Pakistan has entered the age of podcasts, challenging the monopoly of TV channels over views and analysis. In terms of presentation and popularity, podcasts are also replacing vlogs. The choice viewers have to watch what they want has overwhelmed modern society, popularizing podcasts (a combination of iPod and broadcast).
Before 1999, Pakistani viewers were mostly limited to watching state-run television. However, the 2000s witnessed the emergence of private TV channels, offering an alternative and pro-viewer beginning. The choice of what to watch expanded, with talk shows discussing politics gaining popularity. A batch of hosts as anchorpersons emerged, inviting guests from various walks of life to express their thoughts on given topics. This decade remained the golden age of TV talk shows.
After 2010, private TV channels changed their strategy. Instead of inviting guests from the public, they began summoning guests from within their ranks. Hosts (anchorpersons) of one talk show could become guest analysts on another talk show on the same or another private TV channel. This role-shift strategy led to the same faces hogging the space of talk shows. Viewers could predict what would be said before a guest even spoke. This predictability disconnected and disillusioned viewers, and the repetition of statements, though with certain ameliorations, failed the test of originality. Trite utterances spoiled the purpose of talk shows, rendering them bland and humdrum.
The popularity of a talk show was gauged by ratings. Higher ratings meant more advertising revenue and higher salaries for anchorpersons. This led to the strategy of spicing up talk shows with incriminations and contentions. Rancor and sarcasm were cheered, and polemics and altercations followed. A crop of shouting anchorpersons and baying guests emerged. Initially, viewers were interested, but they soon realized they were left with no choice but to endure the persistent ranting and clamour. Viewers saw the treachery in contrived talk shows, insulting originality.
Around 2017, the era of vlogs began in Pakistan, pioneered by talk show hosts who were either ousted from private TV channels or could not make their mark there. They started vlogs, creating one-man talk shows on various issues (social, political, religious, economic, or ethical, moral). This broadened the range of issues discussed. Viewers fed up with TV talk shows latched on to vlogs. Hosts found an alternative source of income in dollars, and viewers (now called subscribers) found platforms for new and relevant thoughts. A symbiotic relationship developed, leading many other anchorpersons to start vlogging.
Vlogs left TV talk show hosts flabbergasted as they lost their monopoly on highlighting topics of their choice. Vlogs underlined topics or aspects kept away (deliberately or otherwise) from the general public, unnerving state authorities trying to control talk show content. Efforts to control vlogs resulted in multiple laws and ordinances. While state authorities wrangled with vloggers over freedom of expression, the podcast age set in. The year making podcasts noticeable was 2023.
Podcasts can be considered an improved version of vlogs. Unlike a one-man vlog, a podcast invites guests to discuss topics of public interest. This phase of development is admired because it offers an alternative platform to TV talk shows. Vlogs stand midway between TV talk shows and podcasts run on social media platforms. Podcasts feature guests (interlocutors) from various walks of life who couldn’t find opportunities on TV talk shows or one-man vlogs. This is why podcasts are quickly gaining popularity.
Podcasts have introduced professors, entrepreneurs, political activists, social workers, economic experts, thinkers, and intellectuals as interlocutors who were previously ignored. The rat race for ratings had obliterated their path, and state authorities might have wanted them absent from the screen. The podcast phenomenon has singlehandedly wrecked the monopoly of private TV channels and state authority dictations.
As of now, most TV talk shows have lost traction. The role-shift participants, with their self-assumed status as predictors, have devastated the flair, and the relentless pursuit of ratings has further damaged credibility. The state’s effort to control talk show content and guest choices has worsened the situation. Against this vile background, the podcast age has emerged, promoting the talent to conduct podcasts and create original content with a variety of thoughts presented politely and argumentatively. It gives viewers a broad choice without being pushed to watch.
Dr Qaisar Rashid
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com