Covid impact: Lack of fresh TV content could spell drop in ad-revenue?

The decision of the Maharashtra government to stop all shooting impacts TV shows acutely as compared to films or OTT series The world of soaps after all needs a steady flow of contentIf shooting stops channels are forced to run repeats In turn that has direct impact on advertising revenueMany shows realising the threat of that scenario are already shifting shooting base outside Maharashtra Hamari Wali Good News is going to be shot at Manesar in Haryana Kundali Bhagya Kumkum Bhagya Qurbaan Hua and Apna Time Bhi Ayega move to Goa Teri Meri ikk Jindri is shifting base to Jaipur while Kyun Rishton Mein Katti Batti is moving to Surat for nowThe scene is similar for many reality shows According to sources Indian Idol has an episode bank for two weeks right now and Super Dancer Chapter 4 has a bank for a weekConfirming that his show is shifting base lead actor Siddhaanth Vir Surryavanshi of Kyun Rishton Mein Katti Batti says the entire team was tested for Covid on Wednesday and will be travelling on FridayThis was unexpected and the entire storyline is being reworked overnight So we are not sure what it will be but the story will definitely move outdoors he says adding We will be moving to a resort and will be in a bio bubble We will be following protocolSiddhaanth adds they are mentally prepared to stay for a month Looking at how last year turned out We are mentally prepared to be out for a month I am going to miss my family and the comfort of home but this is also a good time to bond with the team he saysBudgets will be impacted of course According to experts the cost of shooting an episode per day comes to Rs 115 lakh minimum In this case it could go up to Rs 225 lakh per dayTrade analyst Atul Mohan says that due to this gap producers might be forced to run old content which might lead to advertisers consider the idea of backing outAdvertisers book slots a month in advance sometimes they also do so for the entire season So they might stop their ads and agree to continue the contract once the fresh episodes are on air Channels will lose money from ads Of course they will generate money from their web channels he saysAd guru Prahlad Kakkar dissects the situation bluntly If they are not shooting then they are not earning And who said this will last only for 15 daysWhile they continue to be worried about how their shows will survive the actors also feel that the step has been taken in everyones interestActor Prateik Chaudhary who was last seen in Paramavatar Shri Krishna says that this time off would give him a chance to work on himselfFor an actor shooting is not the only thing he needs to consider as work I guess being an actor is a 247 job You need to work on your craft work on your fitness and many things When I dont have a shoot or work rather than cribbing or being negative I am focusing on myself I am really using this time in many things like doing my home workout working on my acting craft watching a lot of movies and series he saysActor Mrunal Jain says that this is the time for actors to look at other types of contentWe were not expecting this at all and now this has led to a lot of uncertainty as to what will happen I hope that the shows are able to survive as I am sure not many have large episode banks As for me I am at home but I am regularly shooting content for social media I feel this is the time that we can reconnect with our fans he saysKunal Jaisingh ends on an optimistic note We just started shooting and somehow we really sensed looking at the situation that lockdown can be imposed Even after so much of precautions and after following all Covid19 guidelines so many actors and people on set tested positive Hope the phase of lockdown lasts for a small time and we resume our work the soonest We are already missing the shoot vibes he sums up the situationThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever