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Curtains down on telly shows

27 Nov 2008, 0000 hrs IST, ROSHNI K OLIVERA , TNN

There's trouble in Tellyland!

Everyone's worried about their jobs right from actors to technicians. Reason? About 30 shows are scheduled to go off air in the next few months across all channels. That's the buzz (though, rumours say as many as 50 shows may face the axe) and it's naturally spreading panic.

With recession, the telly industry too has been hit badly. Two channels — one a general entertainment channel and another, a news channel — are already readying for pack-up. Broadcasters are preparing themselves for dull ad growth rates in the next few quarters.

Their only hope is content, and creative heads are trying every stunt in the book to grab eyeballs.

SVP and Senior Creative Director of a top channel Anupama Mandloi told BT, "We have been in the process of refreshing and re-energising the channel for a while now. A couple of the older, long running shows that had become tired and fatigued have been replaced by newer shows which the viewers have responded well to. Our afternoons have also gone through changes and the viewers have warmed up to our shows. The effort is to constantly bring something fresh and exciting to the viewers."

The focus on TRPs is now more than ever before. Shows that are not able to rake in the TRPs are being shown the door. Channels would rather come out with newer programmes. "It's anyday better to try something new than flag a dead horse," observes a channel official.

Producers are all tight-lipped about the fate of their serials and are not wanting to reveal whether they have been asked to wind up. But the fact is that many have been given a stipulated period so that they can take their shows to a logical ending. Shows like Chakde Bachche, Jai Durga Maa, Waaris are set to wrap up.

There's a positive side to all this too. Producer-director Rajan Shahi of Bidaai fame says the shake-up will put an end to mediocrity. "Past year or so with so many channels coming up there was a lot of work. Anyone who could read a script could become a creative head! Now the emphasis will be on good work. I used to have a lot of offers for shows, but I've always believed in quality over quantity. Yes, in this market crunch and recession time, many shows will be eased out. Now it's going to be survival of the fittest!"

Creative director Sandiip Sikcand adds, "It's about time that television creativity is more related to creativity than just money. So also, the existing herd mentality has to change. We have to think differently, think out of the box."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/TV_Buzz/Curtains_down_on_telly_shows/articleshow/3760669.cms