For TV buffs the frustratingly long wait has ended and for telly stars the holiday is over with the deadlock between producers and workers ending on Wednesday.
MUMBAI: For TV buffs the frustratingly long wait has ended and for telly stars the holiday is over with the deadlock between producers and workers ending on Wednesday.
Workers have got a 30-35% hike in wages, and producers have agreed to satisfy their other demands too.
However, you will have to wait till Monday before you reach for the remote.
The trigger for the blackout was the strike called by the FWICE (Federation of Western India Cine Employees) demanding higher wages, better work conditions and more breaks between shoots. The strike impacted television serials and forced channels to begin re-runs from November 10.
On November 9, seven major broadcasters threatened a blackout of fresh programming as a collective response to the inability to bear the increased costs, due to higher wages being paid to TV workers and technicians, that have been thrust upon producers.
The channels asked FWICE and TV producers associations to resolve their differences, warning them of stopping commissioning any fresh episodes.
This resulted in the depletion of the episode banks of the soaps and broadcasters had to re-run old episodes, to the disappointment of viewers as well as advertisers.
The strike also cost the TV industry a daily revenue loss of Rs300 crore.
Mukesh Bhatt, chairman of the producers’ core committee, said they had agreed to ensure better working hours, insurance and pay hikes for lightmen and spot boys. However, he was not ready to divulge the exact pay hike.
Dharmesh Tiwari, president of Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), was more forthcoming though. “We have won. There has been a 30-35% hike in wages which will be paid on monthly basis. Also, if a producer wants to sack a worker, he will have to give a month’s notice. According to the new arrangement, workers will be paid overtime if they put in more than 10 hours on the shift,” he said.
Producers are a relieved lot. Says Sanjay Wadhwa, producer of popular serials like Saat Phere and Balika Vadhu, “We are very happy. We hope to start shooting for tomorrow [Thursday] itself.” Wadhwa says though they have lost time and money, one thing he’s confident of is Balika Vadhu’s TRPs won’t be affected. “The TRPs might just go up as people would want to watch fresh episodes with renewed gusto,” he says.
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