Observing Television – A Blog on Broadcast Media

Indian Television Channels get most of their revenue through advertisements.  Not surprisingly, each channel wants to get the maximum advertisements.  The advertisers obviously look for the most watched channels and programmes to advertise.

But how will one find out which is the most popular channel and programme. In India it is TAM (Television Audience Measurement) and couple of other companies which find this information.  They use what is called TRPs or Television Rating Points to find out the popularity of a programme.   It is a sampling method.  Some 7500 homes all over India have been provided a small box called audience meter which keeps calculating the time spent on different programmes and channels by these 7500 homes.

The debate now is whether 7500 urban homes are enough to judge what the country of a billion is seeing.  The question becomes that much more prominent as millions of homes have only terrestrial television and watch only the govt. channel Doordarshan.  So are these ratings dependable and worthwhile to use.

It is interesting to note that the ratings are consumed mainly by advertisers and the channels.  The normal audience is generally not very affected by this.  They do not decide which programmes to watch based on this judgement.  So are the advertisers then satisfied with this samplin. TAM says the method is scientific and the sample is enough.

Whatever be the reality, whether the sample is enough or not… today the tv programmes watched in India are decided by such TRPs.  In news, entertainment has become an important part.

Superstition and supernatural is also shown in News Channels. Sensationalism also has its place. Sometimes, the channels hang on the edge of vulgarity.  In short,  some of the tenets on which journalism itself is based is compromised.  The problem  becomes more acute for a trainer like me as my judgement and teaching are questioned by my own pupil.  So will TRPs now decide what is television journalism? I would hope not, though one cannot move against the times.

The Indian Cricket lover had never had it better.  India winning the tri-series for the first time in Australia now and before that the 20-20 world cup and well fought test match series in Australia.  They were not left behind while sledging or facing sledging.  In every way they gave it back tooth and nail. 

 Obviously, television news channels had more than their fair share of stories to be put together on the day when India won the tri-series.  Everyone had the following elements in different stories: the victory, the celebrations, what did the experts think, Sachin’s performance, the young brigade, what did the parents of some of the stars say etc.. 

The channels thought of covering the victory in different ways and with different angles.  Obviously each one of them wanted to maximise on the popularity of cricket in this country.

Sunil Gavaskar another little master known for following the textbook style of proper batting once remarked… when India wins a major tournament every single Indian has a spring in his legs the next day.  Realised what it actually means after seeing the first final in the tri-series. Suddenly seeing Sachin bat was very touching. He did not bat in his flamboyant style but played a patient knock facing bouncers, beamers, running out of partners.  He proved his critics wrong those who said he was failing with the bat when it was required the most of him.  He did that in style…the first hundred against Australia in Australia.  The moment was filled with emotions.  My son was jumping with joy, my wife for once forgot all about the daily chores and started watching cricket.  It was an event worth enjoying.  For once nobody worried about the 10 crores being dished out to the over paid players.

For once no one was worried about 10 crores being dished out to the over paid Indian players.

There are few things that attract the news cameraman.  Close ups shots of children, shots of tragedy, people crying or even death.  They also get attracted to flying planes.   If a cricket match is organised in a venue near an airport, you can be assured of video footage of planes flying at some point of time or the other.

The shots are considered even more attractive if a crash is captured on camera.  Channels will be ready to spend a fortune on amateur footage capturing a plane crash.  Some years a holidayer caught a plane crashing into water from his domestic video camera.  The footage got splashed in all the major news channels.  The incident by itself would not have been covered in the Indian local media, however because of the footage available all channels decided to show them.

Similar was the case today morning (March 3, 2008). A Lufthansa plane had a narrow escape in Germany.  Under high winds the plane was trying to land but the footage showed that the plane could have only toppled not landed.  The alert and intelligent pilot managed to make the plane airbound. Later of course the plane landed safely.

One immediate thought that came to my mind was how should the pilot be awarded for saving the lives of so many people.  After all a few months back an air traffic control person was murdered for having done a mistake ( which resulted in a crash many years back) by one of the relatives.  Would the relatives of those saved now reward the pilot?

BBC and CNN have been in existence for a long time.  They have found their niche the ideal way to not only broadcast news but also get audience. In India where there is a new news channel every month, is there something like maturity cycle.  Would they try doing anything and everything before they can stabilise and establish themselves?

Questions that may not be easily answerable by anyone.  But when one looks at the different news channels especially the Hindi ones, one realises that all the rules in the book are broken.  Sensationalism is the key word.  Facts and fiction seem to merge at different times.  Scientific basis for each report… once considered to be very important in news circle is not considered so now.  TRP i.e Television Rating Point is the sole criterion.  However, there are a few channel which try to stick to the age old grammar of News.  Facts only, no sensationalism or editorialising news.   In this race between sensationalism and old fashioned classical news which one would succeed?

However, there is a different theory or school of thought.  News Channels go through a cycle. Initially they may use methods which are not considered to be proper but in the long run everybody understands the sanctity of filtering facts from fiction and when that happens all channels will give proper news.  Ashutosh of IBN 7 is one of the believers in this theory.  Like the typical piece to camera I wish to finish by saying “Ab tho samay hi bathayega” , (Only time will tell….)

Today there are nearly 300 television channels in India.  Interestingly, many of them cater to local news.  News as a commodity was considered not to be sellable for many years and now there are so many organisations investing into it.   With so many channels coming in there is a need for talent as well.  The talent pool in such a scenario is always limited.  No wonder even mediocre people get good opportunities.

In a recent forum held in India Habitat Centre, Delhi participants agreed on this.  Editor in chief of IBN 7 ( A popular Hindi News Channel) quoting a particular case said one trainee moved from a Rs. 5000 job to a Rs. 75000 job within a span of two years. A unheard jump of 1500%.   And there are such stories everywhere.

Television News in India today is demanding and ideally only the very best should be able to make it.  In the words of Sudhir Choudhary of Live India… today’s Reporter needs to be good looking, good communication skills, good personality and being ready to work long hours.  Such people are difficult to find and hence they have to make do with people with lesser skills.

Training was another area which was stressed by the participants at the Human Capital Forum.  Lack of professional training did mean that substandard people join the organisation.  Worse Human Resources is a new area in media in India Today.  Till a few years back this area was hardly considered to be important.