Television total recall 2008

Serial ****er
IPL matches were the talk-of-the-town this year. With Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta buying cricket teams, the game got a touch of glamour and Lalit Modi, the brain behind Domestic Sports League, declared that the Indian Premier League matches would wean away viewers from primetime soaps. “IPL is perfect for family viewing, there will be great music, accoustics, top Bollywood stars and lots of fun/action for TV viewing,” he had said. Throw in a sprinkling of best global cricketers on field, and spin the magic of top Bollywood stars off the field and Modi prophesiced that he and Max, the channel airing the matches had a winner on their hands. Truly enough IPL did score on the ratings chart and how! Cricket always creates a frenzy amongst viewers and the game gave all the soaps and game shows, even SRK’s Paanchvi Pass... a run for their money.





Best launch
n A new entertainment channel Colors, a joint venture of Viacom and TV 18, was added to the TV space. Launched on July 21, the channel kicked-off with the Akshay Kumar-hosted adventure reality show Fear Factor-Khatron Ke Khiladi that had 13 Bollywood girls doing dare-devil stunts. An instant hit with the viewers, the show gave the channel a dream launch delivering 81 GRPs in the first week itself. Its fiction show Balika Vadhu, dealing with the issue of child marriage, has tugged hearts and is currently vying to be the No.1 show across channels beating the numero uno channel’s (Star Plus) top-rated show Bidaai. What’s more, the serial along with a mythological Jai Shri Krishna and the reality show Bigg Boss has catapulted Colors to the No.2 position displacing Zee. The channel had even roped in cricketers like Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth for a reality-dance-show Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena.




Star parade
The Bollywood brigade made a beeline for TV this year. Not because they found it more alluring but because it was more lucrative. Big bucks were offered to the biggies. Akshay got 1.5 crore per episode while Salman Khan is supposed to have pocketed a whopping 89 crores for 10 Ka Dum. So, from Kajol-Ajay Devgan, Shilpa Shetty, Sushmita Sen and Arjun Rampal to Mahima Choudhary, there was a huge star turnout. Sony got a shot in the arm with Salman’s 10 Ka Dum. Spontaneous, cheerful and warmhearted he was a hit with the girls on the show. The other Khan, Shah Rukh Khan hosted Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hai? but it failed to draw viewership. Ajay Devgan and family judged a dance show, Rock ‘n’ Roll Family, Sushmita Sen co-judged Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena with Wasim Akram. Mahima played the judge on Jalwa Four 2 Ka 1, Urmila Matondkar judged Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa and hosted Waar Pariwaar. Shilpa Shetty who had won Celebrity Big Brother was roped in to host Bigg Boss and Raveena Tandon was a co-judge on Chak De Bachche. The latest star to make his TV debut is Farhan Akhtar who is hosting Oye It’s Friday. Hema Malini and Jeetendra are judging Dancing Queen. This, however, is not Hema’s first appearance on the small-screen. She had done serials like Nupur and Kamini Damini. Jeetendra was first seen judging the dance show Jhalak Dikkhla Jaa.



Black out
In October, the workers and technicians of the television industry went on strike demanding higher wages and regulated working hours. The strike coming on the heels of a global meltdown paralysed the TV industry as producers couldn’t dole out the extra money. Seven GECs came together to sign a memorandum and issued an ultimatum to workers and producers to solve the problem by November 9, failing which they would stop production activity. From November 10, channels started airing re-runs of old episodes in the absence of original content. It was the first time in the history of Indian television that broadcasters blacked out fresh programming. The strike led to to a delay in the launch of new shows.

Break ke baad
While all the GECs are back in business, 9X is yet to start airing fresh content. Speculations are rife that the channel is in trouble due to lack of funds. The cash flow from its investors has tightened and the channel is looking for second round of fund-raisers.



Terror coverage
The 26/11 terror strike in Mumbai saw news channels going all out to cover it. Dramatic visuals of helicopters air-dropping commandos on top of Nariman House which was under seige and a terrorist’s body being thrown out of the window of Hotel Taj were brought home, live. While the ethics and code of coverage are being debated, the fact remains that incidents like this were turning-points for news channels, which notch maximum TRPs. Aaj Tak, India TV, Times Now, NDTV 24 X 7 were some of the most watched channels during the deadly seige.



Of notices and notice
This year shows featuring kids have been high on the popularity charts. From Little Champs, Chak De Bachche to Balika Vadhu, child-centric programmes have been garnering high TRPs. So much so that Maharashtra Government looked into the child labour issue and issued notices to producers of television shows featuring children, seeking an explanation on the work environment provided to the minors. Notices were served to producers of various shows including the popular Balika Vadhu, Uttran and Chhote Ustad on Colors, Chhota Packet Bada Dhamaka on Zee TV and



Chak De Bacche on 9X.
Consequently, channels have been carrying a disclaimer saying that they don’t make kids work hard and are following all the guidelines.