Home ›› 01 May 2022 ›› Show Biz
All the television channels and YouTube channels based in Bangladesh are gearing up for releasing special dramas featuring popular performers on the small screen during Eid ul-Fitr as it is the peak season for the country’s entertainment industry
People are turning to YouTube channels over the past few years because of the excessive advertisements in the contents of the TV channels as they prefer uninterrupted entertainment triggering a visible competition between the TVs and online platforms.
According to industry insiders, YouTube channels are staying of TV channels in terms of producing dramas targeting Eid. Around 20 YouTube channels now produce dramas frequently. Some of the popular YouTube channels are – Bongoboom, Deadline Entertainment, Ozon
Entertainment, Cinemawala, CD Choice, Eagles, Dhrubo TV, Ring media, Club eleven, Seven Tunes Entertainment, F-Three, Drama Box, CMV, Suranjali, etc.
The programme schedule of prominent 10 TV channels shows that they will release around 120 dramas featuring the popular artistes during this Eid holidays. All the channels have arranged a 7-day special programme schedule and they will air three dramas a day on average along with seven-episode of drama serials.
The TV channels are now maintaining their own YouTube channels and they also release their Eid dramas on these platforms and earn from both the platforms.
On the other hand, YouTube channels like CMV, Sultan Entertainment, Dhrubo Music Station, Cinemawala, Club Eleven will release around 50 special dramas this Eid featuring the popular artistes of the country.
To have an idea of the competition between the TV channels and YouTube platforms over drama production, The Business Post has talked to some of the industry insiders.
As the TV channels are the traditional medium of entertainment for people of all ages, each year the TV channels broadcast a handful of dramas to lure the audience during the Eid holidays. As the audiences are now more YouTube-centric rather than TV, the TV channels have also opened their YouTube channels where they release their content to earn extra revenue.
“As there is an increasing demand for YouTube dramas, we can’t sit back and just release the dramas on TV channels only. The dramas that are aired on the channel are also released on our YouTube channel. Through this, we can measure the viewership of any drama and earn extra revenue,” said Saiful Islam, assistant manager at NTV.
Asked if the TV channels faced challenges when directors and producers are interested to make dramas just for YouTube, he replied, “Initially, we faced some challenges. But we (NTV) quickly tried to solve it by sitting with the producers, record labels, and others. As a television channel, we also have to do business. So, we thought it’s better to solve it through discussion. We also emphasise on content and storyline of the drama to attract the viewers.”
Riad Shimul, senior executive of programme department at Maasranga TV, said, “Television is a traditional mode of entertainment. I don’t think there should be any competition between these platforms. But yes, as the audience are more interested to watch dramas on YouTube, the TV channels are now releasing their dramas on their YouTube channels. Now, we are making the drama for our own production house instead of buying dramas from the other production companies and record labels. By this, we can compete with YouTube.”
Riad also thinks that YouTube is more into views and trendy topics that’s why the quality of the drama has decreased. On the other hand, TV channels put their emphasis more on the content and storyline so that all the family members can enjoy the drama together.
Budgets are also a big factor for which the producers and directors are interested in making dramas for YouTube. Both Saiful and Riad
claimed that they do not have any hard and fast rules for the production budget. Their budget is mainly based on the actors, plots, locations and directors.
Various recording labels are more interested in producing drama in recent times. They have shifted from producing music videos to drama production mainly because of the audience demand and extra revenue. Among them, CMV, CD
Choice, Dhrubo Music Station, and Eagles are some prominent channels for dramas.
Under the banner of CMV, 17 star-studded dramas will be released this Eid. CMV has been one of the most popular YouTube channels for dramas for a few years. In previous years, they have produced a good number of star-studded dramas featuring Mehazabein Chowdhury, Afran Nisho, Apurba, Sabila Nur, Mosharrof Karim, and Tanjina Tisha among others. The dramas have received positive responses from the audience.
“At first, we focus more on the good storyline and scripting. Secondly, our marketing team is very strong. You will see that we make colourful and interesting posters for every drama. We also have enough staff to help out with our internal work. I think that’s the reason we are doing good in drama production,” said CMV’s producer SK Shahed Ali Pappu regarding their popularity on YouTube.
Asked for the reason behind shifting their focus on dramas from music, he replied, “If I can do business in more than one sector, why won’t I? Ultimately, we all want to earn profit and expand our business as much as we can. As there is an increasing demand for an audience for drama instead of music, we are focusing on dramas now. We also produce music. In that case, we try to produce music for the dramas instead of releasing a single music video.”
Shahed does not consider the TV channels as their competitor and thinks that they are all working for making the Bengali drama industry more successful.
“Everyone is doing their business. It’s the audience who will choose from what medium they will watch the drama. It’s all up to them. We just need to do better and better so that we can satisfy the audience,” he said.
On the contrary, Dhrubo Music Station is more focused on producing music than dramas. Omar Faruk from Dhrubo Music Station said, “In this Eid, we will probably produce 5 to 6 dramas. We are a recording label. We want to focus more on music as we are a music station.”
Asked why the record labels are now producing dramas, Omar said, “Because the market for music in our country is not so good and producers do not earn much from that. That’s why all the recording labels are producing dramas to earn extra revenue. They are competing against TV dramas. We also have to produce dramas now to meet the demand of the audience. But prefer music.”
