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Even as 2009 draws to a close, television is experiencing a great amount of churning but reality shows, clear winners in the TRP race, are here to stay, writes
Gyan Marwah
It’s been an year of great significance for the Indian television. Even as new shows, big stars and newer technologies triggered a war for the eyeballs early in 2009, there was also an effort to move away from the mundane and experiment with innovative concepts. From soaps to thrillers, from comedies to tearjerkers and from reality shows to news everything came with a fresh new look. The viewer was truly being pampered. An estimated 700 channels, over 10,000 hours of original daily programming, a combined viewership running into millions and an ad spend touching a mind-boggling $4.5 billion (around Rs17,600 crore), makes Indian television network one of the largest in the world. Which also explains why channels have been sparing no effort in 2009 to grab the largest share of the viewership pie with an array of inventive programming. Big shows and bigger serials became the norm of the day. Each with its own appeal and targeted at specific age groups. While the soaps continued to rule the roast across most Hindi channels, there were other genres that gripped the nation’s imagination. Reality TV
Though in 2009 Bigg Boss is being aired by Colors the reality genre is getting bigger every year. Perfect Bride on Star Plus, Dance India Dance, India’s Got Talent and Khatron Ke Khiladi — both on Colors — Is Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao on Sony, Sarkar Ki Duniya on Real TV, Dadagiri on UTV Bindaas and many others struck an emotional chord with the audiences. But it was clearly Rakhi Ka Swayamvar that was a showstopper. Drama queen Rakhi Sawant had to select a future husband from over 12,000 applicants. Believe it or not but on the night she had to make her final selection, the show pulled in ratings of an amazing 6.3 per cent, the highest ever recorded by NDTV Imagine, the channel that was airing it. Over 15 million viewers watched the finals of the show. The same channel later also aired Pati Patni Aur Woh again featuring Rakhi and her selected suitor on Swayamvar to milk the reality theme further.
Following on the heels of reality TV were the quiz and game shows that gained in popularity and helped channels like Sony Entertainment Television and Star Plus garner high TRPs. Sach Ka Samna on Star Plus was the sleeper hit of the year with anchor Rajiv Khandelwal coming in the eye of the storm for hosting what many termed as an ‘immoral’ show. Adapted from the internationally acclaimed Moment of Truth, it tested the nerve and integrity of contestants many of whom were semi-celebrities. But despite the protestations the show put Star Plus on the top with its huge popularity. Soaps with bubble The soaps too had a run on the TRPs. Most of them virtual clones of the earlier Saas-Bahu sagas, they nonetheless held on to their captive viewership. However, it was the Colours channel that scored high on popularity stakes with its runaway hit Balika Vadhu, a tale of child marriage in Rajasthan. In one week early in February it clocked a never-before TRP rating of 10 with child star Avika Gaur becoming an overnight sensation. However, over the months others soaps began giving Balika Vadhu a run for its ratings. Bidai on Star Plus in particularly started to lap at its heels. The story of an orphan girl and her cousin sister—one very beautiful and the other not so good looking—captivated the hearts of the largely female viewership of the soap. Others like Bandini and Sapna Babul Ka Bidaai, Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo, Yeh Ristaa Kya Kehata Hai, Bandini, Na Aana Is Des Laado, Uttaran and a few others held out a great appeal for the middle class viewer base. Big news
After the Mumbai terror attacks, news was big news. New channels, newer technologies and in-depth reportages became the norm of the day. In fact post-26/11 channels were seen vying with each other in providing groundbreaking stories. The war amongst the channels got fiercer with each trying to grab the major share of the viewership pie. Even foreign channels like CNN and BBC were clocking some of the highest viewership. In fact, some footage of the war revealed how new technology is changing the way broadcasters can transmit dramatic footage live from new and challenging environments. Business news, too, became a big business. The field which was a clear monopoly of CNBC TV 18 and followed by a distance by NDTV Profit, had two more important players — ET Now and UTI business channel tied up with the global giant Bloomberg to form Bloomberg-UTI, which with its slick programming and lively style, began giving stiff competition to market leader CNBC TV-18 and as the year rolled out it was threatening to overtake it. Like Bloomberg other overseas channels like National Geographic, Discovery, Travel and Living, History Channels and others too were going great guns and were all spreadingeagling their supremacy with new path-breaking shows. The National Geographic Channel was clearly the leader with its India-specific shows, which it aired on a regular basis. Overseas movie channels like Star Movies, HBO, Sony Pix and Zee Studio were also a great hit with viewers preferring Hollywood movies.
Even as the year was passing into history, television was seeing momentous changes — new channels, new viewers and even newer programmes. More importantly the baton seemed to be passing on once more. Television it seemed was turning young once again. In 2009 most of the leading channels realised that a youthful image guarantees two vital things — viewership and advertising, which both add up to one word — success. — NF
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It
was the reality shows that cut across all ages and social strata to
mesmerise viewers and catalysed the race for the top slot among
channels. Three years ago when Sony Entertainment Television set the
cat among pigeons with Bigg Boss, it started a reality trend,
which shows no signs of abating.
