What The Indian Television Viewers Really Need?

By Author: Chetan Mahore
Total Articles: 46
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Roll Camera and Action! The spotlight is on the stage and the characters are ready to pay their part right. In this game of TRPs only the mightier survives. And what makes a serial successful is the sense of connect that viewers feel when they watch it. That's because today, in the world of television, every second day there is a new show coming our way. Some good and some really worth the miss! In such a case a viewer would just surf channels till they cling on to a show. For this very reason various channels prefer to come up with shows of different genre, apart from their reality shows and daily soaps. This has forced channels to come down to mere entertainment rather than sharing valuable content.

Which then brings us to what the definition of entertainment is? Is it what makes us laugh when we watch shows like Comedy Circus and Laughter Challenge or is it the nail biting excitement we experience when the hosts of reality shows like Indian Idol or Jhalak, declare the winners of the show. A million emotions and a million depictions of the word entertainment! But this has evolved over the years. Prior to this when we ...
... had shows like Ramayan, Mahabharat and a few more shows related to similar genre, the entire family would sit together on a Sunday to watch it.

Today in spite of such shows marking the schedule, there are very few takers to such shows. That's why over time most channels have evolved themselves to survive in the TRP charts. Post a couple of seasons, a new format needs to be introduced which in most cases doesn't happen. The only show which adapted to the change was KBC. This was when Sony reintroduced Kaun Banega Crorepati with their new format. The TRPs were regained from what was lost in the fourth season of the show.

More shows need to change their format or channels need to introduce innovative reality shows rather than just coming up with another dance or singing show. Same goes with daily soaps. The only reason shows like CID or Tarak Mehta Ka Oltaah Chashma have still managed to grab viewership is because they have created the space with fresh or interesting content or have found a way to keep their audience hooked on rather than providing the similar plot that other channels offer.

With building competition every day, it will be interesting to see what new shows channels can offer their viewers to climb the TRP charts.

Chetan R Mahore Photo Aurhor writes articles on SET India, India's No 1 platform to Hindi tv shows and Indian reality tv shows online.