You thought you had seen it all. But consider this: What happens when 22 young men and women are divided into tribes and left to fend for themselves on a remote tropical island? Which one will pass the remorselessly tough physical, mental and psychological challenges and emerge as the ultimate Survivor?

Or, how about a hair-raising stand-off between Bollywood’s top stuntmen? They’re guaranteed to keep you glued to the small screen as they take one crazy risk after another for a mix of fame and fortune.

Yes, there’s heaps more coming in the dog-eat-dog world of reality television. You thought there’d be nothing to top shows like Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi or Jhalak Dikhlaja and Indian Idol. But hang on tight. New shows like Just Dance with Hrithik Roshan, and X Factor have just gone on air. And in the next few months there’ll be even more.

Indian television screens are exploding with new reality shows like X Factor (top) on Sony TV, and the Indian version of Survivor coming up on Star Plus with Samir Kochhar (below) as the anchor

“The reality show space has become very exciting as people are experimenting with new ideas,” says Monika Shergill, senior creative director, non-fiction programming, Star Plus. Adds Ashvini Yardi, head of programming, Colors: “The non-fiction genre still has a lot of scope to grow.”

So Star Plus is launching the Indian version of Survivor soon. “Survivor is the ultimate test of the human spirit. It’s the biggest reality show and we hope it will set new standards,” says Shergill. Stranded with little else but the clothes on their back, can the contestants brave it out? The show will be hosted by Samir Kochhar, who hosted the Indian Premier League. “Survivor’s concept sets it apart from anything else. No one has done this type of show and on this scale in India before,” adds Nivedith Alva, head of development, Miditech, which is producing the show. Shooting is currrently on in the Caramoan Islands in the Philippines.

Then, Zee will launch India Ke Jaanbaaz in September, which will feature Bollywood stuntmen with Sunny Deol providing the celebrity quotient as judge. These unsung heroes will recreate the action-packed exploits of the big screen from grisly explosions to cliff-hanging car chases to hair-raising fight sequences. “Zee TV has always encouraged things related to the common people. Now the industry’s real stuntmen will get a chance to showcase themselves,” says Ashish Golwalkar, head of non-fiction programming, Zee TV. And MTV India’s bringing the famous American show The Real World, where ambitious youngsters compete to make it big in the world of glamour.

Now if you’re still hungering for more reality, a full-fledged international reality channel is coming too in autumn. It’s being brought by Reliance Broadcast Network and European broadcasting major, the RTL Group.

Indian television channels are constantly experimenting with new reality shows like the Preity Zinta-anchored Guinness World Record - Ab India Todega on Colors

We shouldn’t be surprised by the unending string of reality programmes. According to TAM Media Research, reality shows account for almost 15 per cent of airtime on Hindi general entertainment channels (GEC) compared to just 5 per cent three years ago. And ad volumes on reality, game and talent shows spurted to 1,578 hours in 2010 against 539 hours in 2007. Also, 36 per cent of respondents chose a non-fiction character as their favourite television character in December 2010, according to research firm Ormax Media’s Characters India Loves study. That’s compared to 20 per cent in August 2009.

“Non-fiction content is what’s creating news for channels. It’s become essential to boost viewership,” says S. K. Barua, managing director, FremantleMedia India, which owns properties like Idol, Got Talent and X Factor. “Hindi GECs now have a reality show as a tentpole property every quarter,” adds Anamika Mehta, COO of media buying firm Lodestar UM. So, in 2010, almost 80 reality, game and talent shows were on air, according to TAM Media.

No wonder, the channels are struggling to outdo each other and differentiate themselves. The accent’s on bigger and better — and newer too. So Star Plus has got superstar Hrithik Roshan for Just Dance, which reportedly costs Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 4 crore an episode. And Sony TV has a new international format in X Factor.

True, a large share of reality shows is still related to talent hunts though categories like voyeurism and adventure have emerged with shows like Bigg Boss and Khatron Ke Khiladi. But the bandwidth is expanding. So, cooking shows like Masterchef have come in over the last year. Earlier this year, Colors launched Guinness World Record -Ab India Todega. Incidentally, Akshay Kumar’s back with Khatron Ke Khiladi Torchaar on Colors currently.

Superstar Hrithik Roshan recently made his television debut with Just Dance on Star Plus

According to L. V. Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research: “A divergence between mass and niche appeal shows is coming in.” The mass appeal shows are still about song and dance. But when looking at a niche appeal, channels are experimenting with categories.

