With so much happening in a year, major setbacks go unnoticedAnjan Mitra
It has been a mixed year for the entertainment and media industry in the country, with young VJs in hip-hugging jeans and micro-minis invading the music scene and grand old lady of Hindi pop Asha Bhonsle rocking the nation to her tunes. Then there was the media baron, Rupert Murdoch. All his strategies to get his dream project off the ground direct-to-home (DTH) TV service came to a naught as the bureaucracy bared its fangs forcing the government to temporarily ban all DTH services in the country.
The year has had its share of historic moments notification of the Prasar Bharti Act, 1990 by the United Front government after being in the deep freeze for seven years.
The lows highlighted the fickleness of the industry, with satellite channels like The Hindustan Times-promoted Home TV tottering on the brink of a financial disaster, while the Subhash Chandra and Rupert Murdoch-promoted Zee TV maintaining its stranglehold on the number one position, with Sony emerging as the clear second.
The event of the year was the operational Prasar Bharti, which not only aims at corporatising DD and AIR, but also at freeing them from government monopoly. Information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy made his stint in the ministry memorable by pushing for the Prasar Bharti and in the process made his ministry and himself partially redundant.
Where does DD and AIR go from here, under chairman Nikhil Chakravartty and chief executive S S Gill, remains to be seen. The beginning has not been bad. No censorship of news on DD and the proposed review of serials on the pantheon of Indian gods and goddesses. However, with Gill all set to reverse the rubbishing of DD by former director-general Rathikant Basu, now working for Murdoch, there are some disgruntled producers like Sanjay Khan, who are queuing up outside Mandi House.
A black Mercedes notwithstanding, to be Murdochs man in South Asia is not a bed of roses. Basu realised this soon, as the government not only threatened to unleash the CBI on him to investigate his alleged misdeeds in DD, but also sent feelers to Murdoch that Basu, along with some other former government officials, should be removed or Star TV may face a ban in India. After the initial hype, however, nothing materialised.
Basu can have consolation from the fact that DTH is yet to get operational, but the loss-making Star TV has started earning revenue (about Rs 50 crore till October-November), though it is still far from breaking even. The Indianisation of Star Plus and NDTV-produced Star News certainly are attractions for advertisers.
Sony Entertainment TV, the real contender to Zee TVs top slot, has been on a roll. Sonys modus operandi was simple pit the popular serials on prime time against Zees weaker ones. The result soaring TRPs for Sony and introduction of new serials on Zee as a counter measure. Sony realised early that good programming makes sense and translated it into revenue earnings of about Rs 80 crore.
With Subhash Chandra and Murdoch deciding to call it a truce for the time being, Chandra and managing director Vijay Jindal got down to consolidate Zees position. Zee plans to turn EL TV into a news and current affairs channel, to be called Zee India and spruce up activities of cable distribution company Siti Cable.
Software production houses felt the pinch of recession and cost-cutting, with Plus Channel, TV-18, Creative Eye, Nimbus just managing to get by. Both Plus and TV-18s plans of raising money from the market got stuck. The only software house doing well is NDTV. But, it owes it cash-flush situation largely to Star TV, which reportedly has forwarded it some soft loans. But, for companies like the Hinduja-promoted Indusind Media, it was time for consolidation and exploring other countries like Nepal.
With young people flooding the industry, both Channel V and MTV changed gears to cater to the Indian audience. Channel V plans to invest about $25 million over the next five years.
Exclusivity emerged as the trend in the industry, as corporate houses and music companies clamoured for exclusive tie-ups with artists and event sponsorships.
Lata Mangeshkar moving away from HMV to Sony Music on an exclusive basis is an example. Videocon shelled out a neat packet to be associated with the second Channel V Music awards, while BPL has decided to sponsor an Amitabh Bachchan-Anil Kapoor music juggernaut.
So, where does the industry go from here ? Intezar kare kal tak when the next episode unfolds in the new year.
STOP PRESS
Notification of the Prasar Bharti Act, 1990 and subsequent setting up of the Prasar Bharti board with veteran journalist Nikhil Chakravartty as its chairman and former I&B secretary S S Gill as the CEO of DD and AIR.
Rupert Murdoch and Subhash Chandra bury hatchet to consolidate their respective joint ventures. Star TV starts earning revenue from its South Asia operation. But DTH stays grounded.
Corporate houses get on to the sponsorship bandwagon. Coke signs contract with cricketer Saurav Ganguly to counter Pepsi, bringing the Cola wars here
With the global alliance of Dow Jones (promoters of ABN) and GE subsidiary CNBC, TV-18s promoter Raghav Bahl gets hit by a windfall. Bahl holds 25 per cent stake in ABN India.
Sony TV narrows the gap between the market leader, Zee TV, with a new programme schedule. Zee announces the start of a infotainment channel, Zee India
