SOAPS IN A SOUP

ONCE KNOWN TO RUN FOR YEARS, PRIMETIME SERIALS-THE BACKBONE OF GECS-ARE STRUGGLING WITH DECLINING VIEWERSHIP DUE TO OTT AND SOCIAL MEDIA

- VIDYA S.

WINDS OF CHANGE

1 DECLINING TV CONSUMPTION HAS DRAGGED DOWN TRPs OF HINDI TV SERIALS, THE LARGEST SERIAL INDUSTRY IN INDIA

2 THE PLUNGE IS PARTICULARLY STEEP WHEN THE URBAN NUMBERS ARE LOOKED AT IN ISOLATION, SINCE OTT HAS LARGELY BEEN AN URBAN PHENOMENON

3 ONCE KNOWN FOR MULTI-YEAR RUNS, MORE THAN 60-70 PER CENT SHOWS GO OFF THE AIR WITHIN A YEAR NOW

4 BUT REGIONAL LANGUAGE SOAPS STILL ENJOY HIGHER TRPs COMPARED TO HINDI

5 IN HINDI, PRODUCERS AND TV NETWORKS ARE FOCUSSING ON A NEW FORMAT OF 25-100 EPISODES CALLED ‘TV+’ FOR OTT PLATFORMS SUCH AS AMAZON MINI, DISNEY+ HOTSTAR AND JIOCINEMA

6 THEY ARE MADE ON A BUDGET OF 2–3X OF THE ₹7-10 LAKH SET ASIDE FOR AN EPISODE OF A TV SERIAL, AND MAY EVEN GO UP TO ₹30-50 LAKH AN EPISODE, PRODUCERS SAY

2023 

Teri Meri Dooriyan, which airs on Star Plus and is the second-highest rated Hindi show, has an urban TRP of 1.97

2023

Pandya Store that is aired on Star Plus has a TRP of 1.25

2018 

Kalyana Veedu, which was the fourth-highest rated Tamil show in 2018, had a rating of 12.32

2018

Kumkum Bhagya, the fourth-highest rated show in 2018, had a rating of 2.5