So FremantleMedia India, a subsidiary of FremantleMedia (which is part of the RTL group), is looking at bringing its hit dating show, Take Me Out. This one’s got seven suitors parading their talents in front of 30 single women, who decide which one of them is worthy of a date. “It’s one of our big properties today, which has penetrated all across the world and all over Asia,” says Barua.

Endemol India is reportedly bringing in Estate of Panic, in which contestants compete to find cash hidden on an estate, as well as the famous game show, 1 vs. 100. In this quiz challenge, each contestant takes on an audience or ‘mob’ of 100 to rake in big prize money. Besides, Miditech will reportedly bring in the big new singing talent show, The Voice. With its format of blind auditions and face-offs between singers, The Voice made its US debut this summer and it’s already topping the charts there.

TAM Media’s Krishnan feels that new reality categories will also emerge with growing digitisation of channels and as new platforms like direct-to-home, mobile and IPTV emerge. “Channels are bound to start targeting closely networked communities with specialised content over the next two years,” he says.

Meanwhile, reality television is extending its mass base too by targeting regional entertainment channels, which are now looking beyond the talent category to shows like KBC. Mahuaa Bengali, for instance, has got Saurav Ganguly to host the Bengali version of the iconic show.

Reality shows like Bigg Boss, which relied on star Salman Khan last season, and Dance India Dance (below) have been big crowd-pullers

As for the Hindi GECs, they’ve got big money riding on reality. Remember, reality shows cost huge bucks especially when they have celebrities. For instance, shows like Khatron Ke Khiladi are said to cost between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 3 crore an episode while smaller reality shows cost around Rs 40 lakh to Rs 75 lakh.

That’s why reality shows also command a premium on ad rates. They’re estimated to account for 20 per cent of a Hindi GEC’s revenues but they’re not as profitable as serials because of their high costs. More importantly, they’re bringing in fresh eyeballs. “Reality shows provide variety in programming and they bring in new audiences who don’t watch serials,” says Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media.

Given the growing number of shows, however, the challenge is to find “clutter-breakers”, feels Fremantle’s Barua. Star Plus’s Shergill admits: “It has become a very tough space to survive as the viewership has become so fragmented.”

That’s why Star Plus and Sony TV are strongly pushing their new properties. With Just Dance, Star Plus is banking on Roshan as the big differentiator. For Roshan, Just Dance “has been a very overwhelming, exciting and heartbreaking experience so far”. “Because of it today, I have a better understanding of the diverse Indian audience,” he says.

Meanwhile, Sony’s banking on X Factor. “Sony has been a pioneer in bringing successful international formats like Idol to India. X Factor is the biggest singing reality show today. So it’s obvious that we would get it here,” says Danish Khan, senior vice-president, marketing, Sony TV.

Khan says there’s a clear difference between the two shows. For one, Idol is aimed at younger singers from 16 to 25, while X Factor has contestants aged from 16 to 60-plus. Then, for the first time, individual singers and bands are competing together on X Factor.

“In terms of scale too, it’s the next level of Indian Idol,” says Khan. So X Factor’s auditions were held before a live audience and every Friday, the singers perform before 3,000 to 5,000 people. And the concert performances will only become larger. “The audience is more discerning now and a show has to offer something unique each time. So channels are experimenting with various concepts,” says Khan.

Of course, not every new format is guaranteed to succeed. For instance, Endemol’s Zor Ka Jhatka, the Indian version of the popular game show Wipeout, failed despite having Shah Rukh Khan.

Akshay Kumar is back with some edge-of-the-seat action in Khatron Ke Khiladi Torchaar Season 4 on Colors

Yet the channels are not deterred. Of course, they’re also pushing fresh seasons of successful formats. So Colors will air Bigg Boss Season 5 and India’s Got Talent 3 this year. Sony will launch the next season of KBC and Zee, another season of Dance India Dance.

Can the channels sustain the reality bandwagon though? Alva admits that “We’re definitely seeing too many of the same type of shows.” And media planners like Mehta and researchers like Kapoor too feel the early signs of fatigue are evident. “The response for most reality shows is not so exciting today,” says Kapoor. But TAM’s Krishnan points out that in the past, whenever shows have brought in something unique in new seasons, audiences “have come back to that content very strongly”.

For now, the channels and producers are excited about breaking the clutter with their new shows. As Sony TV’s Khan says: “Just as fiction never goes out of fashion, reality too will never go out of fashion.

Internationally, we’re seeing a lot of interesting formats and experimentation. That will happen in India too.”