"We have revised our revenue targets 15 per cent downwards this fiscal," chief executive officer of Sony Entertainment Kunal Dasgupta told PTI when asked about the impact of KBC on the channel's financial performance.

He said unlike Zee TV, Sony had not developed a programme to take KBC headon, and the channel was trying to improve its viewership ratings outside the 9-10 pm prime time slot by offering a mix of new programmes, new hosts and celebrities.

Sony is the second private channel after Zee to have admitted openly about the fallout of KBC's success on its performance and viewership.

"We have never aspired to take KBC headon because we do not have a programme to counter its popularity. But Sony still leads in all the other time bands of 8-10 pm, 7-9 pm and 10-12 pm," Mr Dasgupta said.

As per market research agency Intam, 23 of the top 50 programmes continue to be on Sony, he said, adding this had remained unchanged even during the initial euphoria of KBC.

Mr Dasgupta said the next two months will bring a host of new celebrities on Sony and even another gameshow, which would be "more entertaining and less clinical" than KBC. Asha Bhosle will give a live concert on Sony in December before Hrithik Roshan is featured on the channel, followed by `Chotte Mian' Govinda in January who will host Sony's `indigenous' gameshow, Kunal Dasgupta said.

"The Sony gameshow will be more emotional, more entertaining and less clinical than KBC," he said but again declined to divulge further details of this gameshow.

Sony's admission comes close on the heels of Zee TV's debacle with its answer to KBC in Sawal Dus Crore Ka (SDCK), which has notched poor ratings for its first week while KBC still reigns supreme.

Zee has already shifted its prime time soap operas and sitcoms out of the 9-10 pm slot to earlier time bands, in a desperate attempt to salvage dwindling eye balls.

Admitting a shift in viewer preference from Zee, the largest Hindi programming channel with close to 75 per cent viewership, CEO of Zee Telefilms RK Singh had said earlier: "Our GRPs (gross rating points) have come down to 50 per cent....Four of our programmes have given way to KBC in the weekly Top 10 list".

He said the programming rejig has been effected to offer viewers a five-day-a-week soap in the 9-10 pm band.

"The success of KBC is beyond our expectations. Our otherwise popular nine o'clock serials have been registering lower TRPs (television rating points) for a long time now due to KBC. We have thus decided to shift these programmes to the earlier 8-9 pm slot and instead air a five-day-a-week serial," Mr Singh added.

PTI