Viewers of Hindi entertainment channel Star Bharat were taken aback on Friday when some of their favourite shows were halted with a promise that they would be back soon. With the spread of Covid-19 and various government advisories to avoid crowds, several films and television industry bodies have called for the cancellation of shooting and production activities, leading to a crunch in episodes for daily shows. This includes shoots for films, TV programmes and shows for digital formats.
“Some fiction makers do have some bank of episodes to last for the next week or so but after that, the re-runs will start,” said Abhishek Rege, chief executive officer at production firm EndemolShine India, adding that the losses for the broadcast industry will be huge even if people watch re-runs.
The postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will mean further loss of advertiser interest. The last time viewers saw re-runs of episodes was in 2008 when TV workers and producers had sparred over higher wages and better work conditions.
The bigger hit, however, will be taken by the non-fiction genre on TV that will not run beyond the weekend of 20 March. Apart from Fear Factor that Endemol shot last August and had kept ready, the company has shut down all its reality shows like Bigg Boss Malayalam on Asianet and Mujhse Shaadi Karoge on Colors TV. While 18 March was the last stipulated day of the shoot, 20 March will be the last day for post-production after which broadcasters will also shut offices, Rege said.
“Everyone is panicking but the situation is beyond our control. We have made all reasonable efforts to put together a bank of episodes but we can’t ask the cast and crew to work 24 hours,” said Sumeet Mittal of Shashi Sumeet Productions that runs shows like Shubharambh and Barrister Babu, both on Colors TV.
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