V Murali Raaman, VP-Programmes & Operations, Jaya TV

V Murali Raaman, VP-Programmes & Operations, Jaya TV, had his first stint with his present employer in 1994, when he spent three years with the channel as Programme Manager. Now as a programming head, he has a daunting task to create content that can woo audiences from Sun TV and other channels. Starting his career with Sun TV, he has spent nearly 15 years in television programming.

At Ess Pee Associates, New Delhi, he served as Creative Director and Consultant on a Project for Astro Vannavil, Malaysia, from 1997 to 1999. In an interview with Gokul Krishnamurthy of exchange4media, Murali Raaman speaks about the challenges, trends and opportunities for regional satellite channels. Excerpts:

Q. What do you think of the ‘soap’ culture? What is the future of soaps?

Soaps are here to stay because people want to see continuous content, especially if it is of the ‘what happens next door’ variety. It is even feasible for soaps to move up to twice a day instead of the current trend of one episode a day since people are following a story and are keen to get updates. It is riveting for the masses.

The beauty of soaps is that they have no beginning and no end. One can start watching any soap midway and still not feel lost. People have lost the patience to wait for a week to see what happens next. Soon we may even see soaps being extended to the weekends.

Q. How do you see regional channels whose foundations are built on film-based content?

The foundation is entertainment. There is a difference between creating film-based content and airing movies. Film-based content is a part of programming. It is probably 50:50 between film-based content and other programming, among Tamil channels.

Q. How important is it for channels today to produce their own content?

It is a tedious job for channels to produce all content in-house. For film-based content, game shows and the like, it is not so much of a struggle. But for serials and story-oriented content, it helps production to outsource. Outsourcing also helps in getting a fresh creative perspective and inputs.

Q. You say regional channels do offer content of international technical standards? What are the parameters?

In terms of equipment used and production values, we are next to none. Our production levels have evolved with the times and we have come a long way tracing Hi band, Umatic, Beta, Digi and so on. Our reporters today carry a small Digi with them replacing the crews of yesteryears. We are on par with the developed nations in terms of equipment and technology. Our adaptation of technology to suit our needs is of a higher level and we do not insist on specific equipment for tasks.

Q. On regional channels like yours, news-based content is largely from agencies. Isn’t the news content then restricted by the feeds that you are able to source from external agencies?

No, it is not based on agency-feeds. We already have reporters all over the country. But it is not possible to have people in all regions and covering all beats. There are advantages of having multi-skilled reporters already in place. For example, most of the Eenadu reporters across the country have been equipped with cameras too. This helps in expanding the coverage. But in case we need to investigate stories, we can always send in crews to the locations, and that is what we practice.

Q. Doordarshan still reaches out to the largest audience possible? How do you create programming to compete with the state-owned behemoth?

Doordarshan is ‘Door Delivery’. Two wires connected to the window grill and you get the signal. In satellite channels, you subscribe, contact your cable operator and then watch the channel. There is a definite orientation towards satellite channels’ programming going by the number of people who subscribe to satellite channels today. Nowadays, satellite channels have truly taken over. Among the top ten programmes you recall, can you name any from Doordarshan, in say the last five years?

Q. Compared with national and international channels, how is the programming of regional channels?

The first thing to understand is that the audience for regional channels is defined by language. Although people from all over the world watch and enjoy these channels, it is mainly regional audience who we are talking to. So while technically the content would be of international standard, it has to be local in flavour. In fact, the audience you are speaking to internationally, from our experience need not necessarily be a Tamil audience. In foreign countries, people from neighbouring regional, like the Telugu populace and the Malayalam populace also watch Tamil channels and entertainment. It’s the regional flavour that you need to keep intact, but with technical and production qualities of very high levels.

Q. Some feel that regional entertainment channels have lost out on the eyeballs of the ‘MTV’ generation. Do you agree?

Even among youth as a category, this ‘happening’ generation happens to be only one part of our entire audience. There are the upper strata, the middle class, and the lower class, all of whom have access to satellite television today. Of these, it is the middle class that spends maximum time watching television. I do not agree that we have lost out on this generation. People across strata and age groups today watch programmes, not channels. Content is King. Jaya TV has its own mix of programming for this mod generation, like the Indianised version of ‘Friends’, titled ‘Krishna Cottage’.

Q. How the broadband wave will affect your reach out to audiences?

The next development that is just hitting the market on that front is DTH. While Broadband is a technologically higher version, enabling people to watch programmes even after they have been telecast, and from the programming angle enabling multiple issues to be watched together, etc., it is not really of relevance to the consumer yet. A large segment of the population will still rely on the Cable and DTH modes for a long time to come.

Q. There are a lot of regional players waiting in the wings.

There are a lot of channels, which can at best be described as passing clouds. To produce the goods, to create content that is tuned for today’s viewer, you need to know the pulse of the market. From my experience, it should take five years for a channel to stabilise and breakeven. You need to show that kind of commitment to your programming in that period to keep growing as a channel. And only then come the growth and the profits.