A new story on the telly

Indian audiences have long been subjected to reruns and outdated seasons on the telly The conversational currency and emotional cliffhanger that TV soaps are itrsquos no surprise that this is the very reason TVrsquos got a new archnemesis the Internet Canrsquot wait to find out what happens next Tired of the old seasons the beep and cuts The Internetrsquos to your rescue Shall we then say that it has killed the TV star Well in this case the Internet made the stars bigger taking them off the tube and sending them straight to your smartphones laptops and tablets so they can be with you on the go Freelance PR professional Arwa Kaka watches shows online to stay upto speed with the seasons being telecast abroad Pic Bipin Kokate Thirty six yearold freelance photographer Chou Chiang hasnrsquot owned a TV for the past 13 years Before you start wondering what the furniture in his living room is pointed at get this Chiang is an avid TV consumer the only difference being he prefers to watch all the shows on his iPad ldquoI am online almost all the time and at all odd hours of the day or nightrdquo he says ldquoEverything that I see or do is on the Internet mdash from streaming movies to TV shows music videos and news clips I carry my iPad while travelling so I usually catch up on movies and stuff that way too Imagine carrying a big TV wherever I gordquo he laughs Chiang watches some of the most popular shows that are on air in India and others that are not Watch out if you are planning to take him up on his knowledge of the TV world though Thanks to the timeliness of the Internet chances are you are a whole season or two behind him TV on the go TV programmers are fast waking up to the fact that their audiences are getting ahead of them and many channels are now not only airing current seasons as they release in the US but also releasing their apps on smartphones so that viewers can watch at their convenience ldquoWe want to ensure that our content reaches every possible audience with access to a screen mdash be it a TV screen a computer screen or a mobile phone screenrdquo Sangeetha Aiyer GM Marketing History TV18 says The channel app called History was launched last November and is available across all platforms and enables live streaming and Video on Demand Ferzad Palia Senior VP amp GM English GM amp Entertainment Viacom 18 pvt ltdu00a0 ldquoWhile Factual Entertainment channels like History TV18 are still in a nascent stage on the mobile making History TV18 available here has helped us in one of our key objectives mdash broad basing and growing this genre in Indiardquo she says One look at the online app stores and you realise that everyone from the channels to even DTH service providers are making their presence felt online TV remains the main player though feels senior VP amp GM English GM amp Entertainment Viacom 18 pvt ltd ldquoThere is a lot of talk about the web eating into the TVrsquos market However the web isnrsquot competition itrsquos complementaryrdquo says Palia ldquoFor one the Internet makes the shows more popular Also the TV viewing experience is far superior to that on the Internetrdquo he says This doesnrsquot mean you ignore the medium as Palia promises that significant digital play is in the pipeline Streaming without beeps Remember when you had to rush home to watch your favourite TV show Well now your TV waits for you Twentysix yearold Arwa Kaka a freelance PR professional is amongst those who watch TV only when they have the time to do so after a long day at work Thanks to her irregular work hours and the lack of a fixed schedule Kaka would miss her favourite shows She has opted for the next best thing mdash streaming the TV shows on her laptop so she can watch them at leisure even if it means sitting at home with her laptop next to the TV Saunskruti Kher She has recently discovered VideoonDemand VoD and orders movies off Tata Skyrsquos Showcaseu00a0 Pic Pradeep Dhivar ldquoTelevision is just a medium of entertainment for me Even if I didnrsquot own one I would be very happy watching everything onlinerdquo she says Kaka follows those shows online that are already quite popular on the TV itself such as Two and a Half Men and Dexter ldquoItrsquos better to watch shows online as you are actually at par with the new season abroad It also saves time as there are no advertisement breaksrdquo Kaka also reasons that censorship is one of the major reasons why the youth is now turning to the Internet for TV content ldquoLots of scenes are deleted and words are beeped on the shows which are aired on TV Simple words referring to the body and insults that arenrsquot even that bad are beeped out Itrsquos ridiculousrdquo she says While Palia agrees that the broadcasters are to blame for the delay in the seasons aired abroad and back home he says that in some cases it works better for the channels ldquoIf a broadcaster wants to air the current season he has to do so once a week Many broadcasters like to air shows through the week for which you have to wait for the entire season to air first Besides a lot depends on the genre While it may not work so well for crime and thrillers a comedy show gets good viewership even on reruns In fact comedy gets better with the second and third viewingrdquo he says Seinfeld and That rsquo70s Show currently on air on Comedy Central is a good example ldquoThis happens because English TV came in much later in India and the lsquodownload segmentrsquo as we call them were very young when these shows aired and the experience is new even though the shows are old Two and a half men gained popularity only after the third