Not too long ago, one of the many staples of Eid was TV programs, especially TV dramas. The audience used to wait in front of the TV set after the day to watch good stories unfold through star-studded dramas with their family at home.
Many people even maintained a list of favourite TV dramas to watch. Before Eid, they used to write down the time by watching the promos when their favourite drama or telefilm would be shown on which channel.
TV channels allocated a separate budget for Eid specials, while directors used to make these dramas with the attention and craft they required. For this reason, such specials used to be prepared long before the holiday, and they often generated a good deal of discussion amongst viewers.
But the current situation is different. Most recently, shows being released on OTT platforms are what have people abuzz. TV dramas and shows seemed to have been left by the wayside.
Why did the scene suddenly change? What do OTT shows have that TV content doesn't? After meeting the needs of the audience for so many years, why are TV channels lagging behind in their own game?
The quality of television dramas in Bangladesh began to decline when many TV channels discovered streaming, ironically enough, but the abundance of shows being churned out meant good directors and performers were limited compared to the amount of content being made. So, the workload was high. Eventually the budget and the quality of the dramas started falling fast.
First, people started watching dramas on YouTube and now on OTT platforms. This Eid especially has seen the audience numbers for OTT platforms reach unprecedented numbers. Several directors have already questioned the budget and quality of TV dramas and many long-time TV directors started committing less and less to the medium due to insufficient budget.
Most of those who have received a lot of acclaim for their work on OTT platforms -- be it directors, actors or crew -- have previously worked regularly in television. But in recent times, after the OTT medium found more footing, the same people who once thrived on TV started shifting towards OTT platforms.
Take Mahanagar 2 and Myself Allen Swapan for instance -- they are directed by Ashfaque Nipun and Shihab Shaheen, respectively. Both directors started their careers and got introduced into the industry through their TV dramas. But works like Mahanagar 2 and Myself Allen Swapan just could not be made for TV even if they wanted to due to stringent budgetary and time constraints.
Since television channels sell minutes as advertisements and they have to run by those minutes, TV dramas also have fixed time limits. Each single-episode drama is, on average, 40 to 42 minutes long. But it is not possible to tell the story the creators want to within that time. OTTs have no such limitations and, as a result, directors are getting the freedom to tell stories on a scale that matches their original visions.
The same goes for actors. Once upon a time, Mosharraf Karim was indispensable for Eid TV dramas, now he is almost absent on TV. His performance as OC Harun in Mahanagar 2 has seen him become even more popular among audiences in Bangladesh and West Bengal.
However, Mosharraf Karim could not have developed a character to such extents even after acting in hundreds of TV dramas. What is the reason for that? The limitations of his acting? Certainly not. The limitation was the time and lack of a good script. If an actor gets proper time and a good script, they get a lot more to work with.
It turns out that a good story, and the necessary time and budget are very important for a decent production. If the creators, actors, and crew get these three things in abundance then they can produce good quality work.
Who'd have known, right?
To be fair, TV dramas once afforded these factors as well. Everyone took time, discussed the story, rehearsed, and then started production. As a result, the work created was always well received and fondly remembered even now -- the view counts of old TV dramas on YouTube testify to that end.
So, to bring back viewers, TV channels need to focus more on quality rather than quantity. The budget should be increased for dramas and the advertisement rate should also be increased. Advertising should be reduced by raising rates -- after all, the audience should be given the opportunity to watch advertisements between dramas, not dramas between advertisements.
If these initiatives are taken, television channels can claw back their popularity. OTT platforms are still fewer in number than television channels. However, as the popularity of OTT platforms is increasing, they will be ahead in demand even if the number of platforms is low.
TV channels need a course correction if they want to bring back their former glory. Otherwise, they risk being left in the dust.
Fahim Ibne Sarwar is a Writer and Film Critic. He is also the Founder and Editor of bhalochobi.com.
