Continued from vol 02, issue 07

When Ekushey Television was launched, it targeted to appear as a terrestrial and satellite channel. Ekushey Television was supposed to use software from Impress Telefilm Limited. Farhad Mahmud from Ekushey was associated in many programs of Impress Telefilm Limited. Simultaneously, people from Impress Telefilm were seen working with Simon Dring from Ekushey. Simon at that time had conversations with Shykh Seraj about agriculture related programs. Shykh Seraj, on the other hand, emphasized that a channel has much to share about different perspective of a country apart from agricultural programs. The situation led to Impress Telefilm Limited producing a large amount of programs for Ekushey Television.

At that time, Impress Television Limited had two editing panel and six cameras. It wanted to increase its camera and editing panel. The country entered the beta stage from U-matic stage right then but earlier Bangladesh Television and ATN Bangla used both. Bangladesh Television also used helical tape in recording their programs. Ekushey Television collaborated with BBC Television in producing programs together. But through this collaboration, Impress Telefilm started to feel as if their relationship with Ekushey Television was becoming weaker. At one hand, Impress Telefilm Limited stored large scale programs at their library, producing program after program.

Bangladesh Television used to telecast a one-hour drama on Monday. The calculation said a drama given will need two years to run its course. Consequently, production of drama based on contemporary issued was almost impossible. In case of weekly dramas, Bangladesh Television did not accept any drama less than thirteen episodes but set design of a thirteen episode drama was not economically feasible. Again, the money invested for it took time to return, let alone the profit. Musical programs were seen less in channels compared to the dramas. On an average, more than twenty five applications used to be submitted for a drama aired on special days. The entertainment program like 'Ittadi' and 'Shuveccha' were regularly aired. This limitation of package programs created a huge backlog which affected young and senior producers alike.

As a satellite channel, the only earning source for ATN Bangla was commercials but the advertisement firms preferred Bangladesh Television over ATN Bangla. Only the corporations who could not advertise their commercials in Bangladesh Television due to their strict rule and telecast policy came to ATN Bangla. Cigarette companies came to ATN   Bangla; they were also interested since they could easily buy more screen time at the same price. ATN Bangla became aware about buying programs since the rate for programs was low. Suddenly the producers realized that it was not feasible for them to invest more money for programs targeted for ATN Bangla. They started producing low budget programs, though this was limited to television dramas. Consequently, the producers started making their dramas in a rented house that provided them with every facility within their limit.
Bangladesh Television did not buy any drama directly from the producers rather the producers collected their own sponsors and provided Bangladesh Television with dramas through them. In this case, the producers had to pay in cash for television slot rent but they needed quite a bit of time to retrieve the money from the advertiser. On the other hand, ATN Bangla provided them with the facility of receiving money immediately after the commercials have been aired. Moreover, the producers did not need to hunt for sponsors if they went for programs designed for ATN Bangla special slots. All these factors created an interest among producers about satellite channels.

With large scale aired and non-aired programs in their library, Impress Telefilm Limited started thinking about their program prospect. The programs were from different producers as well as from Impress Telefilm itself; many producers sold their programs copyright to Impress Telefilm Limited after it was aired. With huge programs stored in their library, Impress Telefilm started thinking if they could introduce a new satellite channel.
To be continued…

Translated by Mohammad Zahidul Islam