season so now that we telecast the first two seasons again itrsquos got more viewershiprdquo he explains As for the censorship one has no choice ldquoI feel your painrdquo says Palia ldquoWhile watching shows on the Internet is personal viewing TV is available to all who subscribe to it and hence the censorshiprdquo he explains Dinner company Eric DrsquoCosta represents that group of audience which TV programmers are since long trying to convert to believers The 25 yearold accounts manager loves travelling reading music and is obsessed with portable gadgetry The only time yoursquoll find him in front of the TV is on the occasional lazy weekend Hersquod rather watch a movie on his smartphone than on the TV Chou Chiang Freelance photographer Pic Bipin Kokate ldquoI generally end up turning on the telly once Irsquove exhausted all other avenues of entertainmentrdquo says DrsquoCosta ldquoThe televisionrsquos been relegated to a small part in my life Itrsquos generally what I turn on while eating or what I do if I have nothing else to do Irsquod rather be immersed in a good book or be playing a gamerdquo he says DrsquoCosta hopes that in time TVs will be extensions of the other gadgets so that most of what one enjoys on smaller screens can be ported with ease to a larger screen Twentysix yearold event manager Pegasus Events Adnan Morbiwala feels that television is necessary as it acts as a stress buster and helps one relax Ironically it doesnrsquot top his list of todos as hersquod rather connect his Playstation go for a movie or be out for a drink with friends ldquoTV for me is only when I feel lazy and donrsquot have anything else plannedrdquo The only other time hersquos a regular with the television is when watching any sporting event Morbiwala watched the recently concluded European Championship completely on TV ldquoI wouldnrsquot miss that for anythingrdquo he says So many options This shift in the role of the TV for an age group whose parents used it as the primary source of entertainment to just another form of entertainment for 2035 yearolds has pushed TV programmers to rethink their content The most obvious example of this shift in preferences can be seen through two of the oldest predominantly youth channels in India MTV and Channel V While the former has evolved from a 24hour music only channel to one that is more famous for its reality shows than music Channel V is now undergoing a transformation from collegebased reality shows to fictionbased soaps The channels are trying to constantly innovate and predict what Generation Y wants to see on the tube While MTV has been fairly successful with musicbased reality shows like Coke Studio and Sound Trippin Channel Vrsquos Gumraah is aimed at capturing the fancy of those who enjoy crime based shows One thing is for sure Programming for the youth is no childrsquos play ldquoThe 1535 year bracket that is essentially categorised as the youth has the unique advantage of being largely born in the era of a media explosion They have the means desire and aptitude to consume entertainment in different formats and at their own time and most importantly are willing to experiment with their contentrdquo says Prem Kamath VP and GM Channel V ldquoIf you were to rewind a few years ago the youth had only music channels to entertain them and could perhaps watch the odd movie that related to them But today there is a plethora of channels trying to attract them There is an excess of entertainment options that exist outside of television that were unheard of just a few years ago Television has gone from being the only daily entertainment source to just another source of entertainmentrdquo he sums up Video on demand Other youth channels have tried everything from raunchy jokes travelbased reality shows to even infidelity and bullyingrelated shows but their failure to make nothing more than a few distasteful headlines and grab a substantial amount of the market is an eyeopener to what the Indian youth consider entertainment Itrsquos forced the TV channels to rethink youngsters as mature adult who cannot be entertained with mindless content And if that werenrsquot enough TVs are getting smarter With the major players bringing out televisions that connect you to the Internet the modern audience is spoilt for choice With digitisation being made compulsory from October 1 even DTH providers are wooing audiences with VideoonDemand which while being in its nascent stage in India promises to take the country by storm within the next few years Take Khar resident Saunskruti Kher for example ldquoIrsquom not following any sports events or specific shows at the moment In fact I donrsquot watch TV for months at a stretch I buffer the shows online and watch them when Irsquom travellingrdquo she says The 25 yearold actress has recently discovered VideoonDemand VoD and now would rather order a movie off Tata Skyrsquos Showcase than watch the same old movies on air ldquoFirstly the timings are convenient as opposed to a channel telecast where you have to make sure you are sitting in front of the TV at a particular time Secondly there are no breaks in between the movie And of course the fact that the movies are on Tata Sky before any channel telecast or DVD releaserdquo she says So while the shift in focus is all about convenience itrsquos safe to say that TV is here to stay India has a long way to go and the long hours of streaming content can be quite a deterrent However with 3D TVs Internet TVs and VoD just about taking off in the metros it will be interesting to see whether the saasbahus upgrade themselves or become a casualty to a new form of entertainmentu00a0