Star India's chief operating officer Sameer Nair cannot contain his excitement. In the first 10 days of the telephone lines being opened for entry to Kaun Banega Crorepati II, the channel received a whopping 1.5 crore (15 million) calls.
Nair does not remember the call score five years ago when KBC I made its debut on Star Plus. However, what he does acknowledge is that the media and telecom industries revolution in the interim period may be one of the reasons for the phenomenal response.
"It's almost like operating in a brave new world. Looking back we feel we were almost handicapped then," says Nair.
Nair may not be exaggerating. A new cable and satellite universe has come about since the last KBC five years ago.
From 26 million, the C&S TV homes have grown to touch 61 million (NRS 2005). That is not all. The landlines have grown from 30 million to 45 million while the mobile subscriber base has exploded: from 2-3 million in 2000 to 55 million in 2005.
Star hopes to match up to the changed environment with a better and bigger KBC. For starters, it has doubled the prize money from Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) to Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million).
Also, the company's senior vice president Interactive Services, Viren Popli boasts "that this is really the biggest and best deployment of technology, systems and process in India to date for a game show."
To support his point he says that five years ago, KBC could entertain only between 700 and 1,000 calls a minute. "This time we have managed almost 35,000 calls in a minute. By the time the show launches, we should be able to handle even greater volumes," he adds.
The increased call traffic is being processed by KBC's telecommunications partners -- BSNL, MTNL and Airtel. The networks have invested in expanding their capacity to handle the increased traffic.
BSNL is believed to have programmed 30,000 telephone exchanges to direct all KBC II calls to a particular number.
Besides, in 2000, other than those in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata, viewers had to shell out STD call charges (costing between Rs 9 to Rs 12 a minute) to enter KBC.
Today the KBC II partners are offering a uniform call rate of Rs 2.40 a minute, irrespective of its place of origin. Earlier, it took three minutes to answer the entry questions, now it takes a few seconds.
"Technology has helped us process the calls as data rather than a voice call. Consequently, you are unlikely to get an engaged tone this time unlike the last time when we got a lot of complaints," says Popli.
Little surprise then that 77 per cent of the calls for KBC II poured in from small and remote towns. The remaining 23 per cent came from the metros.
The software for the entry process has been written by a Goa-based software development company called Synapse. "The size and scale is more robust this time, the systems are more sophisticated," observes Popli.
While KPMG is the auditor for the systems and processes of the game show, the Ogilvy One call centre has been hired to handle the KBC II entry questions.
"The call centre has customised the training and equipment to suit our needs. Siddhartha Basu's Synergy Productions uploads the questions and answers directly into the computer and the call centre executives have no knowledge of which question is coming up next.
KBC II has an exclusive tie-up with Airtel where its 11 million mobile subscribers have the 'Jump the Queue' facility that allows viewers a better chance of getting to the hot seat.
The rival service providers were not roped in for logistical, cost and security reasons, says Popli. Moving data from different service providers all over the country would have taken much longer too.
Besides the decision was based on the different companies' and ability and willingness to invest in infrastructure, he adds.
How your call moves
Calls from over 3,000 STD codes across the country are collated at BSNL's exchange in Hyderabad. Data from this center is moved over secure leased lines to STAR in Mumbai.
Similarly, call data from over 30 different locations in the Airtel network is collected in Bangalore and sent to Mumbai where STAR has set up a master control room.
The control room receives data from BSNL and Airtel networks every day. This room is under electronic surveillance. STAR has also set up a backup facility where the data is simultaneously received and maintained.
All calls made by the call center are recorded and the data is stored for easy retrieval. STAR executives claim that calls are checked by auditors to ensure that the selection process is fair.
Then and now