Is KBC2 lucky key for mobile cos?

NEW DELHI: BSNL, MTNL and Airtel are the biggest beneficiaries of popular quiz show Kaun banega crorepati 2 (KBC2). With more than 1.6 million calls/SMS for the first three episodes, KBC2 is emerging as a big money spinner for BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. These calls came in response to “Har seat hot seat” wherein, in each episode Amitabh Bachchan asks one question to home viewers. The lucky winner gets a prize money of Rs 2 lakh. Two third of these calls originated from BSNL and MTNL networks, while Airtel subscribers contributed the rest one third of the calls.

Earlier, in July BSNL and MTNL subscribers made 10.7 million calls to get a chance to participate in the programme. BSNL and MTNL subscribers have to pay Rs 2.40 for a call made KBC, while Airtel subscribers pay Rs 6 per call. Airtel subscribers can also send SMS, which is also charged at Rs 6 per SMS.

The three telecom operators share revenue with Star TV from the calls for KBC2. Sources said BSNL and MTNL retain 75% of the total revenue generated, while Star gets 25% of the revenue. The exact terms and conditions of Star with Airtel were not known.

KBC was first launched in 2000. At that time, KBC received 1.5 lakh calls per episode. Star officials say that they had to cap the number of calls as it resulted in choking of the telecom networks. During first three days of KBC2, which was launched on August 5, the number of calls are about 5.33 lakh per episode. This is 350% more than the response the programme got in KBC. “We are satisfied with the number of calls made by our subscribers to KBC2. Mass calling will contribute substantial revenues in future. That is why we have put state-of-the-art facility for mass calling,” said A K Sinha, chairman and managing director of BSNL.


KBC2 appears to be very popular in the Western India. About 38% of the total response to “Har seat hot seat” came from the West. The North came in next at 24% and the South got over 21% of the responses.

BSNL has put into place special infrastructure for handling mass calling activities. It has a capacity to handle 1.2 million calls an hour. It has now announced plans to expand this capacity to five million calls an hour. It has re-programmed its 30,000 exchanges to this new code across almost 3000 area codes. Data & calls from all these locations moves to a central facility in the city of Hyderabad. From here the data moves over secure lines to STAR headquarters in Mumbai.

Airtel has expanded its voice and SMS capacity to manage the spurt of calls. The data is captured in 30 locations across India, 7 for SMS facilities and 23 IVR facilities from where the data is centralised at the Airtel hub at Bangalore. From here the data moves to STAR headquarters in Mumbai.