BBC World has earmarked 40 per cent of its Indian marketing budget to promote the 32-episode show. The series starts with four special exhibition episodes showcasing winning teams from the UK University Challenge show who will be pitted against teams from Indian colleges.

Commenting on the new programme, Narendhra Morar, commissioning editor, BBC World, says, “BBC World’s University Challenge aims to recognise and acknowledge the talents of young Indian quizzers. There is an insatiable urge for achievement inherent among young Indians, which is reflected in the response evoked by quiz shows in the country. Today, there is no high quality quiz for Indian university students and University Challenge will provide an informative, entertaining and interactive platform for college students to experience international quizzing – in what we hope will become another must-see programme from BBC World across South Asia.”

The nationwide hunt for the top Indian quizzing teams started in May this year with entries from prestigious colleges across India. After written tests in centres across the country, 28 teams were finally chosen for the television rounds. University Challenge will cover the gamut of sports, theatre, technology, industries, film, music, dance, science and medicine, television, advertising, art and literature, destinations, cuisine and many other areas.

(courtesy of http://www.agencyfaqs.com/www1/news/media_newslets/Media/1100.html)

Indian students face tougher University Challenge test

A new version of University Challenge is to be made for Indian television - but with harder questions. The creators of the show, due to be screened from next month, have made it tougher because many contestants will be doing their homework before appearing on the programme. Nahendra Morar, a BBC World commissioner editor for South Asia, told the Times: "The mindset is different. The contestants will be very dedicated - they will swot up." The programme's quizmaster Siddhartha Basu said quizzes are very popular in India, adding: "We have quizzes all over the place; in temples and even one in South Asia's largest jail."

An exhibition match organised by the British Council has already taken place between British and Indian universities, but the questions had to be tailored for the UK students. The matches saw Birkbeck College, the winners of last year's British Challenge, Edinburgh University, Aberystwyth University and Queen's University Belfast take on universities from Madras, Calcutta, Thrissur and Bangalore. But not only have the questions been altered, so has the programme's decor. The sets have been made more sexy to appeal to Indian tastes. The bland dark red and grey desks of the British show have been replaced with blue and orange patterns.

(courtesy of http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_802120.html)

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Aberystwyth students victorious as University Challenge India is launched

A team of four University of Wales, Aberystwyth students have recently returned from the Indian capital Delhi where they represented Wales in the launch of the Indian version of the cult BBC TV programme University Challenge. Geography graduate Peter Sisson, French and Geography graduate Thomas Gardiner, Angelina Karpovich who is studying for a PhD in Film and Television Studies, and International Relations student Colan Walsh made up the Aberystwyth quartet. During the week-long stay in India they undertook promotional work on behalf of the British Council, who sponsored their visit, and studiously prepared for their University Challenge debut, which was to be broadcast across South Asia and into 15 million homes in India.

The Aberystwyth team was joined by teams from Queens University Belfast, Edinburgh University, and Birkbeck, University of London representing Northern Ireland, Scotland and England respectively. Each of the British teams were pitted against top quizzing teams from Indian colleges, ITT Kerala in the case of Aberystwyth, and the bouts were televised on BBC World as part of the promotional campaign to launch India University Challenge.

For team captain Colan Walsh, who is originally from Dublin, the whole experience was unforgettable. "This was an opportunity of a lifetime, a visit to Delhi where we could see some of the city's famous landmarks and get of taste of Indian culture. However, taking part in such a high profile programme meant some serious preparation, which included and afternoon spent concentrating on our buzzer technique!" "University Challenge India is very different to the UK version. It's a much slower game and lower scoring as more of the programme is given over to advertising. The questions are also different and geared towards a more contemporary era than the UK version." "Our turn to record came towards the end of our week long stay in India. The recording session was preceded by the Indian tradition of breaking a coconut on the set for luck. It certainly proved a lucky break as we clawed our way back from a 45 point deficit to clinch the tie 80-75 with the very final bonus question, thanks for some fantastic work by Angelina. Our participation as one of only 4 UK universities and the victory meant that we put a very good case for Aberystwyth", he added.

India University Challenge is presented by Indian Media Mogul Siddhartha Basu, the man who introduced "Mastermind" and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" to Indian television, and is currently being broadcast on BBC World.

