasthan Royals team, the winner of the inaugural IPL tournament, is in talks with channels to launch season three of the show early next year.
The new format will be bigger and brighter, says Raghu Iyer, chief marketing officer, Emerging Media and the Rajasthan Royals team. He added that the winner of the show would get to be a part of the team.
Media experts say cricket will be a significant part of general entertainment on television.
“Cricket has always been considered a form of entertainment. With the growth in the number of reality shows, the logical step would be to combine the two,” said Jehil Thakkar, executive director (media and entertainment), KPMG, an audit and consultancy firm.