TV channels feel there’s nothing like a healthy dose of horror to counter IPL fatigue

Everyone loves a few spooks when it comes to entertainment. And it is this belief that has worked wonders for the horror genre. So while film producers of late dabbled into horror films and struck gold with box office hits like 1920 and Haunted, television has also found a new keenness for the same.So in April, English movie channel Movies Now has launched special programming called Atmos-Fear to showcase popular horror films including The Exorcist, Omen and Jennifer’s Body.

According to Ajay Trigunayat, CEO,English Entertainment Channels, Times Television Network, horror is among the top three most-watched genres on TV.“We experimented with horror films last September and it fetched us really highTRPs. So we have launched a full-blown horror festival, which will fill the post-IPL lull too.”

He says since horror is a heavily censored genre in India, the channel was careful to slot its new line-up in the 11-pm time band.

Sahara One too has launched a series of horror shows titled Haunted Nights.

Produced by Vikram Bhatt, the show went on air in February and is also aired at 11-pm. This hour-long horror band has drawn a good response from advertisers too. To drum up anticipation, the channel ran an online campaign and received 14,000 hits on their website and 61,000 views for their promo video on YouTube within four days of the show’s launch.

A few months ago, Star World too brought in the successful Supernatural series on prime time.

Trigunayat  concludes, “Horror is definitely not as popular as action or drama on TV but it definitely has a strong fan following.”