Too many TV channels but too little quality programmes

Not many people know how many TV channels in Bangladesh are competing with each other for drawing the audience's attention. Then there are a few Bangla channels from across the border in Paschimbango. Their rivalry for following cannot be dismissed as well. Choices are multiple but to be frank little to choose from. One cannot be blamed if one questions if there is a need for so many channels in such a small country. Well, the same question could as well be raised in case of the number of newspapers.

The reality though is that the channels, like newspapers, are surviving. Whether they are kicking too is however not to be asked. In terms of revenue earning though a few are in a healthy position. When one notices that commercial breaks are too many and too frequent, it gives some idea of income but the appetite for viewing a programme diminishes, if not dies down entirely. A similar feeling invades one in case of a newspaper when a reader comes across ads that are directly contradictory to what is propounded in editorial policy. Thank God, ads on smoking have become a thing of the past although tobacco companies announce their presence through ads that extol the virtue of tree planting and other such social programmes.

Now common audiences are least bothered about such finer aspects. What they really care about are programmes that would captivate their attention for a few hours. In this case, there are small members of families who are also voracious viewers. Mercifully, most of them go to bed before the real war starts with the remote controller between mostly the lord and the lady of the house. Usually Hindi and Bangla serials telecast in prime time clash with sports programmes such as ODI series, Test matches played in England and West Indies. Test matches played in the subcontinent and in New Zealand and Australia complete the day's play well before peak hours. Then there are tennis matches and mega events like the Olympic, World Cup Football, World Athletic championship, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and so on.

Interests may be diverse. But for the viewers of serials, there is no distraction. They would stick to their guns, come what may. The good thing about such serials is that they are rerun several times a day and if the mistress of the house or her retinue comprising the domestic help and perhaps her daughter, if there is any, compromises on the viewing time, it is because of the next chance she would avail of.

Here it has to be admitted that the serials run on different local channels fail to compete with those of Hindi and Bangla from across the border in pulling the audience. However it was different in the past. Humayun Ahmed mesmerised the audience with his serials. Who can forget the procession brought out to save Baker Bhai when he was condemned to death sentence?

So far as story telling is concerned, it is a dying art now. With Humayun's departure, the country is really in danger of running out of its stock. So far as serials on Paschimbango channels are concerned, they are so lengthened like chewing gum that they prove at times pretty boring. Yet they are so well made that the softer species of audience would not mind.

Now reality shows are few and far between. Even on this count channels across the border get the better of the local ones. Hanif Sanket's Ityadi is still a crowd puller but it is not a regular affair. It is good that it is not so for there is every chance of its becoming repetitive. However not a single programme of its standard could as yet be made. Why?

On the two Eids, the channels follow a set pattern. They invite a few cultural luminaries or celebrities of the entertainment world for a kind of chit chat. Then there are dramas galore. But pray, how many of them can hold the attention of the viewers? Numbers are no guarantee for quality.