Why television news channels entertain

Rakhi Sawant may not have married anyone, but the build up to it was great news for everyone. Rakhi Ka Swayamvar, NDTV Imagine’s 2009 show, saw huge viewership jumps, thanks to news channels.

The mehendi and sangeet episodes saw 16 per cent of all TV homes in Hindi-speaking markets at least walking in, though they may not have watched a lot. If you see the accompanying chart crunched out by TAM Media Research, it is apparent that on some days, news about the show saw more traction than the show itself.

That news channels show a lot of programming from general entertainment channels (GECs) is not new. What is news are the rising proportions. Going by TAM data, GEC programming on news channels grew between 30 and 50 per cent in the past two years.

Some of the reasons are obvious and some not so clear. One, GEC programming is great for viewership, ratings and, therefore advertising revenues. Strangely, though, GEC programming on English news channels pulls in more viewers than on the much maligned Hindi news channels. The whole snob value of English news channels, the reason they get a premium on advertising, is a big mystery. It, however, explains why we see so much of Shah Rukh Khan on NDTV 24x7.

Two, the policy on news channels defines any channel that has any element of news and current affairs in its programme content as one. So, even if a channel shows five minutes of news, it has to take a licence for it. So, channels that want to show pure entertainment news or sports news, and some hard news, fall into it, too.

Three, and this is a big one, most news channels are part of a big network that also has an entertainment channel. So, cross-promoting is a great way to drive audiences. For instance, earlier NDTV Imagine was part of the NDTV network (now it will be Turner’s). Colors is part of Network18, which also owns CNN-IBN and IBN7, among other news channels. STAR News is a part of the STAR network and so on. Aaj Tak and India TV are among the few standalone news channels/networks. However, they too carry GEC programming as part of news.

Four, India has about 80 of 24-hour news channels in various languages, the largest number anywhere in the world. News in the classical sense – an election, a bomb blast, a budget – happens once in a while. The operating cost of filling 24 hours with news and getting that to deliver on revenues explains the inexorable pull of popular programming.

It would be interesting to see whether if Network18 had a common backend for CNBC, CNBC Awaaz, CNN-IBN and IBN7, as it reportedly is trying to obtain, the resultant cost saving would also take the pressure off programming.