From 'Mr. Robot' to 'O.J. Simpson': English Entertainment in India is More Exciting Than Ever Before

A few days ago, the most prestigious awards for primetime American television, the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, were announced. As I watched the live telecast of the ceremony (from 4:30am to 8:30am IST!), I realised that not only almost all the shows that won Emmys (at the main ceremony, not the Creative Arts ceremony) but also a large majority of the nominated shows, had been or were being aired on Indian television. 

Channels like Star World Premiere HD, Colors Infinity, Comedy Central, AXN, Zee Cafe & Star World already gave a taste of the Emmy-winning/nominated shows to Indian audiences over the past several months. Big winners at this year's Emmys like Game of Thrones, Veep, American Crime Story: The People vs O. J. Simpson (Star World Premiere HD); Mr. Robot (Colors Infinity); Orphan Black, Sherlock, The Voice (AXN); Saturday Night Live (Comedy Central); & Downton Abbey (Star World) had already premiered on Indian English entertainment channels. Other nominated shows like House of Cards, The Big Bang Theory (Zee Café); Better Call Saul, Fargo (Colors Infinity); Silicon Valley, The Night Manager, The Americans (Star World Premiere HD); Key & Peele, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Comedy Central), Modern Family, UnReal, Empire, Homeland (Star World) have also been served to Indian audiences. This made me think: isn't this the best time to be watching English entertainment in India? I personally feel that with the highest number of HD channels than ever before, instant premieres & gradually diluting censorship, the English entertainment genre on Indian television has never been as competitive and exciting as it is now!

A couple of days from now, the famed 'Fall TV Season' starts in the US - with fresh seasons of running shows and a bunch of new shows on each entertainment network. This used to be a time when most English entertainment enthusiasts in India downloaded torrents of their favourite new episodes & watched simultaneously with their US telecasts. However, they were in for a shock when a couple of months ago, the popular (though copyright-infringing) torrent website 'Kickass' was shutdown (the homepage of the site now has intimidating photos of badges of US law enforcement agencies!). However, a quick survey of the English entertainment channels in India now offers some consolation for those who hate playing the waiting game when it comes to their favourite English entertainment. I am talking about the 'instant premieres' phenomenon that started only a few years ago and is now being offered across channels in this competitive genre.

In September 2013, the Star Group in India launched a new English entertainment channel 'Star World Premiere HD' with the tagline 'You See It First' dedicated to telecasting the freshest content from the US to Indian audiences. This was a time when shows like Homeland, Castle, The Blacklist inter alia were gaining popularity. Soon, Zee Café also began airing the latest episodes of its most popular offering The Big Bang Theory just a few days after its US telecast with the tagline 'Along With The U.S.' Next, we had AXN also delivering latest episodes to its viewers with the tagline 'Fresh From The U.S.' In July 2015, Colors Infinity arrived and began delivering the quickest ever premieres of US shows in India (within half an hour of their US telecast) with the tagline 'Instant Premieres'. Recently, Comedy Central also announced its offering of premieres from the US with the tagline 'Watch with the World'. Check out your favourite channel's listings to know which of your favourite shows are returning with fresh episodes & which new show catches your eye. Here's a quick look:

Star World : How To Get Away With Murder, Season 3; The Blacklist, Season 4; Empire, Season 3; Quantico, Season 2; Pitch (New).

Colors Infinity : Mr. Robot, Season 2; Blindspot, Season 2; Tyrant, Season 3; Arrow, Season 5; Notorious (New), Timeless (New).

Comedy Central : Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 4; Dr. Ken, Season 2; Suits, Season 6; The Graham Norton Show, Season 20.

Star World Premiere HD : Westworld, Quarry, This Is Us, Better Things (All New); American Horror Story, Season 6.

Zee Cafe : The Big Bang Theory, Season 10; Secrets & Lies, Season 2; Supergirl, Season 2; Lethal Weapon (New); Gotham, Season 3.

AXN : Elementary, Season 5; Ray Donovan, Season 4; Supernatural, Season 12; Bull (New); MacGyver (New).

English entertainment channels in India are now acquiring global content like never before. In July 2014, AXN India signed a multi-year deal with CBS Studios, USA for airing their shows in India. When Netflix arrived in India earlier this year, it couldn't offer its flagship show House of Cards to viewers because Zee Café had already acquired the show's India rights in 2013! Star World received a major boost when HBO, before exiting the Indian market last year, gave it access to its huge content library in a major deal. Despite the fact that English entertainment viewership is still substantially low compared to Hindi & regional entertainment, the constant efforts these channels are making to bring the best content to the discerning viewer in India is quite commendable.

The only problem at this stage seems to be the perennial one: censorship. Different channels implement different levels of the mandatory self-censorship. In my experience, FX & Star World appear to be on the stricter side whereas Comedy Central is much more liberal. Channels have now begun using the 11pm slot to air content with minimum censorship. Zee Café has labeled the 11pm slot 'UnCut' and airs episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Moreover with the option of torrents as good as gone, wouldn't we rather watch the mildly censored episodes than miss out completely?

From just 1 HD channel in 2011, the English entertainment genre in India now boasts of 7 HD channels and zero SD-only channels. Each channel now has an accompanying HD feed. It's perhaps the most promising space right now on TV. Hop on and enjoy English drama, comedy and talk-shows like never before in India!

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