As Teletubbies Exit India, BBC Blames \'Uniquely Challenging\' Market

A screenshot of children's television series “Teletubbies” that runs on the BBC channel “CBeebies.”

Fans of BBC Entertainment and CBeebies are mourning the pending departure of these two BBC channels in India, and parents are among those viewers who will feel the loss most keenly.

Both BBC Entertainment and CBeebies arrived in India five years ago and won a cult-like following for their quality programming, but they were pulled because of financial considerations, citing India's delays in digital transmission and carriage fees, BBC executives said in a statement last week.

“India is one of the only markets where you have to pay for carriage ,” Mark Whitehead, senior vice president and general manager of BBC Worldwide Channels Asia, said in an interview. “It is uniquely challenging.”

According to a report released earlier this summer by Chrome Data Analytics and Media, a media consultancy, broadcasters paid out about $60 million, or 300 million rupees, more in carriage fees in the 2012 fiscal year compared to a year prior.

Delays in digitization affect broadcasters like the BBC because analog cable operators in India are purported to underreport subscriber data, leading to lower audience measures, which eventually affects ad rates that broadcasters can command. The Indian government's drive toward digitization hopes to address some of these issues by making all broadcasters transmit digitally by the end of 2014 deadline.

In the first phase, the metropolitan areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai were supposed to achieve this goal by the end of October, bu t Chennai and Kolkata have not met the deadline, according to news reports.

When the two BBC channels shut down at the end of the month, viewers of BBC Entertainment will have plenty of other options for quality TV shows on other networks, but CBeebies is the only children's channel in India that offers wholesome entertainment with no commercial interruptions, a blessing for parents who have to constantly have to bat down their children's requests for this toy or that toy or sweets that are advertised on TV.

From the global TV phenomenon “Teletubbies” to “Everything's Rosie” to “Numberjacks” to “Charlie and Lola” to “Waybuloo” to “In the Night Garden,” CBeebies's programming met with the type of enthusiastic parental approval normally reserved for wildlife documentaries or televised spelling bees.

Where else can you find a delightful arts and crafts show, “Mister Maker,” that teaches toddlers about colors and shapes by making dol ls and paintings from everyday found objects, like pasta shells, discarded cardboard and buttons? Many a future design whiz could be inspired by this wonderful program. My 2-year-old daughter, Serena, and I love watching the show and making things together, and I know plenty of other parents who do so too.

That's because CBeebies filled a void. Other children's programming in India is heavily entertainment- and cartoon-focused. A local version of “Sesame Street,” “Galli Galli Sim Sim” is popular, and while cartoons like “Chotta Bheem” and “Krishna” help impart mythological tales, they are heavy on death and destruction.

My 7-year-old son, Yuvraj, loves Japanese imports like “Doraemon,” “Ninja Hattori” and “Kiteretsu,” but I am fairly certain their positive impact on a young mind is negligible. Plus, they are so commercial heavy, I can't tell if he's watching the cartoon or the ads.

Other parents shared my dismay at the loss of CB eebies. At a play center in central Mumbai, mothers reacted to the news with gasps of horror. “It was just the nicest programming,” said Pareena Lamba, adding, “I feel very sad.”

Miel Sahgal, another parent, said, “It's the only channel where your kid is not seen as consumer because there's no advertising. And there's a lack of violence. The irony is that maybe because they don't have ads, it's being removed.”

Fans also poured out their grief on the CBeebies Asia Facebook page. “Terribly, terribly disappointed to hear of CBeebies exit from India. Without reservation I believe that Indian television has no suitable replacement (and never will!) for the CBeebies,” said one user. “What a disaster,” another viewer lamented.

The BBC said it is trying to fill the gap by adding more shows to its Web site, and while that is helpful, it is not ideal for parents, given that Internet access in India is limited and slow.

Mothers were also worr ied about their kids' reactions to the unwelcome news, saying they were terrified to break the news to their little ones.

“You better not tell Serena because she will cry,” my son said. Imagining the meltdown when her favorite shows fail to materialize on Dec. 1, I am now on a mad hunt to stock up on DVDs and save clips from YouTube so peace can prevail.