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  • The nationwide audience research joint body, the Broadcast Audience Research Council, will not conduct audience measurement directly but commission independent specialist research vendors.

    @FF12: IBF, ISA & AAAI announce launch of BARC

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjuq1sB7h-E[/youtube]

    Video and Text By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) announced the official formation of a nationwide audience research joint body, Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

     

    The announcement was made at the inaugural day of FICCI Frames 2012 in Mumbai in presence of I&B Secretary Uday K Varma, TRAI Chairman Dr JS Sarma, Managing Director & CEO of ZEE Punit Goenka, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta, Times Television Network MD & CEO Sunil Lulla, Star CJ CEO Paritosh Joshi, Madison Group Chairman Sam Balsara and Landmarc Leisure Corporation MD Paulomi Dhawan.

     

    IBF will have 60 per cent stake in BARC, while ISA and AAAI will each have 20 per cent stake.

     

    Originally founded in 2008, BARC was earlier to be set up as a joint venture between the IBF and the ISA on a 60:40 ratio and initial investment of Rs 300 million. However, there was a need felt for the apex body of ad agencies – the AAAI – to also be part of the BARC.

     

    Talking about the way forward, Paritosh Joshi, CEO, Star CJ said BARC will be similar to what BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is in the UK. He said, “There will be a professional CEO who will be appointed, and we have learnt a lot from watching the BARB work in the UK and one of the things that makes BARB work as well as it does is that they have a professional management system. So we are going to learn from the best practices around the world and one of those best practices is to make it run like a professional setup.”

     

    A technical committee is being set up, now that all the stakeholders are in place. Mr Joshi said, “The Board of Directors will appoint a technical committee Chairman and then a technical committee and that is where the work actually begins. The work really is going out there and finding the best solution for television audience measurement in India.”

     

    BARC will not conduct audience measurement directly but commission independent specialist research vendors.

     

    The Board of the council will have 10 members, six members from the IBF and two members each from the ISA and AAAI.

     

    Talking about the formation of BARC, Abdul Khan, Senior Vice President & National Head of Business Marketing, Tata Teleservices remarked, “I don’t really think that we need another currency…I think the task is to make what we have more robust and it’s never ending. If two, why not three, why not four? So we should have one currency that is comprehensive enough to tackle major problems and be accepted by the entire industry.”

     

    “Maybe we need to get people from the younger generation on board  to figure because it is a rapidly changing environment. I am not seeing any changes happening in television research in India – it’s become static in a way. So we need to make it more robust.  Sample size has to increase; one also needs to look at the quality of the sample etc. It’s like if it’s not broke, why you trying to fix it,” added Mr Khan.

     

    Paulomi Dhawan, MD, Landmarc Leisure Corporation said, “Advertisers are always looking for transparent and robust research and in-depth insights in the rapidly changing television viewership landscape. With time, it is going to be more challenging and you will need more insights from research. We have been working together since some time to launch BARC.”

     

    ISA Chairman Bharat Patel added, “ISA is pleased to be a part of this joint industry body, BARC, along with the IBF and AAAI to provide continued and meaningful research.”

    with additional inputs by Rishi Vora

     

  • In a session titled "Financing the Media and Entertainment Business", industry personalities discussed the lack of private equity and venture capital funds.

    @FF12: Financing, a cause for concern in media and entertainment

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The media and entertainment industry of India has scripted a glorious growth story in the past decade or so, and the future looks even more promising with digitization and the advent of technology across media verticals such as broadcast, print and also films. But one area of concern is the lack of private equity and VC funds showing adequate interest.

     

    In a session titled “Financing the Media and Entertainment Business” eminent personalities such as Prashant Jain, Executive Director, HDFC Mutual Fund; Matthew Cyriac, Sr Managing Director, Private Equity, Blackstone; Soumo Ganguly, Managing Director, Moxie Entertainment Pvt Ltd; and Daniel Dubiecki, Founder and Partner, The Allegiance Theatre, Hollywood shared their views on the subject. Ashok Wadhwa, Group CEO, Ambit moderated the session.

     

    Matthew Cyriac started off the session by pointing out that majority of the investments within the media and entertainment industry were made in television and print as they represent a fairly large share in terms of sheer numbers as against Internet and Radio . The Hindi GECs in TV is where typically where a lot of money into followed by regional GECs and sports channel. For print media, it was the regional publications command a lot of attention as regional advertising is very robust – one which extracts a lot of profit.

     

    Prashant Jain pointed out thata lot of companies in India have managed to get good funding and that it is not reflective of a very, very sorry picture as is being talked about. “It’s not that all of India in the media entertainment space not attracting funds. Companies like UTV and a few others have attracted investors.”

     

    Ashok Wadhwa remarked that the film industry in India is not institutionalised enough to attract private equity. Daniel Dubiecki spoke about the need to be more global in concept, widen the scope of the market and thereby making it more viable to attract investments in the films business.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • The government has done its job, now it is up to the industry to make digitization work, said Uday Varma at the FICCI Frames 2012 session on Addressable Digitization.

