Is Bangladesh blocking all Indian media channels? Here's the truth
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Riyad
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Do Bangladeshis watch Bengali movies from India? Do Indian Bengalis like to watch Bangladeshi movies? Do artists from both sides find employment in both industries?
I'm curious and hope that Bengalis from both sides can answer
Language accent is barrier between Bangladeshi and Indian West Bengali contents.
The Bangladeshi accent is more raw and not bookish or standard Bengali. West Bengali accent esp. accent used in Kolkata and adjacent areas are considered standard Bengali language without any type of accent. Talking Urdu with Punjabi accent is what Bangladeshi Bengali accent is.
In TV dramas Bangladeshi contents used to be popular in 90's but now occasionally one or two TV dramas are made content wise otherwise very dull and mediocre production quality.
Indian Bengali channels (Zee Bangla, Star Jalsha and other Bengali channels) are hugely popular in Bangladesh. Their production quality is high much like Hindi serials. Although story is cringe worthy but with lot of dramas and queries / suspense. Bangladesh has huge audience for such dramas or Natoks.
Indian Bengali art house films are popular in Bangladesh but the mainstream commercial masala Indian Bengali films have no audience in Bangladesh.
Bangladeshi films are also very poor in quality. Even worse quality than Pakistani films.
Indian Bengali and Bangladeshi commercial films both are very bad but production wise Indian Bengali films are far superior in quality.
Michael Corleone
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Early 2000s? You're being kind.
India is a shameless country that wants to sell its processed goods to BD.
But where are our own manufacturers of consumer products that can compete against Indian ones? It is probably India that vetoes anything related to manufacturing in BD.
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Black_cats
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It’s from 1993-94 if I am not mistaken these dish channel culture appeared in Bangladesh.
Bilal9
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@bluesky bhai, they will keep doing this, until and unless we put in a stop to it. I'd say there are plenty of Bangladeshi products, in Fast moving consumer goods (soaps, hair oil, shampoo, baby food, snacks) and of course electronics and kitchen electrics categories which are far better quality and better priced than Indian products. I can discuss that with you later if you are interested. Indian Banyas will do all sorts of business in Bangladesh market, but has not reciprocated this favor so far for Bangladeshi products in Indian market and IMHO will never reciprocate, due to their mentality.
Not only are Indian Banyas complicit in this, their media is as well. Indian cable operators are not allowed to carry Bangladeshi channels in India. Period.
The problem was the India-subservient trade policy that was present so far (Thanks in no small part to Hasina's whims) that allowed Indians to get away with this, at the expense of our local media (channels and ad agencies). Now that we see that Indians are grabbing ad-revenue from Bangladesh (Bangladeshi manufacturers advertising in Indian media such as Star Plus, Star Jolsha and Zee Bangla, paying Indians to do Bangladeshi ads), The Chetona BAL-sycophant Ad agencies are now unhappy that they are removed from this revenue stream and they petitioned Hasina to ban Indian channels if those foreign (mostly Indian) channels won't stop Advertising Bangladeshi and Indian products. Not only are local Advertising agencies losing money, but local channels and local media workers, models and producers are prevented from making money and supporting our own media.
Take a look at these videos, they will explain everything. Now we will see how mahaan Indian industry and their ad agencies are, they are already shaking in their boots and Star Jolsha and Zee Bangla are saying that they will petition the Indian govt. We will see what comes of it, but it's clear Modi govt. won't do jack to help WB, he wants to more chaos and disarray in that state and the WB economy to go down the drain. It is estimated that this media business from Bangladesh hands over about $10 Billion yearly to Indian media and ad agencies as ad revenue, supporting their economy (mostly to Kolkata media because they speak the same language).
Which brings (IMHO) the total of Indians scamming Bangladesh for over $60 Billion yearly, I'm sure I have not considered all sorts of other money Indians make from Bangladesh.
Not only has the govt. banned foreign channels altogether (if they cannot provide clean ad-free feeds), the govt. will also ban Internet broadcasts of these channels via DTH and via YouTube (and any other way they choose to broadcast to Bangladesh) if they cannot provide ad-free feeds. Of course, Bangladesh is already in talks with YouTube and DTH operators about this and further 'plugging holes' will occur.
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Bilal9
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Yes - and the movement to ban these channels has been ongoing from 2006, if some of you older guys recall. BAL (and BNP) haramkhor idiots sat and allowed this to happen for fifteen years, taking bribe from Indian media, letting our own channels and media languish.
Bilal9
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The cable operators are crying fowl because their revenue stream is now affected. 
They (Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh or COAB) are saying they will go into "Andolon" (Bandh/Hartal).
They will see mass de-subscription of their services.
I'd love to see that on the streets.
This channel is live right now.
They (Cable Operators Association of Bangladesh or COAB) are saying they will go into "Andolon" (Bandh/Hartal).
They will see mass de-subscription of their services.
I'd love to see that on the streets.
This channel is live right now.
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crankthatskunk
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Here all the channels can only show 2/3 minutes ads during the breaks. 4 breaks maximum in an hour. means 8/10 mins of ads 50 minutes of pure watching contents.
