Promos in vogue

The past two decades has witnessed the most phenomenal changes in the world of entertainment, rapidly shifting the mode of outdoor mediums such as theatres to making a resounding entry into households through television. Now, television powered by the Internet, direct to home and online streaming technologies has further pushed these boundaries. With billions watching a variety of shows, programmes and infotainment and being bombarded by thousands of dedicated channels to serve the audience, the presentation of such ventures has been one of the huge tasks for the makers of TV shows. Just like movie trailers, promotional videos on small screen have gained relevance too. They look rich and are not short on drama, setting the tone of a brand new saga or even what is up on the next episodes. Bengaluru Chronicle reports.

Shows like Kshamaa, Sevanthi, Gattimela, Mahadevi and Nandini each have had their share of interesting promotions.

“It is all about popularity. Producing a television serial or a show/programme at present is as good as producing a feature film, and sometimes it is a costly affair when compared to the number of episodes which run for years. The number of brand new serials and shows are at an all-time high. Every month, there are at least two to three new shows which are aired. So, it becomes important for the makers to reach the audience through promotional activities,” says director Kantharaj.

He explains that promotional videos of TV shows are one of the main tools for the channels to introduce their audience to new subject matter, and content to grab eyeballs.

“It is very difficult to make an audience tune into a new programme or show unless it is exciting and has attention-grabbers. Also, once the audience gets hooked onto a show, it is another hard task to make them shift their attention to a new one. That is why makers are also indulging in new kinds of promotional activities including outdoor advertisements just like movies,” shares small screen producer Venkatesh.

He adds that the promos and the first few episodes are made in a grand manner, and very few serials unless they sustain popularity and are made under big production houses, continue with consistent quality.

However, they are not just limited to brand new ventures that are usually a build up to the start of such shows. “Even existing shows and programmes tend to hold on to their viewers by constantly creating new twists and turns. They too use promos for upcoming episodes. But, most of such activities end up disappointing viewers as they make tall claims, and end up with nothing new or just further drag the never-ending saga,” writer Rohit concludes.