Demand for K-soaps dwindle: study

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The demand for the hugely popular saas-bahu serials aka the K-soaps seems to have dwindled. According to a study commissioned by one of the largest media agencies in the world, Starcom and undertaken by HANSA research across key television viewing centres in the country revealed that two-third viewers feel that the current TV serials are long drawn and never-ending. Though the general entertainment channels still maintains their top position among the Indian households, the individual soaps on the more popular channels of Star, Sony and Zee has drastically dropped in TV ratings (TVRs) from the mid 20s a few years back to sub 10 in recent times. The fact that some soaps have been on air for many years airing more than 1,000 episodes has led many to demand a change.

The research was commissioned to study the reason for the drop in ratings and revealed that 9 out of 10 TV viewers wanted a change from the saas-bahu format of the soaps. The study found that three out of five viewers want faster, racier and more progressive programmes with a definite end. Over 50% of respondents expressed confusion in story lines of these serials. Respondents in smaller towns expressed preference for simpler story lines and interestingly they were just as vocal about demanding change as their metro counterparts. In fact 90% of respondents in Moradabad (in UP) expressed the need for change in content as compared to 84% of respondents from Mumbai.