t is said that one out of every four Americans has appeared on television. While that could partly explain why the country is known as the home of reality television, it could also explain a certain strategy followed by media groups closer home. That of putting real people in real situations before the camera.

This is especially true for the Bengali channels, where a slew of interactive programmes are doing more than just providing �kaalchaar�-loving Bengalis their dose of home-grown entertainment. They are also keeping them glued to the channels during the time the rest of the country tunes in to the K-soaps on mass Hindi channels, say TAM Media reports (see table). All the top four C&S; channels (ETV Bangla, Alpha Bangla, Akash Bangla and Tara Bangla) in the region have at least four such programmes on air at the moment. ... more