PTC's & Dida

Follow us:WhatsappFacebookTwitterTelegram.cls-1{fill:#4d4d4d;}.cls-2{fill:#fff;}Google NewsPTC - Piece To Camera (when a reporter comes on screen either at the beginning, middle or end of the story)
Dida - grandmother in bengali.

Though it may sound that there is no big connection between the two. But for me, one was always the reason for the other.

I consider myself a news junkie and my day starts and ends with atleast 2-2 hours of news everyday. On my tv set from no1 to no12 its news channels only...international,national and regional ones. Now my room mates also have got used to it and they know its better to give up the remote control whenever I am watching tv. What I have observed is that that most of the time, most of the PTC's are forced into the stories. I agree that sometimes they really say many things that cant be put in voiceovers and do uplift the whole mood of the story by giving that final touch. But most of the time its just to show reporter's face. And so it does atleast one thing for sure...provides great stuff for making good promos.

When I did my first PTC,I informed everyone at my home about my screen debut. And that day the most happiest person was my Dida. After then slowly and slowly my PTC started serving many purposes that one could ever think of. My Dida would try to figure out if I have put or lost weight, if my hairline has receded more, if I have shaved or not,if my voice is sounding feverish or normal,if I have started wearing those colourful shirts instead my favourite pastel colours, all in those 20-30 seconds. And everytime I would give thousand logics like....the camera was too close....on camera its looks totally different....to justify that everything is fit and fine.

Since I joined my first job going hometown has become annual holiday. So, whenever my Dida would miss me I would do one PTC for her and others at home and inform them to see me on tv. The tv viewing habits of my family members also changed drastically. At my home most of them time only news channel would play to spot me. Either the channel where I used to work or in other channels in any press conferences or somewhere else.

So far in IBN I have done very counted few PTC's only.My bosses and colleagues have tried hard to explain and convince me why a story needs a face,why my screen presence matter and so why I need to do PTC's. And everytime I give them thousand reasons why I am not interested in doing PTC. But honestly now I dont feel the urge to do it just for one simple reason. In Dhanbad(my hometown)we dont get IBN. So, there is no way that my Dida would wait for those 20-30 secs. I explained Dida the logic. Our viewership is in the metros.Towns like Dhanbad dont matter when lot many in Mumbai have no clue where exactly is Jharkhand located. For many in Mumbai,India is from Churcgate to Virar only.

But we do get other news and business channels there including Channel 7. So, it was great news for her when I told her that now Channel 7 is part of our network and she can see me there.
Hopefully my Dida will spot me again and would get answers to all her queries that she cant figure out on phone. My weight, hairline, new shirts, shaved or unshaved look and may be many more things. Thats also one reason why I love my job so much. Whoever misses me at home my job is a way to connect to them.

Thnx Mr J L Baird. Thnx for connecting me and my Dida.

About the AuthorSomen Mishra Somen Mishra is Senior Entertainment Correspondent in the Mumbai Bureau of CNN IBN. Starting with Zee Network, he has been chasing the stars, crunchin...Read Morefirst published:April 28, 2006, 22:01 ISTlast updated:April 28, 2006, 22:01 IST
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