Disruptive innovation in media: Regulatory imperatives

Harnessing the potential of these promising technologies calls for a light-touch regulatory approach that incentivises innovation and creates conditions for competition

The recent season of the Indian Premier League, IPL, witnessed an interesting experiment with JioCinema carrying the matches in the free ad-supported live streaming mode for digital viewers even as traditional television viewers had to subscribe to pay TV channels. This pricing disruption was as much about trying to flip television audiences to digital as it was about a fundamental schism within the media and entertainment sector in India. Recent news about Disney’s woes in India even as the Sony-Zee merger has had to weather issues of corporate governance point to a deeper blight afflicting the industry. The malaise may