All the games, no ads during the games only during half times in football, rugby etc. Even Cricket coverage gets ads after every 1/2 hour. Not like India and Pakistan, ads after every over and sometimes even in between the overs.
It is ridiculous.
Is this the reason why BCCI is the richest cricket body? As they earn so much from ads?
Frankly speaking, I dont think any govt should interfere in private business. If a particular channel shows a lot of ads, then the people can switch channels to see something where ads are lesser. No one is forcing them to pay subscription for a particular channel. Let market economics decide viewership and ads.
Bilal9
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The cable operators are crying fowl.
This channel is live right now.
You are overstating the economic angle. It is not something the rogue capitalist market decides.
There needs to be a minimum of standards set for private media by the govt., you can't have ads run to the point that people are complaining, eventually all media will resort to showing ads every three minutes or less if there is no regulation. That is too much.
Even in the US, there are 'decency in broadcast' standards, and they are the number one capitalist country.
There are standards of decency and good taste that the govt. should decide, not the media.
In the US - the FCC decided these standards of broadcast - and new rules are being formulated and enforced all the time. In it's homepage, the FCC says the following (which has everything to do with protecting its own media and advertising market and nothing to do with letting a foreign country's media flourish, unlike what we are allowing in Bangladesh).
This channel is live right now.
You are overstating the economic angle. It is not something the rogue capitalist market decides.
There needs to be a minimum of standards set for private media by the govt., you can't have ads run to the point that people are complaining, eventually all media will resort to showing ads every three minutes or less if there is no regulation. That is too much.
Even in the US, there are 'decency in broadcast' standards, and they are the number one capitalist country.
There are standards of decency and good taste that the govt. should decide, not the media.
In the US - the FCC decided these standards of broadcast - and new rules are being formulated and enforced all the time. In it's homepage, the FCC says the following (which has everything to do with protecting its own media and advertising market and nothing to do with letting a foreign country's media flourish, unlike what we are allowing in Bangladesh).
- Promoting competition, innovation and investment in broadband services and facilities
- Supporting the nation's economy by ensuring an appropriate competitive framework for the unfolding of the communications revolution
- Encouraging the highest and best use of spectrum domestically and internationally
- Revising media regulations so that new technologies flourish alongside diversity and localism
- Providing leadership in strengthening the defense of the nation's communications infrastructure
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mb444
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It means ad free broadcast.
Not BDs problem what it means for the broadcasters. BD does not want corrosive indian nonsense into the country. Good riddance in every respect.
You are again misleading as the BD action is against all foreign channels. So are you saying all non-BD content is 'corrosive' and 'nonsense'?
The Ronin
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I read another post but this one kinda serve the purpose.
In a bizarre move, the government's decision to implement an ad-free or clean feed broadcast has forced cable operators to stop broadcasts of all foreign channels—including the BBC, CNN or the very popular ZeeBangla—from Friday.
This move was apparently prompted by the lobbying by Bangladeshi TV channel owners—who were concerned that they were losing advertisement revenues to the popular Indian channels where most advertisers were betting their money on.
While the local channel owners' concerns may have valid arguments, the government decision is one-sided and leaves us baffled. It certainly did not take into consideration the viewers' interest; the older generation and the working-class people who watch a lot of airtime in their leisure hours. Most of them watch the Indian Bangla channels—because in contrast to their content— like it or not, most Bangladeshi entertainment channels fail big time.
Clean feed is such an attractive concept. We all want to watch clean TV programmes. If the foreign channels show advertisements, block them. If you want to totally cut them off as North Korea does, then why not implement the same for the local channels?
The local channels fill up the airtime with advertisement segments way longer than the programme itself. A 20-minute drama may take one hour to complete with 40 minutes of advertisements.
Why do the local channels pump in so many advertisements? It's because of excessive competition among the channels to grab advertisements leading to astonishing price cuts. Whereas BTV charges per minute up to Tk90,000 during peak times and Tk45,000 during off-peak times, some private channels sell per minute airtime to advertisers for a few thousand taka to merely Taka15,000 during their peak times.
Less revenue per minute means they allocate more minutes per programme to cover up their programme cost.
Then again, advertisers are not very interested in their channels. Why should they be? These channels do not invest properly in making content that people would watch. In contrast, Indian channels invest professionally to make whatever the content they are making.
The BTV still spends around four-five lakh taka to make a 50-minute TV drama; whereas, the best private channels do not want to spend more than two lakh taka for the same drama. For a 20-25 minute drama, some channels offer producers/directors 60k-70k; some 40k, and some even do not bother paying for the content. This is the reality. Who would want to take a loss making good programmes for TV?
As a result, good writers and directors have moved away from making creative content. The Indian channels have found an empty goal post to score and win the prize money. You may not like what they are making, but the fact is, older people and working people overwhelmingly watch these because they are entertaining; whereas the Bangladeshi channels are not.
The local channels will die without whatever advertisement revenue they are getting. But are most of them really viable as commercial entities? No. Most of them lack creativity or vision. They do not invest in anything and they just follow a 'copy and paste' formula as their business model.
Shutting foreign channels won't solve the core problems of the local channels.