(courtesy of http://www.aber.ac.uk/aberonline/uwa6503.shtml 08/09/03)

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Challenging times: Quiz show kicks off with a bang
Aasheesh Sharma

It is among the longest running quiz shows in Britain. Beginning August 7, University Challenge, brought to the country by BBC World and the British Council, is designed to discover quizzing talent among college students in the country. The series starts with four exhibition episodes pitting the best of Indian universities opposite the finest educational institutions in Britain. So you’d have the IIT, Chennai, locking horns with Birkbeck College, University of London; Jadavpur University pitting wits against Edinburgh University; RV College of Engineering, Bangalore vs. Queen’s University, Belfast and SP College of Engineering, Mumbai, competing with University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

The India launch on Wednesday saw a mock celebrity quiz at the Taj Palace with Cyrus Broacha’s Big Bang team, comprising singer-actress Sharon Prabhakar, Soumyadipta Biswas of MDI, Gurgaon and Angelina Karpovich a student of Film and Television Studies at the University of Wales. Taking them on were Steady State, led by Rahul Bose, supported by Mandira Bedi, Debashree Mitra, a final year student of the DCE, and Thomas Kerr, a student of Archeology, at Queen's University, Belfast.

The teams lived up to their names. Big Bang began in explosive fashion. At one point, the score read 50-nil in their favour. Then, Steady State gained momentum helped by a flurry of answers by Mitra. Surprisingly, Bedi and Bose, the actors in the team, looked blank even on Hollywood-related questions.

The crescendo of the evening came with a brilliant percussion performance from Sivmani. Seen applauding the percussionist were Sir Rob Young, the British High Commissioner, BBC World director of operations Alistair Brown, Soli Sorabjee.

(courtesy of HindustanTimes.com)

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Your Starter for ‘Das’...

India’s love for quizzing is well known, and the long-running British quiz show ‘University Challenge’ has recently made the transition to the subcontinent following collaboration between the British Council, BBC World and Synergy Communications. To mark the launch of ‘University Challenge India’‚ a team of four students from the University of Edinburgh travelled to New Delhi in July, courtesy of the British Council, to film a special exhibition match against a team from a top Indian university.

The students - Simon McArthur (2nd from left), William White (left), Rachel Boase and Graham Allison (right) - were invited to India alongside teams from three other UK universities to promote the new series for Indian television and to raise awareness amongst Indian students of educational opportunities in the UK. In addition to various promotional duties, the teams were also treated to several excursions and tourist activities, including a three-day sightseeing tour to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, and the Pink City of Jaipur.

The idea behind the promotional trip was simple. One institution from each of the four home nations was invited to send a team to take part in the launch. The University of Edinburgh was chosen to represent Scotland by virtue of being the best performing Scottish university in the British series of ‘University Challenge’ last year. Similarly, the other participating institutions were Queen's University, Belfast, the University of Wales, Aberyswyth, and Birkbeck College, University of London. The team from Birkbeck were the same mature students who fought their way to victory in the domestic series last year.

Each team filmed one exhibition match against an Indian university. The exhibition shows were broadcast on BBC World in Asia over the course of four weeks, starting on the 7th of August. The line up for the matches was as follows: Birkbeck vs. IIT, Chennai (formerly Madras); Edinburgh vs. Jadavpur University, Kolkata; Aberystwyth vs. Government Engineering College, Thrissur, and Queen's vs. RV College of Engineering, Bangalore. Edinburgh were comfortable winners against Jadavpur. Queen’s and Aberystwyth were both narrowly successful in their respective bouts. Surprisingly however, Birkbeck, the defending UK champions, were soundly defeated in their match against IIT. Whilst the format of ‘University Challenge’ remains broadly unchanged in being brought to India, the show has undergone a significant makeover. Changes include a new set design, modernised theme tune, and a new presenter, Siddartha Basu, who is already the presenter of several popular primetime quiz shows in India, including ‘Mastermind’.

Reports on ‘University Challenge India’ so far have been very positive, and with the main series now in progress, early indications are that show stands a strong chance of becoming as popular in India as the UK version has been on these shores for the past forty years. For helping to make possible their participation in the trip to India, the Edinburgh team would like to offer sincere thanks to Marion Matheson at EUSA, Jane Causer at the University International Office, and Jacqui Allan at the British Council in India.

(courtesy of eBulletin [University of Edinburgh] October 2003)

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Here's your starter for ten: Who was the hottest in Madras?
By Chris Hastings, Media Correspondent

The reigning champions of the BBC's University Challenge programme have suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of a team of electrical engineers from India. The team of mature students from Birkbeck College, part of the University of London, had been confident of an easy victory but were crushed 150 points to 85 by a younger team from the Indian Institute of Technology based in Madras. Birkbeck's defeat on the show - broadcast to millions on the BBC World satellite television service - was all the more bruising for national pride because so many of the questions were about British culture and history. The Indian team scored well on subjects including English royalty, Sherlock Holmes, the Booker Prize and T.S. Eliot, and bagged most of the crucial starter questions. Birkbeck's confidence was rocked when the Indian team raced to a 45-0 lead. For a while it looked as if the British team might not score at all.

