Ek Khiladi… Local or global

A Star News report used a “scandal” from the television sporting event Indian Premier League to frame the upcoming reality TV show Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina (a Strictly Come Dancing franchise). This incident is a good illustration of the problematic of an exploding televisual media landscape.

The centrality of television to India cannot be understated, especially since the entry of satellite and cable. It has been argued that intensified media and communications markets lead to maturation (Smith). On the other hand thinkers such as Bordieu have challenged the exalted view of media in industrial societies. He argued that the visually constructed narrative of the television medium and a related difficulty in dealing with abstract conceptualisations is ill suited to these responsibilities (Bourdieu, 1998). Thus it is not surprising that the boundaries of news and entertainment television appear blurred as the market exploits a highly mass-mediated society (BCCI’s IPL) to create televisual events, these events provides “content” and  “news”. The prospect of the spectacle and its attendant paraphrenelia of celebrities, gossip becomes news, which in turn drives the demand for the content.

(below) A clip from the highly successful Indian Premier League

A Star News report (below) uses the readily available frames of these televisual spectacles and news manufactured for consumerism to provide its audience entry into another televisual event — Ek Khiladi, Ek Hasina.

(below) Star News reports on the upcoming Indian version of Strictly Come Dancing using a scandal at IPL as a frame to explain the significance of the show

The tensions and anxieties here are between the demands for “public service”, to offer “high quality” cultural
and informational contents to audiences as a civil entitlement and benefits against the view of broadcasting as a commercial activity largely driven by consumer preferences and corporate concerns for profitability. The demands for public service are drowned out by a saturated media business environment, which is on a relentless drive to expand itself and segment the market. The combination of fragmenting audiences with broadcasters’ greater resort to more popular styles and genres of programming prompts the question: are broadcast audiences nowadays more entertained but less informed and educated? Is the transplanting of television formats from abroad, dressed up to look like the authentic local, an example of this? (below).

Strictly come dancing vs Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina

References

Bourdieu, Pierre (1998) On Television and Journalism, London: Pluto Press.

Smith, Anthony (1978) The Politics of Information, London: Macmillan.