Amitabh Bachchan vs Salman Khan: Who won the ratings race between KBC 10 and Bigg Boss 12?

Whenever Bollywood stars host or judge a show, the expectations are sky high. And if they happen to clash on TV, comparisons become inevitable. That’s what is happening with Kaun Banega Crorepati 10 (KBC 10) hosted by Amitabh Bachchan and Bigg Boss 12 (BB 12) anchored by Salman Khan. Though both are completely different in terms of the format, comparisons are being drawn between the two not only because they are airing at the same time slot — 9 pm — but also because two actors are fronting it.

To begin with, Salman raced ahead of Bachchan when his opening episode  (September 16) fetched a rating of 3.1 as against the latter’s 2.5 (September 3), making it the highest for any non-fiction show this year. The subsequent episodes, however, had KBC 10 doing better than BB 12.

An important distinction between the two shows is that while Big B hosts the show through the week — Monday to Friday — Dabangg Khan makes an appearance only on the weekends. Accordingly, the ratings in the last three weeks have been such that the weekday episodes of BB 12 have fluctuated between 1.7 and 1.8, while the weekend episodes have spiked to 2 and 2.1. On the other hand, KBC 10 has been consistent at an average of 2.5. Last week, the show got a rating of 2.9, thanks to the episode of Binita Jain, who became the first ‘crorepati’ of the season. Incidentally, it is the top-rated show on the channel. According to the latest TRPs, KBC 10 has moved to the third slot while BB 12 is at the 19th position.

Yet, KBC 10’s performance last year was even better with ratings reaching a peak of 4. Says a source, “That could be because Bachchan was returning to host the show after three years, which generated a lot of buzz. So much so that there were even funny memes on social media.”

As far as Salman’s show is concerned, last season, the weekday episodes rated between 1.3 and 1.5 and this year it is slightly higher. But, a trade source points out that the time slot makes a difference. Says the source, “Last season, it was at 10.30 pm and for that the ratings were good. But at 9 pm, it has to do better. It has strong competition from fiction shows, too, like Kundali Bhagya and even a teenage drama like Aladdin: Naam Toh Suna Hoga, which is rating 2 plus. Also, neither the contestants are that exciting nor is there any big story point.”

“Anup Jalota and Jasleen Matharu, who entered as a jodi, became a talking point with their age difference, but they can’t just stick to that. Even popular TV faces like Karanvir Bohra and Dipika Kakar Ibrahim are not giving any good content. Sreesanth did make some noise initially but then lost steam. Still, if something big happens, it can change things drastically,” explains the source.

An insider close to the production says that the makers are planning some wildcard entries and more integrations with films in the middle of the week to make it interesting. “It’s just three weeks now, and the contestants are getting a hang of it. Also, with new entries in the pipeline, there will be masala,” adds the insider.

So, even as the charismatic Bachchan continues to weave his magic, and Salman charms with his irreverent humour and style, the fight for the TRPs will continue. 

Interestingly, in the Dus Ka Dum finale, which the actor-producer hosted, he along with Shah Rukh Khan and Sunil Grover had done a spoof on KBC! And at a media meet when Big B was asked to react to Salman saying he is keen on hosting KBC, he said Khan is ‘welcome to do it’.

* Ratings from trade sources