Television no longer episodic game

In the present scenario, after KBC, the face of television has changed drastically. Though it was long due, we could not live up to the expectations of the viewers and everyone in the entertainment industry kept on imposing their own ideas on the people.

Something like this was bound to happen at one time or the other. When time demands that we make certain changes in our behaviour and we are too lazy to change ourselves, a situation arises which forces us to change, a situation which is brought about by an external force.

When private channels came to India, everyone thought that it would channelise the aspirations of the large majority. But even we got ourselves entangled in episodic goals, without aiming towards long-term achievements. TRPs became the driving force behind programmes.

Those programmes which could give high TRPs were given prime focus while content-based programmes were neglected because they were not doing well in the TRP battlefields. We did not care about the class of the programme.

We did not try hard enough to create programmes which could woo the classes along with the masses. To counter KBC, the rival channels have announced programmes/shows which have the same aim - to lure the audience with money and more money. This may give a short-term gain but is hardly likely to sustain itself in the long run.

The question we should ask ourselves is, if tomorrow KBC is taken off air, will we cancel all the shows running against it? Or, if the time slot of KBC is changed, will the other channels also keep changing their slots? Also that in this way, the prime time of television viewing (9 to 10 pm) will be utilised only for gambling, which is good for those who win or those who like watching gambling, whether they are a part of it or not.

But what about those who are not for such things? As far as the reactions of other channels are coming out, it is obvious that they all are going to start another similar gamble-based game show. In this way, watching TV will become more being like in a casino, where every table has some form of gambling.

The path that we should choose is to enrich the presentation of the existing
and new programmes not only by adding technical finesse but also by adding new dimensions, new thoughts to the content. This can only be achieved by increasing the budgets of the programmes and hiring truly creative and efficient people to make those programmes. Because the days of the average programmes are over. We have come back to the Darwinian principle of survival of the fittest.

Each and every programme has to be the best in every aspect - whether it is the story, screenplay, treatment, camerawork, performances, or even locales (not restricted to living room dramas only). Nothing less will be acceptable to the people. Let the channels take up this challenge to counter the threat of money and they will definitely find that one day the people will turn to them.

Ajai Sinha