Like the local tv channels, we, in the print and the online media, can also demand the shut down of Facebook and Google—because we are also losing advertisement revenues to these Internet monopolies. Facebook and Google are taking away our advertisements by a significant amount—these two rake in more ad revenue than all the media houses of the country combined.
But would it be fair for us to ask the government to do so? We think not.
Remember that the government had banned the screening of foreign movies after liberation to help the local movie industry thrive? Did the decision help our industry produce people like Fellini or Ridley Scott? Sorry, it did not. Today the Bangladeshi movie industry is on its deathbed.
Therefore, the government should revisit the decision on the foreign channels. There has to be technology that can block advertisements while not interrupting the airing of the programmes. We want the BBC. We want news. We want HBO, ZeeBangla or the Cartoon Network. We want entertainment in this crazy, stressful world. We want to remain connected to the world—like we already are through the Internet and streaming services. Stopping foreign channels is not the solution.
www.tbsnews.net
In a bizarre move, the government's decision to implement an ad-free or clean feed broadcast has forced cable operators to stop broadcasts of all foreign channels—including the BBC, CNN or the very popular ZeeBangla—from Friday.
This move was apparently prompted by the lobbying by Bangladeshi TV channel owners—who were concerned that they were losing advertisement revenues to the popular Indian channels where most advertisers were betting their money on.
While the local channel owners' concerns may have valid arguments, the government decision is one-sided and leaves us baffled. It certainly did not take into consideration the viewers' interest; the older generation and the working-class people who watch a lot of airtime in their leisure hours. Most of them watch the Indian Bangla channels—because in contrast to their content— like it or not, most Bangladeshi entertainment channels fail big time.
Clean feed is such an attractive concept. We all want to watch clean TV programmes. If the foreign channels show advertisements, block them. If you want to totally cut them off as North Korea does, then why not implement the same for the local channels?
The local channels fill up the airtime with advertisement segments way longer than the programme itself. A 20-minute drama may take one hour to complete with 40 minutes of advertisements.
Why do the local channels pump in so many advertisements? It's because of excessive competition among the channels to grab advertisements leading to astonishing price cuts. Whereas BTV charges per minute up to Tk90,000 during peak times and Tk45,000 during off-peak times, some private channels sell per minute airtime to advertisers for a few thousand taka to merely Taka15,000 during their peak times.
Less revenue per minute means they allocate more minutes per programme to cover up their programme cost.
Then again, advertisers are not very interested in their channels. Why should they be? These channels do not invest properly in making content that people would watch. In contrast, Indian channels invest professionally to make whatever the content they are making.
The BTV still spends around four-five lakh taka to make a 50-minute TV drama; whereas, the best private channels do not want to spend more than two lakh taka for the same drama. For a 20-25 minute drama, some channels offer producers/directors 60k-70k; some 40k, and some even do not bother paying for the content. This is the reality. Who would want to take a loss making good programmes for TV?
As a result, good writers and directors have moved away from making creative content. The Indian channels have found an empty goal post to score and win the prize money. You may not like what they are making, but the fact is, older people and working people overwhelmingly watch these because they are entertaining; whereas the Bangladeshi channels are not.
The local channels will die without whatever advertisement revenue they are getting. But are most of them really viable as commercial entities? No. Most of them lack creativity or vision. They do not invest in anything and they just follow a 'copy and paste' formula as their business model.
Shutting foreign channels won't solve the core problems of the local channels.
Like the local tv channels, we, in the print and the online media, can also demand the shut down of Facebook and Google—because we are also losing advertisement revenues to these Internet monopolies. Facebook and Google are taking away our advertisements by a significant amount—these two rake in more ad revenue than all the media houses of the country combined.
But would it be fair for us to ask the government to do so? We think not.
Remember that the government had banned the screening of foreign movies after liberation to help the local movie industry thrive? Did the decision help our industry produce people like Fellini or Ridley Scott? Sorry, it did not. Today the Bangladeshi movie industry is on its deathbed.
Therefore, the government should revisit the decision on the foreign channels. There has to be technology that can block advertisements while not interrupting the airing of the programmes. We want the BBC. We want news. We want HBO, ZeeBangla or the Cartoon Network. We want entertainment in this crazy, stressful world. We want to remain connected to the world—like we already are through the Internet and streaming services. Stopping foreign channels is not the solution.
Shutting foreign channels won’t solve the real Bangladeshi TV crisis
This move was apparently prompted by the lobbying by Bangladeshi TV channel owners
Bilal9
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I don't want to speak for @mb444 bhai, but I understand that every country has laws regarding foreign media because they affect the cultural and religious values of every nation, including ours. India and their trashy media cannot control the cultural discourse in our country.
Indian Bollywood scene will affect impressionable young minds in Bangladesh - and it is our job to control that scenario, as it clashes with our cultural values and religious sentiments. Those values do not match that of India.
How would Indian Hindus feel, if there were Quran recitals running 24/7 on multiple Indian cable channels all the time. I'm sure Modi govt. would allow that, right?
Suit your own selves, Indians have zero say-so in what we allow in our media and how and can eff-off for all I care - it is not even a debate. Period.
