Shrinking TV serial TRPs, shelf lives and budgets send producers to OTTs 

Television soap operas known to run for years are seeing their shelf lives and budgets shrink on plunging TRPs as content viewing is shifting to OTT platforms, leading to the rise of a new format of 25-100 episodes of ‘TV+’ content for digital platforms.   

“Till a few years ago, the top shows used to have TRPs of 5+. Now, they are doing 2.5. ‘Anupama’ used to be 4+ in 2020 when it was launched. Now, it is at 2.8 even though it continues to be the top show. The volume of consumption (on TV) has come down,” says Saurabh Tewari, a writer and producer in the Hindi TV industry. He is known for shows such as Sherdil Shergill on Colors TV and the upcoming Lakhan Leela Bhargav (LLB)’ on JioCinema. 

As TRPs wane, the budgets and shelf lives of the shows are shrinking. Tewari further explains that budgets were calculated earlier keeping in mind the norm of 260 episodes in one year. “If I had to put up a set for Rs 2 crore to shoot daily episodes in, I knew I would be able to recover the set cost or break even within 100 episodes, and that I would start making money in 160 episodes. But if my show runs only for 160 episodes, I don’t make any money. If it shuts in 80 episodes, I lose money,” he adds. 

About eight years ago, 80% of the shows used to complete a year, say producers. Several of them such as Kumkum Bhagya and Pavitra Rishta ran for 1,000+ episodes, while Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has been on air for more than 10 years now, minting money for both the producer and the TV network. But now, a majority of shows are struggling to cross the 1-year mark, sucking out the profitability of the business. 

“The number of successful shows has gone down drastically. Earlier, it was unusual for a show meant for a year’s run to get shut before that. Now, almost 60% shows fail to complete their contractual period…The possibility of shows going off air before their contractual period is up is much higher now than five years ago,” says Sudhir Sharma, Producer & Director, Founder of Sunshine Productions.  He is known for shows such as Miley Jab Hum Tum on Star TV and web show Yeh Meri Family S2 on Amazon Mini. 

The trend is driving TV networks and seasoned producers out of television and to web content. “There has been a huge traction in last two months from OTT platforms for ‘TV+’ content. These are typically 25-50-100 episodes and get released on JioCinema, Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Mini,” Sharma adds. 

Typically, networks budget around Rs 7-10 lakh for an episode of a TV serial. For the TV+ content, the budget is around thrice as much and may even go up to Rs 30-50 lakh an episode, producers say.  The hugely popular series Gullak (SonyLIV) and the upcoming 42-episode ‘Lakhan Leela Bhargav (LLB)’  (JioCinema) are a few examples. But they are not the same as original web shows ‘Farzi’ or ‘A Family Man’ featuring popular movie stars which are shot on budgets of Rs 3-3.5 crore per episode, excluding actor fee, and come out once in a while.  

Producers says it is better to go in for these 40-episodic shows where the economics are worked out accordingly rather than signing up for a 260-episode serial and risk losing money if it shuts down within 100 episodes. Besides, the volume of business is the same whether you do 20 episodes on a budget of Rs 35 per episode or 100 episodes on a budget of Rs 7 lakh per episode.   

In fact, with the pressure of airing a fresh episode daily gone in the case of web content, TV producers now have the liberty of shooting live on location. Television serials are shot in expensive sets to avoid falling victim to the vagaries of nature. That costs can now be pumped into producing the show. It’s a win-win for TV networks and producers diversifying into TV+ content, producers add.