In the second anniversary issue of Manifest (which can be purchased here), Cyrus Broacha, anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author, had a freewheeling chat about the current 'media landscape', as well as why his show The Week That Wasn’t isn’t finding a new lease of life, as well a point of view on the current crop of stand-up comedians, and content creators.

Broacha spoke about the dying importance of 'cable operators' while being asked about the major changes in the media landscape between when his show MTV Bakra took off and now.

"Cable operators used to be the most important members of the media fraternity because television was the only way one could reach out to people. If the cable operators didn’t put up the channel, no one would see it. The first war for us was about distribution. The channel sent me everywhere, not because I was popular, but because I was the only person who could handle these cable operators, who were often gangsters or came from shady backgrounds. I went everywhere, sometimes with bottles of whiskey, to make sure they were happy. We played cricket matches with them too. Then, the cable operator died because of the landscape changing, and that’s the sad part," he stated.

On how technology is evolving, he said, "Technology has kept changing, and so have forms of media. The internet became big.What we didn’t realise 30 years ago was that digital would start overpowering everything else. Everything is now moving to digital. Television is still there, but we are seeing a lot of content moving to digital."

The Week That Wasn't

The Week That Wasn't was a satirical TV news show hosted by Broacha and shown on CNN-IBN. The show kicked off in 2006. 

In the evolving media landscape, can it find a place on digital?

"We are trying our best and have had so many meetings looking for funding and some backing for the show. We need someone who doesn’t just back us financially, but also a heavyweight who can help us legally. I think sooner rather than later, we will find that person and take it forward. The good thing for The Week That Wasn’t was that in a news channel world, research indicated that the people watching it were 40+ in age. That’s like my generation and my parents’ generation, too, which means it goes all the way to the age of 80. This demographic is the last generation of TV news viewers," he answered.

He added that he has been close to landing it twice, but has had to stall the relaunch. 

"We want a slightly larger proprietor who is ready to protect us and have our back. We are doing a satirical show, and the rules on the internet are grey. No one knows what one can say, and one cannot. It’s also changing every day. We need someone who believes in us and the show. At the moment, we have asked both the opposition and the Prime Minister’s office, and they have said they’ll get back after the 2029 elections (laughs)," stated Broacha.

While he's been cautious on the legal side, the current crop of stand-up comedians keep getting into trouble with the law and facing backlash.

Sharing his views, Broacha said, "If one is doing a weekly show, one needs to be careful because sooner or later, something will erupt. People take offence. More than cricket, sycophancy is the number one game in the country. It’s not necessarily the politician who starts a ruckus. It’s the chamchas and chellas who go berserk, and it gets out of control as people behave emotionally, and it’s almost like someone has insulted the sacred cow. We won’t go in that space, and we have left that for (Kunal) Kamra. I’m hoping he’s lifting weights and doing commando training. Credit to him for taking people head-on."

"We are about satire, so it’s about being tongue-in-cheek. Let’s put it this way, we are vegetarians while the stand-up comedians are non-vegetarians. I’d stay on this side, but even then, while eating vegetarian food, one can get food poisoning during the year. During our television stint, we had CNN IBN’s backing and had Rajdeep Sardesai sitting with us. We had no fear then because if we had issues, he would take care of it through a couple of calls," added Broacha.

Read the full conversation in the April issue, which includes his views on the current war, advertising and why Tanmay Bhat's Moonshot is getting work, influencers, and more.