Meaning-making processes of genre classification of english tv shows in India

The international television industry recognizes three main programming genres-sitcoms, dramas and reality, although there are many other genres as important, including science, nature, history, crime, thriller, horror, and comedy. In India, such TV genres are imported from Western markets and reproduced in the local industry’s organizational culture. Thus, western modes of TV classification should ideally guide how Indian industry professionals make sense of television programming in their own country. However, there are different departments within the Indian TV industry-e.g., marketing, programming, acquisitions, and research-with potentially competing definitions of what genres are and what they mean. Drawing on data collected from in-depth interviews with seven Indian TV professions in Mumbai within English General Entertainment channels, we discuss the intersection of role identity and genre labeling among Indian TV professionals. This paper finds that professionals classified programming genres within English general entertainment channels (GECs), both as audience members and as TV industry employees. The paper focuses on how professionals make decisions related to genre classifications and how they construct the ‘reality’ of genres, all the while orienting toward larger industry cultural standards and personal viewing practices.