The team was clearly rattled but managed to avoid total humiliation with a late rally in the dying minutes of the contest. The tension was broken only when filming stopped temporarily so that studio staff could remove a lizard that had fallen from the ceiling on to the floor. Tony Gillham, the Birkbeck team captain, accepted last night that the competition and the choice of questions was "scrupulously fair". "We went out there feeling a little cocky," he said. "We should have known pride always comes before a fall. We were up against a team of electrical engineers who knew their T.S. Eliot." He added: "We could have done even worse but we pulled it back at the end." Birkbeck was one of four British teams to take part in the Indian version of the contest, which is one of the biggest hits on BBC World. The three other teams from Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all won their respective rounds.

Mr Gillham, 38, from Croydon, is studying for a Masters in applied linguistics. His team-mates were Tony Walsh, 39, from Hertfordshire, studying history and archaeology; Thor Halland, 35, from east London, studying philosophy; and Colum Gallivan, 57, from Walsall, studying classics, who is also an actor and has appeared in Father Ted, Juliet Bravo and EastEnders. Mr Gillham said he thought the fact that his team were older than their Indian rivals - whose average age is understood to be 21 - may have worked against them. He said: "We were like gentlemen amateurs up against a team of real professionals. Some of them had been on the Indian Mastermind. We were pitted against the cream of Indian society. "We are a more mature team and our rivals were very quick on the draw. We knew the answers to most of the questions but we were just nowhere near as fast as they were. It was a very humbling experience for us and it took a lot of wind out of our sails."

Birkbeck's humiliation was welcomed by some of the other British contestants who took part at the invitation of the British Council. Alan McBride, captain of the team from Queen's College, University of Belfast, which beat its Indian rivals by just five points, said: "The Birkbeck team losing was the funniest bit of the trip. To be honest, a lot of us thought they were just four complete drama queens." He added: "In the run-up to the filming sessions the Birkbeck captain got us all together and said we needed a practice session in the hotel. We laughed at the guy and said, 'Look, we are on holiday here, we don't care if we lose'. "The English team had brought all these quiz books and were reading up on trivia. We said, 'We do not want anything to do with this'."

Although the Indian edition closely mirrors the format of its British counterpart, there are several crucial differences. The sets on the Indian show are brighter - or tackier, depending on your taste. The theme music is Bangra-influenced and filming gets under way only after a coconut is cracked open as an offering to Hindu gods. The show's host, Siddhartha Basu, who is the producer of the Indian equivalent of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and the presenter of that country's version of Mastermind, is considered a more relaxed and amenable host than his British counterpart. Viewers also find out more about the contestants, who are required to list their hobbies and interests as well as what they are reading at college.

Inter-team rivalry is much more obvious in the version on the subcontinent. Mr McBride said: "We noticed a lot of the Indian teams would slap their hands and do high fives when they got questions right. At the end, after we won, we did a high five because we thought that was what was expected." Mr Basu said: "Our challenge with this international version was to try to ensure that the questions were not biased in favour of one side or another. I think that we got that right in the end. We are a very quiz-enthusiastic country and I think that is reflected in the success of the Indian teams."

The failure of the English team to repeat their success in the Indian version will again raise questions about standards in the British edition. A number of critics have highlighted the increasing tendency to ask questions about popular culture. Birkbeck College won the national UK final in April after beating Cranfield University by 180 points to 155.

(courtesy of Sunday Telegraph 23/11/03)

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Quizzing the Quizmaster

Knowing of India and Britain's mutual enthusiasm for quizzes, the British Council floated the idea that University Challenge would be a winner if translated from UK to Indian TV. The idea was picked up by Siddhartha Basu who had already translated to Indian screens KBC, KKK and Mastermind. University Challenge's first shows have proved enormously popular including the four preliminary rounds between Indian competitors and teams from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Here Siddhartha Basu shares with Connecting the excitement of quizzing India. University Challenge has been around on British TV for decades. Is it an entirely new idea for India? The idea itself has worked in the country before. Quiz Time, was a completely homegrown national inter-college quiz which had three very successful runs from 1985-88, when Doordarshan was the only show in town. That’s the show that earned me the rubric I've never ever looked for, of being a national quizmaster! What our version of University Challenge does is to revive a platform for the very active quizzing scene on the college circuit, with a format that’s new here. Apart from being an ideal vehicle to reach a younger audience, what makes it a great fit on BBC World, is its enduring history of 40 years in Britain, where it's currently running on BBC2.

People in India - students in particular - seem to love quizzes. What do you think is the particular appeal here?
I think it may have to do with the exceptional premium placed by our society on knowledge and education, not only for its own sake, but also as the best, and often the only way to opportunity, mobility and security. It’s the social approval of quizzing as a knowledge stimulator that’s made it possible to spread its roots so widely. Schools particularly, have institutionally encouraged quizzing as a quasi-educational activity. It helps that quizzes are highly participative, interactive and relatively easy to organise. And of course TV has been a great populariser, visibly demonstrating and extending the possibilities of edutainment.

