STAR India's upcoming Fifth Grader takes top advertising dollars

8 April 2008

New Delhi – STAR India's Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hai (Paanchvi Pass), the Indian version of the Mark Burnett game show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (Fifth Grader) reportedly to premiere on April 18, 2008, has attracted sponsorships of over Rs500million (US$12.5million) from more than ten companies including Bharti Airtel, reportedly the presenting sponsor for Rs400million (US$10million).
Produced by Synergy Adlabs and fronted by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, Paanchvi Pass is based on Fifth Grader which tests adult contestants with 10 fifth grade textbook questions of varying levels of difficulty – level one to five – for a cash prize of Rs50million.
Apart from Bharti Airtel's sponsorship, associate sponsors, supposedly including Parle Products, Tata Sky, Ambuja Cement, L'Oreal India, Pidilite Industries, Havell's India, General Motors, Pepsi Food India, LG Electronics India and Halls, are investing a reported Rs100million (US$2.5million) each into Paanchvi Pass. It is understood that the 36-episode game show to air at primetime on weekends will offer some 7 – 800 seconds of ad time per episode with 10-15% available as spot buys. Also, audience participation in the show via phone calls and short message service is expected to generate revenues of up to Rs180million (US$4.5million).
Synergy previously made Kaun Banega Crorepati the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire? which aired on STAR Plus.