ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the importance of soap operas in prime time programming for television (TV) channels, TV rating points, a history of the production houses that produce the content for the soaps, their similarities, and differences with production in the West. TV audience measurement media research is the TV viewer-ship analysis firm of India. The chapter aims to establish the role of the genre within the TV industry, which is critical to the understanding of the popularity and continuing importance of soaps. The continuous process in the production of soaps means that there is a continuous opportunity for employment of people. Production houses such as Balaji, Director’s Kut and Sphere Origins audition all over the country for fresh faces to act in their shows. Balaji Telefilms Limited was started in 1994 by Jeetendra Kapoor, a big star of Hindi cinema from the 1960s–1980s, his wife Shobha Kapoor, and daughter Ekta Kapoor.
