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About 10 news channel,
including BBC and CNN, 168 hours of programming time (not excluding
commercial airtime) a week, but the private producers lot aren't
popping the champagne. Rather, there are accusations that news and
current programming is only farmed to those people who have contacts
in private channels as also the national broadcaster Doordarshan.
 "The
mushrooming of news channels has not really benefited the private
producers. Rather, most of them are crying (for work)," says Rajat
Sharma, one of the most high-profile private producers of news and
current affairs (N&CA) programming and co-promoter of TV software
house Independent Media Pvt., Ltd.
At
a time when India is witnessing a cottage industry being made of
TV news channels business with some half a dozen or so channels
said to be in the pipeline, one would have thought a windfall for
private producers of N&CA programming. But that's not happening.
On
the contrary, as Sharma points put, there are many of his ilk who
are on the verge of shutting shop. Simply because of lack of work
or work that would fetch good money, is hard to come by. And, here
the exceptions like Karan Thapar, Vinod Dua and even Sharma are
not being counted.
There
are several factors for lack of adequate work for private producers
of N&CA programming and the lack of enthusiasm for outsourcing work
to outsiders on the part of news channels.
Reason
No. 1.
One big factor is the budget that is available with news channels
for programming, especially the portion that can be used to farm
out programming for a channel even while spending a huge amount
of money on setting up in-house infrastructure.
It's
all about money, honey!
According
to Star News president Ravina Raj Kohli, "I don't have a budget
that would allow me to give programming to many outsiders. I'd rather
make programmes, including news bulletins, in-house."
No
wonder, even the celebrated Sharma, whose company is producing daily
two editions of Aaj Ki Baat for Star News, would be handed
the farewell handshake next month. Kohli would rather have such
celebrities as guest anchors on the channel, instead of as producers.
So, you have people like Vinod Dua, MJ Akbar and Vir Sanghvi as
guest anchors for various shows that are produced by Star News itself,
unlike Aaj Ki Baat that is produced and anchored by IMPL.
Alok
Mehta, editor of Hindi Outlook, hosts a show for Zee News.
Reason
No. 2. Yes, the investments being made on infrastructure is
another reason why Indian news channels are averse to giving much
work to private producers.
On
this point, Sharma agrees, though. "With such huge infrastructure
where millions of dollars have been sunk, news channels would like
to make optimum use of it rather than ask people like us to make
programmes," he says, adding, "In India, unlike the west, channels
are not anchor driven. Rather most channels fear to have too high-profile
anchors for a long time."
Further
explains a senior executive of Sahara India's Media & Entertainment
division, which looks after the television channels' business, "If
we start outsourcing programming on our news channels (two of them
at the moment), then what was the need for investing in state-of-the-art
infrastructure? We could have reduced our investments and used half
of the money saved to commission programming."
The
news channels and their managers should shoulder the blame for reason
No. 3 also. Unlike in other countries where news channels show
a variety of fare and go in for innovative ideas, Indian news channels
are still following a set formula of having mostly back-to-back
news with little current affairs programming.
Says
Navin Surpaneni, executive director of the Delhi-based Centre for
Media Studies (CMS), which is undertaking a commissioned study on
news channels, "The news channels, including the new ones, have
not experimented much with programming, especially current affairs
fare. So, there is also less need for outsourcing programming."
Reason
4. What has hit the private producers of N&CA programming like
a sledgehammer is the pubcaster Doordarshan's decision to drastically
cut down commissioning of such programming. Despite allegations
of nepotism and corruption in DD, the national broadcaster had been
the biggest mainstay for private producers of N&CA fare --- some
producers have also become rich by making programmes for DD for
years through the 1980s and 1990s.
Pointing
out that the pubcaster's need for farming out programmes to private
producers is more than the private satellite news channels, Sharma
says, "The type of public interest and public service programming
(that can be categorized as current affairs programming) that DD
can do, would not be done by satellite channels. A pubcaster can
afford doing it and also commission outsiders to do such work. But
unfortunately it too has decided to reduce outsourcing."
But,
because Prasar Bharati, which oversees the functioning of DD and
All India Radio, is answerable to Parliament and every act of it
is put under a scanner, it has decided, henceforth, even for its
own news channel commissioning of programmes would be stopped. May
be, apart from some rare exceptions.
"With
the type of losses that we incurred last time on the news channel,
we have decided, in principle, to reduce commissioning of N&CA programming
to outside producers in general and would produce in-house programming
for news channel in. This is also being done to neutralise allegations
of favouritism," says Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma.
Still,
this does not mean that DD doesn't commission N&CA programming at
all. But for that it makes the private producers go through a grind
to ensure fair play. Says Madhumita Chakraborty, who has done many
N&CA programmes for DD, including an on-air weekly series on North-East
India on DD National, "DD is great to work for, but I wish things
can be speeded up there. Moreover, one can go to DD with N&CA ideas,
unlike the satellite news channels where getting appointments itself
is a problem."
 There
is a flip side to this sob news story too. According to BAG Films
managing director Anurradha Prasad, at the moment work may be less
for private producers of N&CA programming, but with the evolution
of news segment, specialisation will happen and then there would
be need for outside producers for channels.
Pointing
out that like in photography where people specialize as wild life
or fashion or an industrial photographer, Prasad opines, "Time would
come when people would start specializing in the a particular type
of N&CA programme too on television and news channels would start
commissioning such people work."
Disagreeing
with the fact that mushrooming of news channels hasn't really benefited
the private producers, Prasad feels that the stage is being set
for specialisation to enter the world of news television and that
is when the real boom would come for private producers.
Prasad's
company has been giving the mandate to put together Mera Gaon
Mera Desh for Star News in a move that has been questioned by
many.
Despite
the bullishness of people like Prasad, as of today, most private
producers would still have to wait for the day when they find their
El Dorado somewhere amongst the news channels.
Also
Read:
News
channels - a reality check
From
the outside looking in at the news room
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