Diversity is Key- The Journey of Television in Odisha (Part-3)

Dr. Fakira Mohan Nahak

The television news industry in Odisha has gone through a progressive journey in the past two decades. In this series Dr. Fakira Mohan Nahak presents the media history blended with his close observation on the fast changing industry.

Prior to the launch of ETV Oriya, DD Odia was Hobson’s choice for the people of Odisha as far as watching television programmes in Odia was concerned. For variety, people used to watch Hindi programmes on Zee and Star TV or foreign channels like BBC, HBO for English. There was no other way for the audience to get out of the classical, traditional, and monotonous television presentations of the national broadcaster. So it was obvious for the viewers to get attracted when something new and different was presented.

The launch of ETV Oriya brought a revolution. To cater to the need of all categories of viewers, its Fixed Point Chart (FPC) was designed. It helped the channel to create a niche of its own in the hearts of the audience. It created a lasting impression at the grass root level. The TV watching pattern of the audience got changed. All of a sudden, the popularity and presence of television in the state got increased. It reminded me how the broadcast of Ramananda Sagar’s Ramayana and Baldev Raj Chopra’s Mahabharata serials in the 1980s saw a similar trend in increasing the popularity of television across the country.

When I left for Hyderabad to start my media journey in ETV in the monsoon of 2001, my village of about two and a half hundred houses had only two black and white (monochrome) television sets. But within a year of the launch of ETV Oriya, the number of television set in our village had reached nearly a hundred. This clearly indicates how ETV had influenced the viewers and the market in the sale of television sets.

ETV Oriya was a 24 hour infotainment channel providing both information and entertainment to the audience. The channel provided the audience an opportunity to watch a plethora of programmes. Compared to the current situation, the viewers were not burdened with information overload two decades back. The management of ETV Oriya was also very unique. The entertainment segment was run by Ushakiran Television Pvt. Ltd. and the news telecast was owned by News Today Pvt Ltd. In addition to that, the technical department of the channel was in the hands of Ushoday Enterprises Limited. Even though it was run by three different companies, for the viewers, it was one and only ETV Oriya. The heart-warming tagline of the channel “ETV – Ama TV” ( ETV…Our TV) helped to steal the heart of the audience instantly.

The day of a viewer used to get started with the devotional program of ETV titled “Samarpan”.  Many intellectuals, cultural and religious scholars used to provide speeches, lectures, and sermons in that programme. ETV started a programme called “Apananka Pasand” where the viewers could convey messages to their loved ones through letters and dedicate songs of their choice. It created a lot of craze among the audience and developed a strong bond between the channel and the viewers. It was not practically possible to go through each and every letter as the channel was flooded with letters of love and warmth from the audience for the channel and their loved ones. So the channel tried its best to cover maximum number of wishes in the form of onscreen scroll. The then craze for watching Chitrahar on Doordarshan took a back seat.

The two prime time mega serials “Mausi” and “Panatakani“ were the key contributors in increasing the popularity of the channel among the viewers. There were weekly programmes as well. Most importantly, the channel had special programs like “Tuan Tuin” and “Panchatantra” and reality shows such as “Boom Shakalaka” for children. Instead of using any animation or special effects, puppets of different characters were made to present the story of Panchatantra to the viewers. It was regarded as one of the finest attempts to convert the traditional media into a modern one.

ETV Oriya came up with a dance reality show named “One Two Cha Cha Cha”  for the teens. Its presentation style was a bit trendy and at par with the reality shows of the national level. It provided the right platform for the young ones to showcase their talent. The FPC also included a program called Campus to attract the college going audience. There was a special program called “Ananya” exclusively for women. This program had a positive impact on the lifestyle, etiquette, and mannerism of the ladies at the grass root level. A special culinary show called “Ama Rosei” was aired to meet the needs of housewives.

ETV Oriya made a unique attempt in bringing the behind-the-scene heroes to the limelight through the programme “Nepathya Nayak“. As a result, viewers got the opportunity to know more about stalwarts like the legendary singer and music composer late Akshaya Mohanty and eminent dialogue and screenplay writer Bijay Mishra. People got the pleasure of watching old and recently released Odia movies on a regular basis. The channel continued to enrich its digital library of films. There was a special programme dedicated to the farmers called “Annadata”. “Dhet Terika”, the light hearted comedy program of the channel had also garnered a lot of popularity among the audience. The unique show called “Chhota Mora Gaanti“ featuring villages of special importance had its own fan base.

It was all about entertainment till now. On the other hand, ETV Oriya had created a new trend in news coverage and presentation. Although the news broadcasting was only for five hours a day, it could easily meet the audience’s information needs. For the first time, ETV did broadcast of national and international news and related visuals in Oriya. This was possible due to ETV’s tie up with various national and international news agencies like the Reuters, PTI, and CNN.

The most important part of ETV News was the regional prime time news bulletin called “Amari Odisha”. It became synonymous with the channel. It was the heartbeat of the viewers. The purpose of the bulletin was to present news from each nook and corner of the state and cover news of Odia people living outside the state. The bulletin became the voice of the people and also covered news related to the state’s art, culture, politics, sports, and crime.

To build a robust news network, ETV deployed reporters or correspondents in every district and had set up bureaus in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Balasore, Rourkela, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Jeypore. Representatives of the corresponding surrounding districts worked under the respective bureaus. The state-level bureau office at Bhubaneswar controlled all other bureaus across the state. At that time, it was technically challenging to gather news across the state, edit it and broadcast it from Hyderabad. Yet the ETV team made it happen.

ETV could successfully come out of all the monotony and restrictions that were prevalent in the Doordarshan news presentation. The news was presented to the audience with the right language, sentiment, and attitude, and voice modulation. The news anchors became household names. Their style of presentation became a benchmark in the days to come. Let’s discuss more about the news anchors and anchors of other popular programs of the channel and the representation of women journalists in the next edition.

(Dr. Fakira Mohan Nahak is a writer and former media professional. He is currently working as the Head of the Department of ‘University Institute of Media Studies, Chandigarh University at Mohali, Punjab. Views are Personal)