Television channels are going to face a tough challenge from August onwards, when the first e-serial of India will be launched for the 60 million netizens in the country.

The e-serials can be viewed exclusively on net. The e-serial will have total 24 episodes and each episode will have duration of five minutes. It is a unique initiative, which is the outcome of a talent hunt named `Maruti Suzuki- Ibibo i-Serial Star'. This talent hunt offers the users an opportunity to write, direct, and even act.

The upcoming e-serial will have eight actors, two scriptwriters, and two directors. The winners were selected by voting and finalized by the panel of judges, which included Raman Kumar, the creator of `Tara' for Zee TV and the man behind the launch of Zee News Khalid Hashmi.

The contest had a very simple format unlike the television talent shows. The participants were just required to have a profile on ibibo. com and then upload videos, scripts to get maximum votes. Acting, scriptwriting, and directing were the three broad categories of the contest.

Sunila Dhar, the assistant general manager (marketing) of Maruti Suzuki, said, "ibibo. com and Maruti have come together with the `i-Serial Star' to give a platform to the potential talents, who aspires to fulfill their dreams".

Dhar added, "We were thrilled to hear the idea from ibibo. As it was a fresh idea, we thought the aspiring youths would find it interesting. Digital media is a very vital medium to reach out the youth of today".

It will be interesting to see if this new online venture can affect TV viewing in the coming months!

--Sampurn Wire