FTII holds two-day seminar on TV programming and broadcasting

PUNE: The current onslaught of entertainment programmes in television, that are often labelled as regressive and low-quality, is a bubble phase, media expert Siddharth Kak said.
"Today, entertainment is reality and reality is entertainment on television. But, this bubble will burst and we will have better television content. In fact, television is breaking barriers, which will lead to fragmentisation of content that will cater to niche tastes," said Kak.
He was speaking at New Trends in Television Programming and Broadcasting,' a two-day national-level seminar that began at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), on Tuesday.
Technology empowering the audiences to make choices, regional languages gaining emphasis and thereby furthering the importance of fragmentisation in TV programming and the passing of a phase of homogenous television content, were some of the points elaborated on by media experts at the seminar.
"Modern technology like internet and mobile interactivity are empowering audiences to make choices," said Kak.
According to Kiran Karnik, streamlining content is important for audiences to refine their taste in television viewing. "Most often, it's the advertisers who call the shots. The cost of distributing a channel has come down. Quality-wise, the pendulum has swung to the other extreme. But, I'm optimistic about the future of television," said Karnik, who also gave a brief of television in India, from a society-serving medium in the 1970s to a monster of a commercial opportunity 1990s onwards.
While speaking on emerging trends in television, Vivek Bahl said that television content should reflect audiences' lifestyles, tastes, preferences and attitudes. While talking on emerging dimensions on television, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar said advertising has a vital role to play. "Good advertising attracts audiences. After all, it's a question of commerce, it's about money and not just content," said Kakkar.
Sports commentator Milind Wagle was of the view that content-wise there was a need for more sports broadcasters as this arm of television has changed tremendously in the last 34 years and is laden with avenues for growth.
Over 500 million Indians watch television, with over 40 per cent preferring Hindi and regional content, said L V Krishnan, chief executive officer of a firm that conducts market and consumer survey on television viewing and content. "There are over 400 channels in India, out of which more than 81 are news channels and over 70 are entertainment channels. Due to direct-to-home service, there will come a time, when viewers will make choices to pay for channels for the content, and such channels will increase in number," concluded Krishnan.