Many Tele-Actors believe that the TRP drives the TV business!
There have been constant talks around how content on TV requires a revamp. What adds to the worry, according to many, is how similar concepts and storyline are being followed by channels and show makers to gain TRPs. In fact, they go to any extent to hold high ratings and that often affects the quality. However, there are others who feel that TRP thing on TV isn’t new and it often gets the best out of people. Audience always wants something new and both producers and channels try and live up to that expectation. Here’s what actors have to say about the entire TRP driven game:
Ajay Singh Chaudhary
While Friday’s and box office decide the fate of films, TRP drives the TV business. The storyline is changed at the last moment and sometimes even unrealistic tracks are introduced just to grab viewer’s attention. By unrealistic I mean a dead person being brought back or what happens in some supernatural shows… But at the same time creative liberty is the order of the day. We are dream sellers, entertainers and need to satisfy the varied demands and liking of the viewers. So I think there are both good and bad of TRPs.
Kettan Singh
Daily Soaps are evaluated weekly on the basis of television rating point or TRP. If the track is not getting good ratings it’s changed and another twist in the plot is introduced to get the audience back. We have to understand if a show doesn’t do well then that affects its longevity and at the end of it affects the livelihood of every single person attached to it. Whenever a show ends earlier than expected imagine how many people lose their jobs. So I don’t blame the channel or makers.
Mohit Daga
As actors we should not be thinking about TRPs, rather our job is to give our best performance. I believe creative changes are done to experiment with tracks and see what works and what doesn’t. There’s nothing bad in that because TV shows must live up to the TRP standard to survive. If a show does well, more viewers mean more ads and more revenue generation. But yes that doesn’t mean we can go overboard just to top the charts.
Avinash Mukherjee
Daily soaps don’t have stories planned for a longer time. Here things change every day. The growing competition and demand leads to people try different things, work on deadlines and extra hours. So coping with TRPs given the format TV follows isn’t difficult. When a track does well we all enjoy the success but when it doesn’t we end up saying how the TRP driven format has a bad effect on content. Rather than complaining I think we all should work towards following a healthy competition in order to get TRPs without compromising on the content. After all in today’s time, you need to keep your audience hooked with both quality and quantity.
Mrunal Jain
My job as a performer ends at enacting my part convincingly in front of the camera. For actors, creative satisfaction matters more than anything else. At the same time we can’t forget that we are in the show business. Only when a show works and earns better revenue, it runs for longer period of time providing employment to many. And the profit helps producers and channels make new shows which employs more people. So TRPs matter. However, that cannot be an excuse to compromise in quality because after all this is a creative field.
Farnaz Shetty
I don’t think TV is governed by TRP but yes it is one of the integral parts. I feel in the hope of gaining more viewers and TRPs, producers and broadcasters work towards introduces many twists and turns in the plot to figure out what sells and what doesn’t. Writers and creative heads do spend sleepless nights. To be honest, apart from the art of it, we all are here to make money as well. And I agree all these often affect the quality of content. But as an artist one can’t do much about it.