You've transferred a number of shows from UK to Indian television. Which has been most satisfying and which was most risky?
Kaun Banega Corepati, our version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire was the most challenging because of its sheer scale, the technological demands of interactivity, the size of the prize, the gargantuan nature of the logistics, and the involvement of a film megastar. And all this had to be accomplished on virgin ground, with very little lead time. It felt wonderful to pull it off with a show that made television history, stopping the country in its tracks, come nine o' clock. The most disappointing was the fate of Kamzor Kadi Kaun, our version of The Weakest Link. There was always the risk of rejection because of its in-your-face bluntness. But I hoped that its very lack of hypocrisy, the frisson of its politics of competition and coalitions, its tongue in cheek wit, and sharp comment, would strike a chord. I enjoyed making the programme, it was disappointing to see the show pulled, perhaps for fear of offending a core audience of conservative viewers.

Are there any other current UK TV programmes you have your eye on?
There are a couple of British formats we're discussing, which are very entertaining. What we're up against is that broadcasters the world over are mainly looking for the next Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The cry is for a godzilla of a blockbuster, nothing less. There have been many false alarms, but to my knowledge, the beast hasn't been sighted as yet.

For KBC in particular you had to replicate so much of the UK original Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. What differences were you able to introduce to make the show more culturally relevant for India audiences?
I think the key differentiator was the tone of KBC, embodied by Amitabh Bachchan as the host. His "Pravachan", or brief thought for the day, at the top of the show, was an entirely local feature. It typified his overall conduct of the show, where he brought to bear a certain traditionalism with a contemporary face. A big money quiz hadn't happened in the country before. In India, there's unease with housing Lakshmi and Saraswati, wealth and knowledge, under the same roof. There could have been far greater cultural discomfort with the linkage of learning and winning money. Bachchan's attitude and gravitas made it more acceptable. So much so that the host became an exemplar for the best of Indian manners, language and attitude! Parents were telling children "You want to enjoy Hindi, spoken at its best? Or what gracious manners are all about? Watch AB on KBC!" And the content, of course, was almost entirely Indian. Given the grip of the format, people took pleasure in puzzling out things about their country they had no idea about. The clincher, I think, was that it was seen and experienced as a thoroughly Indian show.

Mastermind has just returned after many years to BBC in the UK. Have you had a chance to see it and would you have any advice for John Humphries, the UK presenter?
With a twenty five year run, and silken, scholarly manner, Magnus Magnusson's will always be the signature style on Mastermind. I've only heard of the new version, but I do know that John Humphries is a highly regarded presenter on current affairs, and look forward to seeing him on the show. I'm told he's noticeably slower on delivery than Magnusson was. That'd go down well with people here who like their quizzes paced down. Apparently they still use question cards on the show, which some people prefer, but I find quite cumbersome. So the only tip I'd offer is for him to try out our quiz prompt software, which makes it possible to conduct the quiz hands-free, with simultaneous feeds on timing, scoring and so on. It makes things much easier for the host.

And any message from India you'd like us to send to Chris Tarrant who presents the UK's KBC or Jeremy Paxman, the University Challenge presenter?
Just that I've enjoyed their very individual styles of conducting their respective shows.

University Challenge India kicked off with four 'specials' in which UK and India colleges played each other. Did these go well, behind the scenes?
Though I think the idea of Indo-British rounds mooted by the British Council was an inspired one, I was frankly anxious about establishing common quizzing ground. We agonised over the questions, trying to achieve a level playing field. While we have things in common, when you get down to it, there are vast differences in the worlds of information we inhabit. We strove to establish an equidistance, making questions that were not too Indian specific, and not too British specific. We had the benefit of using questions sent in by Granada to add to the pool. In the end, I think the rounds went off smoothly on most counts. I was relieved the questions weren't found to be skewed either way. And the results were telling. One round went entirely in favour of an Indian team, another the other way round, and two rounds were decided by the barest possible margin, of 5 points! The end score for the 4 rounds read: UK - 3, India -1, but it was pretty even stevens all the way. It made for super TV. The visiting teams were a great lot, getting along well with the Indian participants. They seemed to enjoy the visit, being most appreciative of the hospitality extended by the British Council, and quite complimentary about our version and the conduct of the rounds. Overall, I don't think it could have gone off better.

University Challenge in Britain has been running for over forty years.How long do you think will University Challenge India be with us? BBC World reviews their policies and programmes for India periodically, and projections are rarely made beyond a season of shows. But Mastermind India turned out to be one of their most viewed programmes, and had a five year run, with every chance of coming back. With University Challenge having notched up excellent interest so far, there's a good chance for it to go on.. it's over to the viewers.

(courtesy of British Council India)

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