Indian TV strike to halt daily soaps in UK

The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) has gone on strike, which will result in most daily TV soaps’ production in India halted.

The strike, which is the federation’s call in demand for higher wages, better work conditions and more breaks between shoots which will mostly impact television serials.

With Asian TV channels in the UK weeks behind transmission of shows to India, the impact here will be less. However, Sony Entertainment Television Asia, which broadcasts episodes of shows simultaneously with its beam in India, will be severely affected.

According to IndianTelevision, Sony TV will air re-runs of its old shows. Newcomers such as ‘Hum Ladkiyan’ and ‘Meet Mila De Rabba’ that are currently airing between 20:00 – 21:00 will go off air due to a limited bank of new episodes for both shows.

STAR Plus UK is up to six weeks behind transmission times of soaps to India. ZEE TV could also be affected depending on how long the strike goes on. Some of its dramas are up to two weeks behind ZEE TV India.

In India, STAR Plus has redefined its schedule with a pack of re-run episodes of old shows such as the top performer of the channel ‘Bidaai’. The family soap will air from the beginning between 19:00 – 22:00. The next in line is ‘Kis Desh Me Hain Mera Dil’, to be followed on Wednesday by ‘Hamari Devrani’ and ‘Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat’ on Thursday.

9X will bring back old episodes of ‘Mere Apne’, ‘Jiya Jale’ and ‘Chak De Bacche’, which have already ended to fill in the vacant gaps in its schedule. ‘Kahani Hamari Mahabharat Ki’ will also be televised from beginning.

Beside Sony TV, other UK Asian channels are unlikely to be affected immediately by the strike in India.

The strike kicked off on Saturday (8th November) and will continue until the wage issue is resolved.