Beyond news

News channels air soft shows to increase viewership

Zee News is set to launch a 'people's show' to be anchored by the former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

Channel 7 will soon air 'Hum Tum' that will invite couples to live out their dreams for a day. A cookery show titled 'Khas Khansama' is also on the cards.

Star News will launch a personal finance show with mutual funds expert Dhirendra Kumar.

If you haven't already noticed, instead of being on the entertainment channels, the new shows will appear on different news channels. A plethora of English and Hindi language news channels are hardselling their soft programmes which may or may not have a news peg.

"News channels in India have undergone a metamorphosis and evolved more as infotainment or edutainment channels," says Uday Sahay, deputy director-general, Prasar Bharati.

People who watch 'Saas Bahu aur Saazish' on Star News everyday at 2.30 pm couldn't agree more. Based on the popular serials of Star Plus, the show delves into the lives of television celebrities.

Zee News, meanwhile, has introduced 'Rahi Matwale' "" an interactive travel show that invites viewers to send in their holiday video clips to be telecast during the Sunday show.

Aaj Tak offers a fitness show titled 'Sab Se Fit' and 'Dharma' on spirituality. Clearly, news channels are making an effort to broadbase their viewership.

Television news, that has a distinct male skew in terms of viewers, is now pulling in audience through non-news programmes.

"And why not, this is an age of experiments in TV. Such shows attract eyeballs," says Umesh Upadhaya, director (projects) at the upcoming current affairs channel Janmat promoted by Sri Adhikari Brothers.

'Saas Bahu aur Saazish', for instance, is aimed at drawing in the female viewers. Admits Star News' CEO and editor, Uday Shankar : "We wanted to tap a larger women audience for our channel."

'Dharma' on Aaj Tak is designed to hold back audiences switching to spiritual channels like Aastha. "We realised there was huge audience space for a spiritual programme," says Rajesh Sheshadri, senior manager (marketing), Aaj Tak.

Zee News' executive director, Alka Saxena says that news channels want to offer a wholesome menu to their viewers.

"The shows are not aimed solely at TRPs." However, Uday Shankar, believes that "increasing viewership is a universal goal. Besides, newspapers also carry human interest stories and features and news channels also need a break from hard news."

It is not cheap to produce these programmes, though figures on the costs are hard to come by.

"The shows adhere to high production values and incur high expenditure," observes Saxena. Moreover, while a single news capsule can be shown several times in a day, a show can be telecast only once or twice, adds Shankar.

"But news remains our bread and butter. You can call these programmes the icing on the cake," Saxena adds.