Dont tell me BDeshis love watching balika vadhu and other aunty serials
Saas bahu serials are extremely popular among BD households.
Are Bangladeshi television channels losing charm?
By Mohammad Zahidul Islam
When our living rooms are being overrun by Indian television serials and the Bangladeshi viewers are becoming apathetic towards local television programs, is it not an issue worth digging into? Do we not need to know why, and think about how to turn the situation around? With these thoughts in mind, Star Showbiz of the Daily Star organized a round table discussion to identify the problems behind it and to seek solutions to the situation. It is a clear sign of cultural intrusion, one which the local production has not been able to compete with. Actor and Producer Shahiduzzaman Selim, Director Choyonika Chowdhury, Producer Gausul Alam Shaon, Singer Syed Waqeel Ahad and Shahed Shamim from Banglavision were present among many others at the roundtable.
Everyone except Shahed Shamim acknowledged that the Bangladeshi television channels are failing to attract the attention of our viewers. However, they consider the growing number of television channels, inexperienced producer, less skilled actors and actresses, lengthy television commercials, inadequate promotion, less diversity of programs, lack of market research and lack of proper policy from the government to be the factors responsible behind this problem.
Choyonika Chowdhury, popular director, thinks all our television channels to be the same except for their logo and name. She thinks we are facing unnecessary proliferation of channels and programs in comparison with the number of consumers. Again, television programs are not promoted as widely as needed. Besides, unlike the Indian television programs, Bangladeshi television programs do not maintain a regular time schedule for telecast of a particular program. Therefore, the viewers lose track of program schedule.
Shahiduzzaman Selim, a leading actor and producer of our time, blamed the free flow of Indian television programs, the lack of government policy, replacement of experienced actors and actresses with less qualified, competitive advertisement system, lack of diversity of our programs, lack of proper promotion and branding, and political control for the growing apathy of our viewers. He added that the situation can deteriorate if not controlled in time.
Gausul Ajam
Gausul Alam Shaon, television advertisement producer, thinks the problems are there due to the lack of market research to find out what viewers want, absence of creative directors in our television channels, lack of quality programs, absence of good producers, insufficiency of experienced actors and actress, and lack of plan. Besides, he thinks the television channel owners lack professional knowledge. Consequently, they do not understand the pulse of the public and broadcast programs form their own point of view. Therefore, the viewers hold no attraction for the programs.
Shahed Shamim, program producer and director of Banglavision, thinks differently. To him, the viewers are not growing apathy for our programs rather they are confused to choose programs due to the huge number. He thinks the television rating point (TRP) shows the engagement of our viewers to our programs. He believes that the viewers in Bangladesh have a tendency to surf the channel of our country or language.
Choyonika Chowdhury
Being in a state to be concerned about the impact of Indian television channels, the participants shared some common solutions. First of all, a proper policy from the government can restrict the free flow of Indian channels. In that case, the government has to address the issue politically in order to take control of our own telecast system.
Secondly, the introduction of pay-channel in Bangladesh can facilitate the viewers to select their intended channels and to satisfy their need. Besides, it will reduce the number of tax free channels. Thirdly, we have to produce good programs for our viewers so that they can stick to their own tradition and culture. Since the impact of globalization cannot be stopped altogether, we have to be careful about the program selection. Besides, we need to nurture our own cultural myth in order to connect more audience to our programs. Newer storytelling technique, good plot and story, thematic representation of ideas can help the situation to improve.
Now why are we failing to solve these problems? They think our government is not aware of the far-reaching effect of this in our industry. Since globalization accentuates the cultural intrusion, we cannot avoid the influence of foreign cultures. Besides, the policy makers are pressurized from within the family not to restrict the Indian channels since everyone is a consumer of those channels. However, we can take inspiration from our neighboring country Thailand or Malaysia where Indian channels do not enjoy free flow. They have incorporated the pay-channel system. Therefore, the viewers can have their preferred channels.
It is not altogether impossible to minimize the intrusion of Indian channels. We have to ensure the standard of our programs. Besides, maintaining the optimum level of advertisement, technical standard and proper promotion of programs can improve the situation.
Cover Story | Are Bangladeshi television channels losing charm?