MUMBAI: Digital is the upcoming medium for reality shows. Last year, Greymatter Entertainment produced a digital reality show The Remix which all set for its season two debut this year.
Founder Chandradev Bhagat is of the opinion that reality is going to be tweaked. “Right now, comedy is getting more traction, so there should be new ways of finding reality stories and that is probably when things have to evolve into different styles of reality,” he said.
The company has not yet finalised whether to launch The Remix on a digital platform or on television. Its season 1 garnered various laurels by winning at the New York Film Festivals under the performing arts category 2019. It also won the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2018 under the best non-scripted entertainment category and best digital content at the Talent Track Awards 2019.
According to Bhagat, digital offers a room for experimenting and new ways of telling stories. “TV has its own space and it’s a large community. It has a different set of audience and might also clash with OTT to some extent but we have to find ways to get into both. So there are people who are finding us to cater to both.”
He further explained that OTT platforms allow consuming content whenever a viewer wants and that is considered to be a big advantage, but in the case of television, it is a fixed time game. “In India, people can’t afford beyond one TV screen so in that case, the audience isn’t going anywhere soon. And since the multiplexes are growing and the rate of its growth is tremendous, that is another market. There is the possibility of co-existence while you have newer audiences coming into OTT,” he said.
Bhagat said that 2019 will witness experimentation in the OTT space. “There might be many factual shows coming up because I think Netflix does a lot of those. In India, lifestyle and other niches have a huge demand and it will have a high number of takers. Social experiments can be done on TV and OTT and I think heartland content may become significant as well. Regional content will also be in demand. It has already started to make a dent in the industry,” he concluded.
The media solutions company had launched another show, Street Stars, where TV met digital with a strong social connect. It had a successful launch in Russia travelling to six top cities in Russia with a grand finale in Moscow. Bhagat cited that in 2019-20, both Street Stars and The Remix have a rollout plan in three to five markets that cover the Indian subcontinent, the US, Southeast Asia and Europe.
