MUMBAI: Speculation has been rife for several months now that Sony Pictures Networks India’s Sony Entertainment Television was going to dump the comedy man Kapil Sharma and his show. The reason: the viewership and following was consistently dropping, and the price that it was forking out for it was really high.

But, the gossip has been put to rest now with SET announcing that it has renewed its partnership with Kapil and his team at K9 Productions. The extended contract between the two is valid for another year. The channel says it decided to go ahead with Kapil as his show continues to reinvent itself as the benchmark in comedy entertainment.

Adds  SET EVP & head Danish Khan: “The Kapil Sharma Show bring smiles to millions of viewer every weekend nights across the globe. Kapil is an extraordinary talent and we are delighted to have further cemented our relationship with extension of this contract. We are confident that the show and its talented cast will continue to enthrall the audiences across the globe.”

Sources indicate that the renewed contract has some caveats attached to it. For starters, they say, that its budget has been shaved by close to 25 per cent; in keeping with the shows downward trend in ratings.  The  cast of the show is also reportedly being pruned in keeping with the lower budget. Reports had suggested that the earlier contract was for Rs 110 crore.

However, that was at  a time when Kapil was still ruling the ratings, and he  had parted ways with Colors. At that time, Kapil was being paid close to Rs 1.25 crore per episode, which catapulted him into the highest paid TV star list. Forbes had stated that his earnings totted up to Rs 30 crore in 2016.

SET has expanded its weekend programming since by bringing in another comedy show called The Drama Company.

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