I have just completed a report for a client on the state of commercial television broadcasting and the possible way ahead. The last 10 days have been spent revisiting territory that i haven’t seen in a long time.

I think that the primary difference in the way broadcasting is constructed in India is the fact that we run 52 weeks non stop programming, with programme launches at any time.

Both the US and the UK market run on the concept of seasons. incur expenditure for 26 weeks and repeat it in the next 26.

The other key difference is in the way the industry itself is structured. The power of the writer and the producer. This is still incredibly strong in the US and the UK when compared to India. In India the term production house is a misnomer. in effect, unless you are working with Doordarshan – the channel tends to be the producer. The production house at best an executive producer – someone who executes a detailed brief from the producer. Since most production houses are dealing with perfectly competitive commodities – in the main soaps – they are easily replacable with somone else if they proved too difficult.

But the fundamental difference is the way the channel is programmed. Across the world networks and advertisers look for a cross section of the audience to attract. work with producers, writers and advertisers a year Ibefore the show goes on air.

n India the audience is predominantly female 25+. And it is believed that women like never ending sagas of other women who agonizingly move through life. So in the main TV channels are programmed with daily soaps in prime time.

There are two main advantages here. one is the cost efficiency of mass production – afterall if you produce 4 episodes a week 16 episodes a month you are mass producing. The second advantage is the reduction in marketing a new brand .

But by far the most amusing aspect of channel behaviour is to use TRP’s (television rating points) that are indicative of viewership 2 weeks earlier – to make changes in the content for the following weeks. so characters get junked, storylines changed, based on a single day’s blip. Production houses are for ever shooting at the last moment to incorporate changes based on analysis on TRP.

As a content / research person the mind boggles at such lunacy – but this is the way data (i hate to use the word research here) is interpreted.

I honestly believe that sooner or later channels will have to get their act together. As ad spend begins focusing on the higher income groups – and as the higher income groups grow out of this kind of programming and look for other forms of entertainment – ad spend on housewife oriented content is going to decline. Star TV is already rumoured to be working on a Hindi premium channel where content will be more skewed to this audience. Zee is rumoured to be working on similar lines. It is believed that both these prospective channels will remain free to air – while the rest of their bouquet goes free.