2010: Televsion ups and downs and controversies
Year 2010 has come to a somewhat stirring end. While it ended on a high for some, others have wilted. The three-legged race between Star, Colors and Zee continued for most part of the year with some spurts of activity from Sony in between. However, the year ended on a positive note for Sony as
KBC 4 opened and closed with good numbers followed by the opening success of their other big ticket show,
Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.
But it was Star Plus, which has had a bullish run.
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai continued to be on the top of the charts. Variants like
Pratigya and
Sasural Genda Phool brought in an all-new flavour to primetime. And
Saath Nibhana Saathiya has helped the channel reign. One must add that
Saathiya is a surprise considering it is clearly a
saas-bahu saga and one thought audiences had grown tired of that genre. Well it just proves you can never tell with viewers’ tastes.
Unfortunately for last year’s leader Colors, they could not repeat their success of 2009. They swerved between being number 2 and 3 by hedging their bets on their winning horse,
Uttaran. The much-touted
Bigg Boss 4 is a wash-out. Save the Pamela Anderson episode, the show has no numbers to boast of. It was
Dabangg then, their pick of blockbusters that kept them afloat.
SAB TV with
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Papad Pol and
FIR (in its fifth year) stood good ground. 2010 was indeed good for them.
The other notable player, Zee, struck gold with
Pavitra Rishta and silver with
Jhansi Ki Rani and
Choti Bahu in its early prime time slot but failed with what they are normally good at, music reality show
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. The channel is also coming back with their other successful property,
Dance India Dance, but not much can be predicted as till date the show has not created enough buzz.
As for NDTV Imagine which slid from being No. 3 to No.6 in the Hindi GEC space it is now looking at being resurrected by SRK and his
Zor Ka Jhatka. Both their gambles,
Rakhi Ka Insaaf and
Raaz Pichle Janam Ka 2 failed to pay off.
Yet another interesting trend that caught on last year was the premiers of blockbusters on leading GECs. For a major part of the year, movies acted as a differentiator for the leading channels, adding to the spikes.
Channels saw a surge in ratings when
Dabangg (Colors),
Once Upon A Time in Mumbai (Colors) and
3 Idiots (Sony) were aired.
At the end of the year, all I can say is the Hindi general entertainment channel space is constantly changing and churning out fresh opportunities. The focus of Colors and Zee TV is to hold on to their positions, which is seeing them take new initiatives. And Sony with its new vigour is only helping the cause.
Despite the surge in reality shows it is soaps that continue to dominate GECs. Earlier most of the shows were based either in Gujarati or Rajasthan but now the action has moved to the Hindi heartland predominantly Bihar and UP.
Bhagyavidhata, Geeta, Pratigya are some such shows. New shows like
Maati Ki Banno, Phulwa also have their roots in these places. Yet another notable trend that has emerged last year is that although the family continues to be at the center of all the shows the focus has shifted from just dealing with family problems to dealing with social issues.
As always, the viewer has been totally spoilt for choice with the diverse options being offered to him. So now all those who opt for programme innovation will remain on top. In such a challenging scenario where viewership gets fragmented, diversification of content is the need of the hour.
Let me take this opportunity to wish all of you the very best for next year and pray for the sake of all TV lovers that we get bigger and better shows next year.
It appears that Hindi general entertainment is headed to yet another incredible phase in 2011.