MEDIA MATTERS
Return of sanity
SEVANTI NINAN
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After the incredible hype and build-up, perhaps the World Cup loss will restore a sense of perspective to the way content is created.
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PHOTO: PTI
Show of support: Fans in Mumbai show where their sympathies lie.
THE tear-shedding for advertisers and broadcasters who lost the World Cup gamble is mystifying. Since when did greedy marketers determined to swamp a game so much that all the joy goes out of watching it, become a national cause? It is only in India that we allowed pay channels to flood programmes with as much advertising as channels which are free to air. Somehow the spectacle of LG, Pepsi, Visa and, for that matter, Sony Entertainment Television as martyrs who were let down by the "boys" doesn't wash. They were so set on squeezing their Rs. 600 crores or whatever out of the game that you couldn't get through two overs without Aamir Khan's damp squib for Coke or Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta's retro jingle for Hyundai crashing in. And I dare say most of us noted the irony of Sachin Tendulkar's multigrain biscuit surfacing cheerily seconds after he got out without scoring a single run. Ditto for Yuvraj Singh's exit later in the game, and the ad starring him which quickly followed.
Inevitable fall-off
Lets face it, the build-up to the series was insufferably orchestrated by newspapers, news channels, sports channels and advertisers alike and a reality check was inevitable. No point blaming pampered Team India for the let down, the channels have themselves to blame for deliberately building up a team ranked sixth to serve their own purpose. And if there wasn't so much business and marketing journalism around, we would not be served up so many doomsday statistics in breathless prose on the loss to advertisers and the channel. In any case, the return to viewing sanity is to be celebrated. Star News in one of its loonier moments served up the Star Plus bahus from various serials in clingy black strapless dresses, giggling and gushing to one of its anchors about which players they thought had the most sex appeal. The change of attire from the heavy-silk-sari routine on the sister channel was doubtless intended to tickle the viewer.
Now that a crazy month of excess is behind us, watch the race for alternatives emerge. Bob Woolmer will not be allowed to rest in peace. He became a one-hour whodunit show for Star News. The channel presented enactments of three likely scenarios and asked viewers to vote by sms. Was it the Pakistani cricketers, or members of a betting gang, or was it the hotel staff? One did not watch till the bitter end, but the Pakistani team had a huge lead in the suspicion sweepstakes. Another promising latch-on-to prospect (now that you cannot fill hours with speculation on whether a Bangladesh or Sri Lanka win will play out better for India's chances) is the Pravin Mahajan trial that has begun. Pramod Mahajan is dead but will be resurrected daily through file footage and speculation. One watches the anchors hustle viewers with scenarios and wonders, what sort of cynical broadcasters are we shaping? Do they believe in what they are doing as they stand there and harangue, milking the day's sensation for what it is worth? Can they separate genuine news from opportunity any more? The leading proponents of this genre of news-entertainment are Star News and Aaj Tak. Both owned or part-owned by proprietors of long standing, respected, print publications. But they obviously think viewers of Hindi news channels are retards, whose gullibility needs to be exploited. And we let them get away with it.
A taste for excess
Has TV news and entertainment begun to drown in its own propensity for excess? Is the surfeit of too-clever ads adding to the pain of viewing a medium that had not come up with a new idea in a while? There are no successful new formats on the horizon yet, just more seasons of Kaun Banega Crorepati, Indian Idol, Nach Baliye, Jhalak Dikhla Ja and Koffee with Karan. Sony has used the World Cup to ceaselessly advertise its new fiction offering, Viruddh, which began last week. Such an original storyline: "Rishton ka Mahabharat!" And such fresh faces to look forward to — Smriti Irani and Vikram Gokhale! Interesting new stories and faces still come out of Bollywood but what was the last time TV entertainment gave us to something to write home about? When Star served up a mega blockbuster last week it brought together the bahus from three different serials in what it called a "Kahani-Kyunki-Kayamath Crossover Special". Need small screen excitement? Trot out six bahus in the place of three. After all, the stranded World Cup advertising is looking for programmes to migrate to.
Two new entertainment ventures are in the offing from two former Star executives. But what needs to expand is not channel choice but the talent pool of writers feeding them. Until then folks, take a break, read newspapers and watch movies. TV is becoming a royal turnoff.
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