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Journalism of Courage
English TV channels are currently grappling with a programming crisis
For years,Indian audiences have fixated of the merits and demerits of Ekta Kapoor and her influence on Hindi television. Teenagers,who usually stayed away from the debate,found solace in English shows that aired on Star World,Zee Café and AXN,or simply turned to watch re-runs of Friends. The Internet was where youngsters met and sought shows that they could relate to,idolise and be entertained.
Things especially looked good after reality shows made Kapoor slip from the numero uno position that she enjoyed on Indian television. It was the localised version of foreign reality shows that took the lead and appealed to Indian audiences,ending the reign of saas-bahu soaps on Indian television. Desi versions of Amecian Idol,Big Boss,Im A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here captured Indian audiences and set the stage for English shows to finally come into their own. When I saw the Indian versions of these shows with celebs,I felt that it was only a matter of time before our audience here grows up and enjoys quality content. What was working with reality shows could work with dramas and comedies too, 23-year-old Abhijeet Ahluwalia,a self-confessed English show buff,says.
But something seems to have thwarted the pitch just when these shows were about to enter mainstream public consciousness. Rohit Bhandari,Senior Vice-President,AXN,says that the problem with English shows is that they get relegated to third position when it comes to viewership. Most households have one television set where GECs rule during the prime-time slot. Then there is competition from regional channels. English shows have to overcome these barriers before getting visibility, he says,trying to explain why shows failed to capture popular mindset despite India being an English-speaking country. Channels thus try to create a following by showing repeats at odd hours. Most prime-time English series are re-run at late night,in the afternoon and on weekends to keep up the viewership of the series.
The other way channels keep up viewership is by repeating the entire season after it airs initially. For example,Discovery Channel plans to do that with its latest big-budget series Life. Bhandari,however,warns of overdoing re-runs. In the US,shows are properly phased out over a six-month period. Here,even though a show may have great repeat value,there is a perception fatigue if you air it too many times.
The bigger malaise facing these channels is that of quality content. From Star World to AXN to Zee Café,they are all facing what can be described,in worst terms,as an existential crisis. AXN will have to look to new content after its flagship show 24 ends later thisyear. Zee Café has been highlighting The Tonight Show With Jay Leno for as long as one can remember. The channel also showed re-runs of popular shows such as X Files,Doogie Howser,MD and Ally McBeal amongst others in 2007. However,a source from the channel denies that these were screened because of any content crisis. There was a demand for these shows and therefore the channel created the Old Skool band to air them, the source said. Some of those shows continue to have re-runs on the channel.
Nowhere is the crisis deeper than at Star World. The channel has to contend with most of its popular shows ending their runs on television in quick succession. While Prison Break and Boston Legal have completed their runs on the channel,Monk and LOST are currently in their final season on the channel. To compound to the channels woes,Heroes and Law And Order have been axed by the US networks as well. Anupam Vasudev,Marketing and Comunication Head,Star India,brushes off the crisis,saying that the channel has newer and exciting shows to replace the popular shows. I dont think you can term the current situation as a crisis situation, he defends.
Bhandari says that their loyal fans are mature enough to understand that a good show cannot go on forever. All shows must come to a logical end. If you drag shows like Prison Break or LOST,audiences can see through it.
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The challenge is to promote and convert audiences to follow the new shows. Its something you have to keep doing it all the time. Whenever a show is about to end,we try and find an able replacement to keep the momentum going, he says.
Until a few months ago,channels waited almost a year after a series had its US premiere to air the latest season of hit shows. The trend is fast changing. After showing season 5 in February,Star World began showing the last season of LOST from mid-May even as the US version winded to a close last week. AXN also plans to screen the last season of 24 from August after the latest season completed airing last Tuesday. We didnt want to keep our loyal fans waiting for a long time. As soon as we got the rights,we began airing LOST, Vasudev says. Bhandari echoes what Vasudev tactfully sidetracks. Broadband connections have gone up exponentially in the past five years. Fans will not wait for us to show them the latest season when they can download it off the Net as soon as it releases in the US, he admits. When asked,Ahluwalia admitted that he downloads his favourite shows off torrent networks. Ive already seen all the LOST episodes of the last season, he says gleefully.
To cope with the crisis,channels are creating their own content too. While AXN has been producing The Amazing Race Asia and AXN Action Awards,Star World has been using chat shows in the form of Rendezvous With Simi Garewal and Koffee With Karan to engage with Indian audiences. Producing shows is a much more expensive proposition than acquiring a US show. We look for a fine mix when we look to produce shows. We keep the show relevant to the channels USP and look at it from a revenue perspective as well, Bhandari says.
This does not mean that channels will give up on US programming in the time to come. The bulk of the shows on all English channels will continue to be sourced from networks in the US. Apart from monetary issues of producing shows,most channels have a strong acquisition team that snaps up rights of shows that become popular in the US to air it for the young generation in the country.
The writers strike that crippled the US showbiz industry in 2007-2008 has also played its part in the current calamity. Most popular shows that are aired on English channels such as LOST,House and 24 are ones that began before the strike. The end of the strike brought a drought of good ideas to the TV industry in the US that was priding itself on almost tripping over big brother Hollywood in terms of content and story ideas at the time. Two years later,Hollywood has bounced back with improved ticket sales led largely by Avatar and tighter budgets while the TV industry is still looking for its next big hit. Bhandari admits to this,saying that the quality of shows coming from the US has gone down after the strike. We dont show old programmes. And we didnt have any content problems when we began in 2003 with shows like 24 and CSI that were enough to keep us going.
The role of the audience too cannot be ignored. Indian audiences have traditionally resisted shows with quality content,opting for entertainment dramas and song-and-dance reality shows to satisfy their leisure needs from television. Bhandari admits this saying,Hopefully,with DTH growing at a phenomenal pace,it will create excitement that will ultimately give us larger numbers. With other pressing issues to keep the channels occupied,the wait for more eyeballs just got longer.
