The stuff of channels
The Hindu : The stuff of channelsThe TV of the future will be an all new entity, says Praveen KrishnanMy most recent trip to Chennai for vacation, involved a little bit of everything that is usual – catching up with relatives, old friends and a sedentary existence on home cooked food, when not in the bed.Of course, one couldn’t completely savour the indulgence without the television viewing ritual.However, it was mighty unsettling (shocking?) to discover that the plethora of Tamil language channels had now increased to a whopping twenty in number!That wouldn’t have been so bad if there were really twenty different options to choose from, but it mostly seems to be the same content, same ‘cinematic’ themes, same news stories, same reality shows and the same soaps famous for their family (anti) values – multiplied twenty times.This seems to be quite true of other vernacular channels too, though not to the same severity. One really wonders where this is leading to.An increasingly common trend is the concept of having more than one television in the house so that multiple tastes can be satiated.The television of the future might no longer be the glue that brings the family together – a personal television, much like the personal computer might be the future concept.What about the channels then? Merely speculating, the overdose of channels is likely to continue for some more time before (like all other business) there will be a spate of mergers among television channels. Until that happens, these will be stressful times for the viewer – and the remote control.Do you have anything to say? About the state of the world, the city, your angst? Pen it stylishly and you might get it published.And dash off your piece with your photograph. Email it to bangaloremetro@thehindu. co.in or post it to MetroPlus, The Hindu, 19 & 21, Bhagwan Mahaveer Road (Infantry Road), Bangalore 1….More
