Modi on Man vs Wild tonight: How the show has upped the game for the channel

The excitement over PM Narendra Modi's appearance with Bear Grylls on Discovery's Man vs Wild is at its peak as the show is set to be aired tonight.

There has been constant chatter about the show from the day Grylls made the announcement on Twitter. With over 1.2 billion impressions on Twitter, #PMModiOnDiscovery happens to be one of the most used hashtags with regards to promoting a television show on the social media platform, Discovery has said.

We spoke to industry experts to gauge the impact the exclusive show will have for the channel.

According to Anand Chakravarthy, Managing Director, India, Essence, “Given the uniqueness of the content, there will definitely be interest around watching the episode. One can expect an increase in conversations around the show, before and after the episode, on social media. And there will be PR around it as well. One needs to look at this like a movie premier on TV, a spike rather than a long-term impact.”

Chakravarthy said from the point of view of advertisers, it can be tactical for those who have an ongoing campaign investment in an opportunity like this. It will not make strategic sense to be associated with the show on a standalone basis.”

A media expert on the promise of anonymity said:  “Although we can expect premium rates on that day, it won’t be as high as the ones a movie channel or a GEC. PM Modi does up the game here for the channel. It needs to be seen if they manage to sustain the new audience base for long.”

Another expert believes, “The show is definitely a coup of sorts for Discovery. Specials give a spike to viewership and bring in new audiences, but there is long term benefit to the channel only if part of this new audience base stays with the channel and increases time spent.”

Recently, there have been increased conversations on social media platforms in the wake of the scrapping of Article 370 and 35A in Kashmir. Experts believe these developments will definitely work in the episode’s interest.

Prachi Karan, Senior Media Director, Isobar agreed to the notion. “Yes, there has been an increasing buzz on the episode and we have seen a rise in user queries post the mandate on Kashmir. While India is contributing to a lot to that noise, interestingly the entire world seems to be interested too. ‘Bear Grylls and Modi’ is the top rising query worldwide in the context of this episode.”

We reached out to Discovery but are yet to get a response.