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Opinion 23<br />
It’s a TV channel jungle out there<br />
Let’s go for quality over quantity<br />
<strong>DT</strong><br />
SATURDAY, OCTOBER <strong>15</strong>, <strong>2016</strong><br />
LARGER<br />
THAN<br />
LIFE<br />
• Ekram Kabir<br />
Recently, I became a part<br />
of a television report and<br />
it was broadcast during<br />
their afternoon bulletin.<br />
In the evening, one of my friends<br />
told me that he watched my clip<br />
on TV. I intentionally asked him:<br />
“Which TV?”<br />
He replied: “I don’t know;<br />
don’t remember; in one of the TV<br />
channels. How can I remember the<br />
name of the channel when there’s<br />
a jungle out there?”<br />
I wasn’t surprised by his<br />
statement, which I’ve heard<br />
several times from many other<br />
people. So, here’s the question:<br />
“Are the audience failing to<br />
remember the names of the TV<br />
channels they’re watching?” The<br />
answer, however, should be given<br />
by the experts.<br />
I can only highlight a few<br />
factors that are commonly<br />
discussed by the people around<br />
me.<br />
If the audience, such as my<br />
friend, is taken into consideration,<br />
there’s certainly a concern for the<br />
TV channels, and its work and<br />
existence. If we run a survey, the<br />
true picture of the TV channels is<br />
likely to be unearthed as to how<br />
they exist at the top of people’s<br />
minds.<br />
The number of TV channels<br />
now stands at, perhaps, more than<br />
23. As a homogenous audience,<br />
do we need that many channels to<br />
watch?<br />
The Bangladeshi audience<br />
is having quite a lot of trouble<br />
to remember the names of TV<br />
channels for a particular reason.<br />
Are any of the channels offering<br />
anything to remember?<br />
Both in terms of news and<br />
program, most broadcast almost<br />
similar content. One cannot say<br />
that a news channel is offering<br />
its content in such a way that the<br />
people would remember it.<br />
Yes, some are known for their<br />
political inclination and some are<br />
known for their talk-shows, but<br />
still one cannot say that a program<br />
on a TV channel is quite unique,<br />
and the audience remembers it<br />
and looks forward to watch it.<br />
Let’s think about quality over quantity<br />
Some are, of course, trying<br />
understand the audience’s mind<br />
and how to make a difference.<br />
For example, a program channel<br />
is usually known for its morning<br />
musical sessions.<br />
Then again, the music programs<br />
don’t have much of a variety; after<br />
a while, watching the same faces<br />
becomes monotonous.<br />
Some channels have news<br />
analysis shows on which the<br />
journalists come and talk about<br />
the news. Is there anything new in<br />
those programs?<br />
The journalists would always,<br />
unsurprisingly, be able to talk<br />
about news and events. So why<br />
don’t the channels invite people<br />
from other professions to analyse<br />
the news? That would be more<br />
interesting to watch.<br />
People say that there are very<br />
few good watchable programs on<br />
Bangladeshi channels. One of the<br />
exceptions have done very well<br />
with a show on agriculture, but<br />
then again this particular program<br />
is a legacy of what the anchor used<br />
to do on the state-owned channel,<br />
BTV.<br />
There’s very little research done<br />
for creating interesting programs.<br />
A news TV channel wanted to<br />
produce good programs, but<br />
The Bangladeshi audience is having quite a lot of trouble to remember<br />
the names of TV channels for a particular reason. Are any of the channels<br />
offering anything to remember? Both in terms of news and program,<br />
most broadcast almost similar content<br />
instead has become famous for a<br />
foreign historical drama serial.<br />
I’ve watched a channel in<br />
India named “Care World TV”<br />
specialised on healthcare. It<br />
provides 24/7 news and programs<br />
on health.<br />
They have quite a number of<br />
talk-shows, which are also on<br />
health issues. I thought it was<br />
a fantastic idea for focusing on<br />
people’s health and beauty.<br />
Why don’t we do something like<br />
that? We could focus on sports,<br />
we could make a children’s TV<br />
channel, we could create a channel<br />
only for education, and we could<br />
have an entertainment channel.<br />
Why do we have to remain<br />
confined to news and talk shows?<br />
There’s of course one channel that<br />
has been making a difference in<br />
the field of music, kudos to them.<br />
Finally, we need to have a business<br />
model in terms of initiating a<br />
TV station. I have my doubts on<br />
whether our entrepreneurs have<br />
any business model in mind, as to<br />
hop onto the television business.<br />
Business-wise, it’s a small<br />
market and the only source<br />
of revenue is TV commercials<br />
and, sometimes, SMS service.<br />
The amount of TVC budget of<br />
the business houses would not<br />
increase with the increase of the<br />
number of TV channels.<br />
And that budget would also<br />
come down due to the digital<br />
revolution.<br />
We need to consider the market<br />
before we launch a product. The<br />
time has come to think about<br />
quality over quantity. •<br />
Ekram Kabir is a fiction writer.<br />
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