This was originally posted last year but since this topic is gaining such relevance we are reposting it

Some of you maybe laboring under the innocent assumption that it is a good story, a strong director or maybe even great acting, but you are wrong. For Television Channels what really makes a hit are TRPs or television rating points. These are calculated from devices called People meters which have been connected to the television sets of carefully designated households across Pakistan chosen to reflect the demographics of Pakistani society important to advertisers. Advertising money is what Channels run on. The equation is simple: high TRPs = more people watching = more advertisers = more revenue for the channel. However like anything else there are of opportunities for manipulation and abuse.

When a program has generated a significant TRP we often see Channels publicize the good news rather like an annoying mother whose child gets a good grade. So basically TRP’s might be a rough tool for calculating a certain serial’s popularity in Urban centers like Lahore and Karachi but not an absolute measure of success. Quite apart from any external manipulations there are several quite obvious flaws to this system:

• The serial maybe very popular in other less urban areas where the data is not gathered
• Pakistani serials are now increasingly watched in significant numbers by people throughout the world via the internet and there is no accounting for those viewers
• Even in urban areas the sampling of households may not accurately reflect the viewership of a program.

While accepting that Television Channels are commercial ventures, the consequences of slavishly accepting these TRPs as indicators of the success of serial has major consequences:

• Mediocrity and banality reign. Hence the deluge of serials of forced tearjerkers like Meri Beti, Mann ke Moti and puppet shows like Rukhsaar in which you can watch the first episode and predict the entire serial.
• Writers are forced to dilute and prolong perfectly good serials to keep the channel’s ratings up. These ad hoc additions ruin the momentum and quality of the viewers’ experience
• A vicious circle forms evolves which convinces channels to produce more mediocre serials in the hopes of repeating their previous success
• Channels think high ratings mean they have a “star” on their hands when all they have is a moderately competent actor or actress who was in a well-placed tearjerker.
• Innovation and quality are stifled. Why should writers , actors and directors strive for excellence if their work is put to one side for projects with supposed mass appeal?
• Constantly following the path of least resistance may have serious societal effects. It is no secret that entertainment is a medium for social messaging and a catalyst for change. What social messages are being given by the weeping women, abandoned children and flimsy romances which have gained currency? That no one is to be trusted? That Men are inherently evil? And now even mothers cannot be relied on to take care of their children? There is no denying that such situations exist in society but instead of treating these issues with balance and nuance they are presented in a cartoonish manner to plumb the deepest fears of the watching public.

In conclusion my greatest fear is that Pakistani dramas maybe victims of their own success and lose that edge of realism and quality that made the shine in the first place.

Written By Sadaf