Deal Ya No Deal to go weekly from April

The Mandira magic has obviously worked for this one. Deal Ya No Deal, the game show that makes a big deal out of guessing the right box that may contain a fortune, has been pulling in the ratings, slowly but steadily. Now, in a turn of events, the Miditech produced show plans to turn weekly from April on. Mandira, who replaced R Madhavan as the host two months ago, will of course continue to regale audiences with her distinctly garrulous style of hosting, exulting in their excitement and breaking down at their losses. The show that currently runs Wednesdays through Fridays, will air only Fridays, as part of Sony's newly revamped Shukra Hai Shukravaar Hai lineup. The show, that was shifted from the original 8:30 pm slot to the 9 pm slot, was repositioned in the 8 pm slot, after the Shukravaar lineup. But the time change stands true only for Fridays. On Wednesday and Thursday, the show currently airs in the 9 pm slot. The change to the weekly format, sources say, will also allow the show scope to scale up much more, on several fronts. This is likely to reflect on the kind of contestants that walk into the show, the look of the show as well as the prize money, that could go even higher. For a format show (it's based on an Endemol reality game show format, Deal Or No Deal) that's deviated so much from the original, Deal... is just getting its bearings. Perhaps, the Mandira magic will continue to grow.