t all began with the Zee crime show, India's Most Wanted. Though the extremely popular programme also helped the authorities nab criminals on more than one occasion, it faded away till recently when it made a comeback on India TV. Most Wanted, however, spawned many similar shows as channels fell over one another to put together programmes such as Vardaat (from Aaj Tak). Zee News' Andha Kanoon, NDTV 24X7's Crime and the City were other attempts that cashed in on the trend.
STAR News' one-year-old crime tracker Sansani is one crime-based show that is proving to be very popular. The show, declares Shazi Zaman, deputy news director, is on a mission to make a safer neighbourhood. Initially, the investigative show didn't create much of a stir but, helped in no small measure by the dramatic presentation by anchor Shrivardhan Trivedi, the programme helped expose criminals from fraudulent tantriks to corrupt officials and body shopping agents who made false promises of work on foreign soil. The show caught the viewers' fancy.
Ratings data from TAM for the period August 21, 2005 to November 19, 2005 shows that STAR News' had an all-time high with TVR of 1.4 in the action thriller category. STAR News' Red Alert (crime-based news) is second in line with TVR of 1, followed by Aaj Tak's Jurm with 0.71. What made Sansani so popular? According to Anuradha Prasad, producer BAG Films, which produced the show along with STAR Plus, "We did not have any agenda and that is why we were able to create an impression". ... more