MUMBAI: It rained ghouls tonight in Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi and Ahmedabad with 300 ghosts on the prowl as part of the promotions marking the debut of Raat Hone Ko Hai (RHKH ) airing at 8:00 pm tonight on Sahara Manoranjan.Innovative with a capital I. This absolutely bizarre promotional strategy is expected to give the show a lot of mileage in terms of awareness and curiosity. With over 300 spooks spread over four cities, these banshee's dressed in black all sported a paranormal persona thanks to the "horrifying" masks they were adorning. These men turned lost souls had hit the streets by 7:00 pm tonight.

Apart from this, Sahara also ensured that all the Raat Hone Ko Hai bill boards had ghosts with neon eyes to give it the feel and look that the show propagates. The channel has also tied up with two FM channels; Radio city and Go 92.5 to warn people about the ghosts who are going to be invading the cities and use the punchline of the show 'Ghar jayo, raat hone ko hai.'

In Mumbai, 50 strategic locations were chosen, with two ghosts allocated per location. Novel marketing and promotional stunts seem to be keeping Sahara on their toes, with their three dimensional show Hello Mr Bhoot all set to launch in August. The channel proposes to distribute 60 million pairs of 3D glasses among homes to ensure optimum pleasure in viewing the show. Now, 'out of the box' definitely seems to be the name of their game.

On a related note, RHKH which was initially announced as a daily that was to air from Monday to Thursday at the 11 pm band and the target group (TG) was essentially adults making it inappropriate viewing for kids. The show has suddenly shifted base to the 8:00 pm and is now being marketed as a show targeted at the 4 - 18 age group.

When questioned by indiantelevision.com about this, Sahara's senior V-P programming Triptii Sharma clarified, "Well yes, earlier it was supposed to be at the 11 pm slot, but our studies revealed that horror as a genre is very popular among kids and hence to amass a universal audience we decided to reassess the situation and change the timing of the show."

BP Singh, producer-director of the show, had earlier claimed how the show was suitable only for adults and was gory in nature. So there seems to be a contradiction here as to which TG they are really targeting. Speaking to indiantelevision.com he says, "Yes, it was supposed to be a horror show for adults, but finally it is the channel's call."

Sharma adds, "The content may have to be diluted and more special effects may have to be incorporated."

How much of this really true as to the change of the time band, one can only keep guessing. But, one could say that RHKH which was pitched at the 11 pm slot against the popular Kahiin To Hoga on Star Plus seems to have given Sahara cold feet.