After more than two decades on Indian television, Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) continues to evolve with the changing media and entertainment landscape. Hosted by actor Amitabh Bachchan, the quiz show is returning for its 18th season on 10 August, with a new theme, ‘Sochna Padega.’

As advertisers increasingly shift from conventional spot buys to content-led integrations, KBC has reportedly seen content integrations rise to around 80% of its ad sales in 2026.

We caught up with Akshay Agrawal, head - linear ad sales, Sony Pictures Network India, to discuss the changing advertiser expectations from the show, the rise of brand integrations, and what is driving continued demand for the property. 

Edited excerpts:

KBC has reportedly gone on air with nearly 30 sponsors already on board while commanding a premium. What has driven advertiser confidence this season, especially in a competitive television market?

I think what is important for brands is the brand-safe environment that a show like KBC provides. Also, the bespoke solutions that we craft for brands on KBC deliver outcomes for them, and we do that at scale. So, that drives the sale of KBC and is the reason for 25+ sponsors on the show even before it goes on air. 

The show continues to attract both long-standing partners and first-time advertisers. What makes the property relevant for such a diverse mix of brands?

About 65–70% of sponsors are returning sponsors from the previous years. We have sponsors who have been associated with us for close to five to six years and, in some cases, eight to nine years as well. That is the true testament to the impact that the show drives for partners and sponsors, and for an advertiser to come back year-on-year again on a show like KBC. The show has kept itself up to date with the times and kept itself relevant through content, through various changes that we make in content, which has helped us also attract a new set of advertisers this year. ReNew has come on board as a sponsor in the clean energy space. That’s a new category opened up for us this year on the show. Google Gemini has come on board as the AI partner for this year. The show attracts both existing sponsors and new sponsors, because we keep the show relevant to the times.

What trends are you seeing in terms of category participation this season? Are there any emerging sectors that are investing more aggressively in KBC compared to previous editions?

We have got partners across categories this year. BFSI, auto, e-commerce, FMCG, tech, clean energy, mobile handsets. BFSI and new-age fintech brands continue to be the largest category, followed by auto and e-commerce. The new categories that we have seen this year are tech and clean energy. 

As the season features several brand integrations, including with the Aditya Birla Group, how do you approach designing integrations that feel organic to the format rather than interruptive for viewers?

Almost all the integrations that we curate are customised to bespoke solutions that we figure out for them. The process starts with taking a brief from the brand and understanding what their business problem is. A lot of times, because these solutions have to deliver outcomes to brands, we also have a conversation or meet their sales teams and customer facing teams to understand the business better, so that we can craft out a sharper solution for them. Then we connect the solution to the content in a way that the solution feels native to it. It enables content or the contestant or viewers in some way or the other so that it does not look disruptive or interruptive to the viewer as well but does the job for the brand. 

The integration with Google Gemini marks an interesting intersection of entertainment and AI. What was the strategic thinking behind this partnership?

KBC as a show is all about knowledge. As this year we have added a layer of applied knowledge to the show, and who better than Google Gemini to partner with the show, looking at its evolution, We unlocked some bit of the association a few weeks back. Google Gemini would be enabling content for the show. 

How has advertisers expectations from KBC evolved over the years?

Pre-Covid, advertisers’ expectations from shows like KBC were largely around reach and GRPs. However, that has evolved into a business-outcome-led conversation, a solution-led conversation, and conversations with advertisers around solving a business problem. So, a lot of the sale on KBC is now sponsorship and branded-solution-led. 

With the festive season around the corner, how important is KBC in advertisers' media plans? Are you seeing increased demand from brands looking to leverage the show's reach during this high-consumption period?

This year, we have added 20 more episodes to the show. We have increased the volume of inventory, and we had locked in 85% of the inventory already, even before the show goes on air. There is increased interest among advertisers in our show. For a lot of these sponsors that we have, because they have been coming back year-on-year to the show, it forms a big part of their festive plans.