Can reboots breathe new life into Indian television’s prime time?

While some attempts, such as Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, failed to strike a chord in the past, experts remain divided on how far nostalgia, combined with fresh storylines and characters, can help fiction TV regain viewership in an era where audience engagement continues to wane.

Nostalgia meets strategy

Ekta Kapoor’s Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi clocked 1.6 billion minutes of watch time across Star Plus and JioHotstar in its first week, drawing 31.1 million viewers on TV and millions more online. According to JioStar, it became the biggest-ever fiction launch on both platforms.

Sumanta Bose, head of cluster, entertainment (Star Plus and Bharat, Bengali, Marathi and Gujarati), at JioStar, said, “The return of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi has proven that great storytelling never loses its power. We approached this launch with a two-fold vision: to reignite nostalgia while crafting a contemporary storyline that resonates with today’s audiences.”

Smart play for shared viewing

Reboots are especially appealing to family audiences, says Rupali Chavan, senior vice-president and head of business, Mudramax.

“Reboots give them something familiar, but if done well, also offer a reason to stay hooked. If more such shows succeed, they could help make TV feel exciting again — not just a habit, but a choice.”

The reason reboots actually make sense on paper is you are not starting from zero. The title already has recall, the tune probably lives rent-free in people’s heads and there is less heavy lifting in marketing. That’s a few lakhs, or crores saved, said Charu Malhotra, managing director and co-founder, Primus Partners, a management consultancy firm.

“This is not just a content experiment, it is a programming strategy. It may not reinvent broadcast TV entirely. But it can remind advertisers and broadcasters that family drama still works. Especially when there is familiarity. No need to re-educate the viewer. Just bring them something that feels like home, maybe with better lighting and slightly more progressive subplots,” Malhotra added.

The audience puzzle

There’s a clear attempt to bring back the loyal family-viewing audience that linear TV used to own, especially women and older viewers in tier-two and tier-three cities, said Rajnish Rawat, CEO and co-founder of Social Pill, a digital marketing agency.

But nostalgia can’t be the only play.

“Not all nostalgia travels well. What worked once can feel dated unless it’s reimagined for today’s cultural rhythm. The shows that have a shot at success are the ones that had strong emotional recall and storytelling depth,” Rawat added.

That said, reboots need more than just name value, they need a reason to exist now. On TV, Kyunki has clearly struck a nerve, emerging as the strongest launch for a Hindi fiction series since October 2020.

“But here’s the flip side: online audiences are a tougher crowd. A lot of people tuned in, but not everyone stayed. That’s the tightrope with reboots. You have to honour the emotion but evolve the story. You can’t just bring the gang back and expect applause. It has to mean something – now,” Rawat added.

Iconic Indian television shows of the past enjoyed remarkable longevity, cultivating loyal fan bases and becoming integral to daily viewing habits.

These series thrived in an era of appointment viewing, where audiences developed deep emotional connections with characters and storylines over several years, according to Chandrashekar Mantha, partner and media and entertainment sector leader, Deloitte India.

“In contrast, fiction reboots in India have seen moderate to average success in terms of television ratings. While they benefit from strong brand recall and nostalgic appeal, few have matched the enduring popularity or chart-topping performance of their originals. For instance, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi relaunched with an opening TVR (television viewership rating, that measures the percentage of a target audience that watched a particular programme or channel at a given time) of approximately 2.6, a figure comparable to Kasautii Zindagii Kay’s reboot on Star Plus. Meanwhile, the reboot of CID debuted at around 1.3 TVR, eventually settling closer to 1.0,” Mantha added.

Evolving viewership

These figures highlight the latent potential of reboots, though the landscape has changed considerably, industry experts like Mantha said. The original audiences have aged, and a new generation of viewers—with different content preferences—has entered the fold. Rebooted content must adapt not only to this demographic shift but also to increased competition from other shows airing in the same time slots.

“One of the persistent challenges in television fiction today is the shortage of long-running, high-concept storylines. In this context, reboots offer broadcasters a level of predictability and built-in audience familiarity. While the industry is still in an experimental phase, a truly successful reboot could serve as a turning point—revitalising prime-time programming and re-establishing the kind of cultural footprint legacy shows once enjoyed,” Mantha added.