Why Star TV should get back into news
Like most of us, I have been watching the events of NaMo in the USA. His resounding speech at the UNGA, the adoption of sustainable development as an agenda by Ban ki-Moon and the power table hosted by Rupert Murdoch, stay with me, even though the party is over.
The "power photo" says it all. A couple of the biggest media and entertainment brands in America were there in dark suits, in clout order. Mostly male, of course. Big business doesn't necessarily go with a diversity quota. And rightly so. It would have been a better composed picture if the gentlemen had been placed in height order, but then powerful men don't pose to look pretty. They pose to look important.
Star lost interest in the news business because of the FDI norms. With anything below 49 per cent, it was unlikely that the Murdoch juices would have run through a telephone wire and refreshed the news list in the morning editorial meeting. In news, editorial control is everything. So is perception management.
If you visit the Star TV headquarters in mid town Mumbai, you will see what I mean. It's like you walked into a Star Wars set. The word "glamour" and "important" come immediately to mind. I can only commend the boss for the fantastic job he has done. Even before the receptionists came, who are currently styled to look straight out of The Matrix, the success of Star was imminent under his leadership. Plus it's a fabulous office with good, well-dressed leaders and plenty of natural light. The package works. What's sorely missing in the bouquet is the news brand. Without it, it is all kabaddi and gulli danda at the end of the day, with some rona dhona on the side.
Colors has stolen a march over Star in the last couple of weeks. These things happen in the general entertainment space. One "turkey" and there's no Thanksgiving dinner at the bonus table that year. Corporate memory isn't short.
Bigg Boss 9 threatens to launch on October 11. That's the Big B's birthday. Not that the two are related. It's quite clear that Mr B isn't the co-host of the show with Salman Khan. No question of it. He's not second fiddle material. I wonder who is.
Why does Bigg Boss need a co-host anyway? Isn't one enough? "Celebrity Big Brother" elsewhere has real celebrities on it. Fashion icons and TV icons included. Often, the winner of a previous season gets offered the plum role of host in the upcoming season. They even cross-cast stars from other shows like The Apprentice in Big Brother at times. Makes sense. Continuity for reality TV hogs. Oink. The host is often a TV-friendly personality with the ability to connect to a television audience. Not a mega movie star.
I wonder why Bigg Boss has never cast any star from the news space in the show. Everyone from Bollywood is on news and TV shows. Why not news anchors vying for the Bigg Boss reward? I don't believe it will do any harm whatsoever to anyone but the audience. And we all know what the audience feels doesn't really matter anyway… It's only the BARC numbers that do.
I am watching the show closely. I couldn't stand it on Sony when the set was a dirty cardboard pink and looked highly "kaccha" and badly done up. I admit I haven't followed its nine-year-journey. But now that I am but a keen observer of television and its moves I will be watching vicariously.
Reality TV has hit the spot. I can see it now. Soon, hopefully, the FDI may also hit the spot. And the The Big One will brings its news back.
Yipee. It's in seven languages. Huge reach. Same audience as kabaddi and cricket. Massive distribution clout and cross promo budgets ahoy. PR teams scurrying around. Many parties and political parties. Chants of "Om Namah Shivaya". The Matrix women and men get upgrades to the Avatar look. The prime time hosts are straight out of Bigg Boss.
The channel launch photo is in height order. The women anchors join the party. The spaceship conquers a new galaxy. The wars have just begun.