After the sting, the pain

Is one sting operation gone wrong reason enough to ban stings altogether?

Will Parliament impose a suo motu ban on sting operations on television channels? That's the big question bothering the television news broadcast industry, especially the 10 national Hindi news channels which together generate ad revenues worth Rs 700 crore, for the last few days, after a news channel recently got into trouble for airing a fake sting operation.

While media industry experts admit that the sting operation shown by Hindi news channel Live India went horribly wrong, they feel that banning stings is a bad idea. Why? Do sting operations generate higher viewership and, therefore, higher advertising revenues?

"When the concept of stings was still new, they did increase the viewership of the channels they were shown on," says Ashutosh, managing editor, IBN7. "Today, they do not translate into higher viewership unless they have shock value," he says, adding that the channel's sting on spiritual gurus who convert black money into white for a commission, increased its viewership by about 100 per cent in the time band it was shown in. "That's probably because these gurus had a huge following."

According to Raju Santhanam, former editor, Zee News, only Bollywood and underworld stings sell. That explains why India TV's market share jumped from 4-6 per cent to 10 per cent when its sting on Bollywood's casting couch (remember Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma?) was aired. Ajit Anjum, the king of sting at BAG Films, which did numerous stings for Red Alert and Sansani on Star News, agrees that glamour attracts viewership. "Star News's market share increased to 64 per cent in the time band it showed our sting operation on stars and starlets in the flesh trade," says Anjum.

However, for the most part, investments in stings are made to build the image of the channel. Two years ago, Operation Duryodhan (where 14 MPs were caught on camera taking bribes) cost TV Today Rs 55 lakh. "It did not generate TRPs or ad revenue. But it was a great branding tool. The Rs 55 lakh sting gave us PR worth Rs 2 crore. Newspapers took the story on their front pages and the topic was discussed ad nauseam," says a senior marketing executive at TV Today.

Stings do not generate any advertising revenue either. For a start, they are usually a closely guarded secret and cannot be pre-sold to advertisers. "In any case, most ad deals are long-term," says Ashutosh. Secondly, advertisers keep away from crime shows and other controversial stories. A top Madison Media executive in Delhi says that sting operations do not help the image of the channel in any way.

So why do channels do stings, considering there are hardly any commercial implications? Says Anjum, managing editor at BAG: "For the same reason that newspapers do exclusive stories. They expose corruption and other social ills and push the authorities into taking action." Adds Ashutosh: "There cannot be a TV story, however controversial, without visuals and bytes from people, unlike print, where you can attribute them to sources. It is the nature of the medium which demand stings."

But some news channel executives feel that stings should be the last resort to crack a story. "However, banning them is not a solution. Corrective action should be taken so that stings are not misused," says Santhanam, adding that a proposal was mooted at the newly formed News Broadcasters Association to create filters and guidelines for stings.

Meanwhile, the thought of a government ban on stings is getting Ajit Anjum worked up. "We do stings for the passion for exposés. If you want easy TRPs, put a half-an-hour module of Indian Idol on your channel," he smirks. And yes, he will do stings on his soon-to-be-launched Hindi news channel. "Because there are things you cannot prove without stings," he concludes.