Streaming smells blood in shark waters
NEW DELHI : The success of Shark Tank India on SonyLIV has triggered a rush for business reality shows by other streaming services as well, centred around small-town entrepreneurship and the concept of startups. Telugu over-the-top (OTT) service Aha has floated Nenu Super Woman for female entrepreneurs, while Amazon Prime has launched a series called Mission Start Ab.
Industry executives say these shows target the aspirational, new-age India looking to explore unconventional career choices and find resonance across demographics, including families. SonyLIV, the video streaming platform from Sony Pictures Networks India, debuted Shark Tank in India, a franchise of the American reality show, in December 2021.
“Shark Tank India has been a very successful franchise for us and also an interesting journey to see how it has reached out to audiences, beyond metros Delhi, Mumbai and Gurugram, in tier-2 and -3 towns and become so accessible to not just young techies but also, say, housewives," said Saugata Mukherjee, head of content, SonyLIV. Business reality shows like these have thrown up opportunities for small-town entrepreneurs who may not belong to English-speaking India, weren’t born with silver spoons, and haven’t gone to B-schools but have aspirations to make it big, Mukherjee added.
While the target audience remains young, ranging from people in their 20s to 40s, families, too, have taken to the show in a big way. However, given that the show is an adaptation of an international format, the team has to do a rigorous job of due diligence and is strict in vetting those who apply, Mukherjee said.
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