TV producers in a fix after channels refuse to pay more for serials

More than 1.5 lakh workers, technicians along with actors and producers associated with the Indian television industry will go on forced leave from Sunday morning as the late-evening meeting called by the producers ended inconclusive on Saturday.

The producers, in the line of fire both from the worker’s federation and the channels, are desperately trying to work out a solution. But that seems unlikely.

“We couldn’t arrive at a decision in today’s meeting. We have called for another meeting on Monday where a decision might be taken to resolve the crisis. Nothing can be said as of now,” said Mukesh Bhatt, chairman of the producers’ body, as soon as he stepped out of the meeting.

There will be no fresh entertainment and infotainment programmes available on any of the 350 national and regional channels under the National General Entertainment Channels (GEC) starting Monday. The channels and the workers have in principle decided to stay away from all meetings with the producers as none of the parties want to budge from their stand.

“We (the channels) have nothing to negotiate with anybody. We have made our stance very clear. Yes, we have heard that yesterday’s talks between the producers and workers have failed but there’s nothing that we can do,” said Albert Almeida, EVP of Sony Entertainment Television.

Ditto is the stance of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) which has 22 unions under its umbrella and approximately 1.5 lakh members.

“There is no point in attending any more meetings. What are we going to discuss? We have met enough and now we will just wait and watch. We have put forward our agenda and we hope that the producers let us know if they want to agree. We want to work. We are suffering but we can’t let anyone exploit us,” said Dharmesh Tiwari, the president of Federation.
Representatives of television channels in a joint letter to the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) said: "We were never a party to the dispute that relates to the terms and conditions on which producers engage cine workers for the shows they produce for various broadcasters."

This was the second letter the channels wrote to FWICE last week, wishing to stay out of the dispute.

In their earlier joint letter, the channel declined to bear additional burden following the cine workers' demand for higher wages because "the negotiated per episode cost" had already been settled with the producers.

But the tone of the latest letter the channels have jointly written to FWICE is a little different as it said in clear terms that the broadcasters "have been paying producers handsomely across shows", and therefore "we expect our producers to pay fair rates and on a timely basis to their service providers".

Turning down the plea of the producers to increase the quantum of money for the currently-running shows, the channels have, in fact, told them that "in the present circumstances, it is impossible for us to absorb any cost increases."

"The slowdown in the global and domestic economy has already impacted broadcast revenues and the situation is expected to become worse over the coming months. In this scenario, the long-term health of the industry depends on our ability to work collectively to control our costs," the letter said.

The production has now come to a standstill as the producers have refused to shoot for their on-going TV programmes and cine workers are firm on their demand for revised wages. Also, the channels have washed their hands of the current stalemate in the production sector.

The channels had earlier asked the producers and FWICE to break the stalemate by Nov 9, failing which, they said, they would not be in a position "to afford fresh episodes of any show".

This only means that, from Nov 10 onwards, the channels would have no option but to re-run the already telecast programmes, as there is no solution to the crisis in sight as of Nov 9.

"I do not know what the channels want to do under the present circumstances, but I would not be surprised if they take the drastic step of refusing to fund the fresh episodes of the programmes and I would not blame them for that," FWICE president Dharmesh Tiwari said on Sunday.

Tiwari brushed aside the producers' alibi that the cost of their programmes would rise manifold if they have to pay revised wages to the cine workers.

"But in order to cut costs, why are the producers harping on the wages of the cine workers? Can't they reduce costs on other heads of their production budgets?," he asked.

The terms of the memorandum of understanding that all the three bodies of producers finally endorsed on Oct 3 this year were drafted three years ago and, therefore, they could not possibly be unaware of the imminent wage hike of the cine workers, he said
Bigg Boss to continue despite Tv strike:
There is a huge strike in the Mumbai televison industry which starts from Monday onwards. This is the third such strike in the industry in the past few weeks. Effectively no new tv serial will be shot at all and this means that everyone will have to continue showing the repeat telecast of old tv shows.

"I think there is a recession in the film industry and there will be no new programmes for you guys," says Ekta Kapoor.
But then Bigg Boss is the only show that will continue. "We cannot keep the contestants locked in the house. They have other contractual obligations and hence we will continue with this show," says a source form Colors.


Brace for reruns of shows on television:
If you are a couch potato, it may be a good idea to take up some outdoor activity now as all the entertainment channels will An industry insider said, "It is a kind of protest by the channels as the ongoing tussle between the producers and workers has hit their advertising revenues. They have now planned to run only repeat telecasts for two weeks. Hopefully by then, the issue may get resolved.''

In the meantime, another meeting between the producers and workers did not yield any result as the workers refused to budge from their demands. Dinesh Chaturvedi, general secretary of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, said, "We are not asking for anything extra. All we want is the wage that producers had promised as per the memorandum of understanding signed with us last year. There has been pressure on us from producers, but we will not give in. We will fight for our rights.''

It is also learnt that channels have stopped paying producers and will not release any funds till the issue is resolved. Mukesh Bhatt, convenor of the producers' body, said, "Channels have stopped paying producers. The way things are going, it seems as if we are heading for a complete shut-down.''

It may be noted here that in the dispute between producers and workers, some producers refused to raise the wages stating that the channels don't pay them on time, which forces them to delay the payment of workers. But broadcasters have clarified that they have never been party to the dispute relating to the terms and conditions on which producers engage workers for their shows. Also, the strike was called without prior notice, which has affected the channels' business at a time when there is a slowdown in the global as well as the domestic economies.