An ongoing strike by workers in India’s television industry has left many viewers in the lurch, with several channels airing reruns of popular soap operas.
Media reports said a standoff between TV producers and workers demanding a wage hike has led to general entertainment channels in India pulling the plug on fresh content.
Fans anxious to know the fate of wicked mothers-in-law, young lovers and dark secrets in glitzy daily soaps have to curb their curiosity till production work on the serials starts anew.
"It feels like someone from the family is missing," viewer Pallavi Sharma was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
India's cable television industry covered 78 million households at the end of 2007 and daily soaps have dominated audience ratings for several years.
Few are willing to predict how long the work stoppage will last but households not addicted to family dramas are a relieved lot.
The production of reality television shows has not been affected by the strike and more families may switch over to watching them.
"Reality shows are relatively a better waste of time than television soaps," said Sumathi Chandrasekharan.
Annual revenue for television in India, which is seeing an explosion of new channel launches, is forecast to more than double to $11.6 billion by 2012, according to research firm Media Partners Asia.
But price controls and intense competition will slow the growth of average revenue per user, it has said, while the cost of production, distribution, content and technology will rise.
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