Interrupted telecast
The media and entertainment industry saw ups and downs in the year 2009

The media and entertainment industry which has seen robust growth in the past years is looking forward to significant policy changes that would provide the much required thrust in the turbulent times. This year the overall growth of media and entertainment came down to eight per cent CAGR growth rate, as per Indian Media & Entertainment Outlook 2009 report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC). The economic slowdown which hit the country cutting across industries did cast its shadow on the media business as well with some of the prominent publication houses and channels downsizing employees and rationalizing salaries with hiring freeze in most of the companies.

Television media
This is amid the industry trying out new ideas to woo the audience through reality shows and talent hunts though most of them are based on borrowed western formats. Despite the concepts not being original reality shows like Khataro Ke Khiladi, Big Boss, which is into its season 3 and Sach Ka Saamna which was based on The Moment of Truth have taken the Indian television media on a different plane. Talent hunts like Entertainment ke liye kuch bhi karega have also made a mark. The second show in the series is already on air.

Television as a medium of communication has come a far way and currently has a high market share. It is second only to print medium and as per PWC report while print dominates with a total market share of 47.3 per cent, television follows with 38.6 per cent. The PWC report says that the televsion industry would reach to a whopping Rs 42,000 crore by 2013. And as per projections TV ad industry is projected to command a share of 41 per cent in 2013.

As pointed out earlier, different mediums have different demands from the government that they say would provide further impetus to their growth. In case of television media the demands include exemption on import of content, which is now valid for cinematographic films. In case of television content, there is a custom duty to be paid.

A significant thing to look forward to in the coming time would be digitisation of content and delivery that would help to reach out to a wider audience. And the entry of DTH players is a step towards digitisation of  TV distribution. There is also a hope that the government will resolve the FDI cap issue and raise the FDI in TV content from 26 to 49 per cent.

Another feature to wait for would be the rating system set up by the Broadcast Audience Research Council along with the Indian Society of Advertisers, Advertising Agencies Association of India and the Indian Broadcasting Foundation. In the next few years, there can be a neutral industry body that would be involved in television audience measurement. 

IPL Season 2 in SA
One of the major highlights of the year has been the broadcast of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 2. After the grand opening season in India of IPL, which turned out to be an instant hit with cricket lovers, the second season was hosted in South Africa as the original schedule clashed with the dates of the general elections. The government asked the organisers to re-work on the dates so that security issues could be taken care of but later BCCI decided it was working out best with the venue of the matches shifted out of India.

The decision was opposed by various quarters for different reasons, one of them being the financial implication. While the team owners had to re-work on the budgets, advertisers dealt with it with a heavy heart. Another issue that came up was the rights issues with Multi Screen Media (former Sony Entertainment Television). Finally, the two partners agreed for an out-of-court settlement. And Multi Screen Media (MSM) got the broadcasting rights for Rs 8,200 crore for the next nine years till 2017. This was over twice the former deal that was agreed upon in 2008 for the coming 10 years and allowed MSM exclusive audiovisual rights in the country for the second season, which began on April 18. A total of 59 matches were played in eight cities in SA. The finals were held in Johannesburg on May 24.

The decision also got a political hue when opposition BJP lashed at the government for sending a wrong signal to the world that India is not a safe nation, especially with the Commonwealth Games scheduled for the next year.

Film industry
Film industry is key part of the Indian media and entertainment industry. The Indian film industry, which churns out on an average about 1000 films a year witnessed a rickety year in 2009. It was only in the last decade that the Indian film sector was accorded the status of ‘industry’ by the government and is quoted as the largest film industry in the world. However, this year, due to a disagreement between the film producers and distributors on one side and multiplex owners on the other side, a significant chunk of  a quarter year saw no releases and the industry took a hit because of the prolonged deadlock. The industry lost an estimated Rs 200 crore during the two-month period. The standoff ended with an agreement on equal revenue sharing on ticket sales between the producers and multiplexes.

The two big budget films that were awaiting release during this time were Sajid Nadiadwala’s ‘Kambhakth Ishq’ and Yash Chopra’s ‘New York’. While the latter got good reviews, ‘Kambhakth Ishq’ didn’t fare well at all at the box-office.

The policy changes being demanded by the industry include some of the monetary incentives that can aid the growth of the film industry and the highlights have been extension of the benefits of the Act that allows exemption to venture capital fund/company on income from investments that are in undertakings involved in sectors like hotel, infrastructure etc should be provided to the media and entertainment industry as well. Also in terms of tax structure, temporary licensing of trademarks, which is a taxable service now and is considered liable to VAT too have to undergo dual levy of taxes. This needs to be addressed.

As per PWC some of the industry statistics look like this: over 1,000 movies released annually, over three billion movie tickets sold annually, 80 million pay-TV homes, 119 million television households, 450 television channels, over 350 radio stations, 6000 newspapers published and 10,000 music tracks are released annually.

Impact of recession
The media business, which is largely dependent on revenue from advertising, took a hit because of the economic slowdown. Whether it was print or electronic media, sounds of losses echoed all around. There were lay offs reported and one of the most prominent publications groups, Times Group, cut down on the manpower and the salaries were also rationalised. Prices of newspapers also shot up reportedly due to downturn – the Times of India in Mumbai and DNA raised prices by 50 paise per copy. Even the general entertainment channels felt the brunt and an estimated average annual loss of Rs 300 crore was calculated by experts. NDTV took their Metro Nation off air. Metro Now, the joint venture between HT Media Ltd and Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd, which went from a daily tabloid to being weekly later, stopped publishing. Some other media houses including Business Standard and India Today also shut down some specific edition.