    @FF12: Digitization – ball in industry’s court, says I&B secy

    By A Correspondent

     

    In December 2011, Parliament had passed a bill making analog cable switch to digitization in phases, starting June 30, 2012. FICCI Frames 2012, on day one held a session on ‘Addressable Digitization – The Way Forward.’ This session had two keynote speakers, Dr JS Sarma, Chairman, TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) and Uday K Varma, Secretary I&B (Information and Broadcasting), followed by a panel discussion. Almost everyone in the session agreed that digitization is now a reality and an important ingredient for India’s growth. Will digitization be a game changer? Is the industry is ready for digitization, what are the challenges and opportunities that digitization has to offer, and what’s in it for the consumers – these were some of the points raised during the session.

     

    The session was moderated by Vivek Couto, Executive Director, Media Partners Asia. The panelists were, Sanjay Gupta, COO Star India, Sunil Lulla, CEO and MD Times Global Broadcasting, Sameer Machanda, Founder DEN Networks and Punit Goenka, MD And CEO, Zee Entertainment Ltd.

     

    Mr Varma was of the view that since there has been no political opposition to the digitization of cable and the fact that the parliament too had passed the bill in December 2011 it is now upon the industry to make digitization a reality. Mr Varma was also quick to point out that as far as monitoring is concerned, the government has already set up mechanisms and task force as well as interest groups to address various concerns of the industry. “The progress of digitization must be a transparent process. There will be a mechanism that will be put in place to ensure transparency. We are certainly at the threshold of revolution. There are huge changes that will take place and these changes will certainly be beneficial changes especially on how we create contents.”

     

    Dr Sarma, who will be demitting office in two months time observed, “If India has to grow, digitization will be a vital ingredient for its growth and thus it is important that we be technologically updated. Digitization is here to stay and we need to embrace this change.”

     

    The panelists were of the view that not only the industry is ready for digitization but for some of them, it will be a game changer. While digitization will bring a lot of opportunities in terms of contents and niche channels, the industry will face some challenges too. According to Mr Machanda, digitization will be a game changer as it will bring transparency in the industry. “We are ready for digitization, we have the boxes, call centers are ready etc. I believe in the next few months we will see more momentum in the industry.”

     

    Taking issue with Mr Machanda, Mr Gupta was of the view that it was not digitization but providing democratization of content which would be the real game changer for the industry. “The big challenge however is to not carry our analog mindset in digitization. As a broadcaster we have not catered to different audiences, we must therefore unlock the value of creating differentiated contents” he said.

     

    Mr Goenka believed that digitization will not only encourage niche contents but, provide ample opportunities to provide good content and differentiated contents to consumers. Mr Lulla observed, “There is greater good in digitization. There is a lot of work the broadcasters have to do over the next few years as we will have to create pathways. What will however change is not the price of the business but, the view centric business wherein the consumers will decide what they want to watch and the price they want to pay for it.”

     

    The panelists also agreed that the industry is ready for change but it needs to educate and spread awareness about the benefits digitization has to offer consumers, such as more channels and differentiated content.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • There was no beating about the bush as digitization dominated the discussion on Day 1 @ Ficci-Frames 2012

    Digital attracts ‘desirable’ status on Day 1

     

    By Team MxMIndia

     

    The West swears by it, developed countries from Asia Pacific have already made a generational leap in terms of technological innovations while globally, the medium has shown why it is the most sought-after given the dynamic growth numbers it throws up in the shortest possible timeframe. Well, it could be said here with certainty that digital has bought about a significant change in the way the world goes about running its business in the last decade compared to what other mediums have been trying to do for decades together. Little wonder that when the organisers of FICCI Frames were faced with the choice of shortlisting a theme that could alter the media and entertainment industry in India, they didn’t have to think twice before narrowcasting on the medium of preference – digital.

     

    In keeping with the theme, ‘Embracing the Digital World’, FICCI Frames 2012 got off to a wishful start at Hotel Renaissance, Mumbai on March 14. In keeping with its tradition, the morning session kicked off with a welcome address by the Co-Chair of FICCI Entertainment Committee, Karan Johar. After Mr Johar’s welcome address, Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India & Chairman, FICCI Broadcast Forum, took the stage to address the audience. Making a dash for the core topic of digital, Mr Shankar began by stating, “Digitization is a big reality which will revolutionise the way content (creation and distribution) is offered”. Even though he said that digitisation will create a level playing field for the broadcasters and the cable operators, he had a word of caution to add when he said that his biggest concern was “the chaos which will be caused by the broadcast industry’s inaction.”

     

    Though Mr Shankar admitted that there is a need for legislative enablers to remove the bottlenecks surrounding digital, he also said that the broadcast industry is still not ready to move to the digital format. To drive home his point he used the example of the film The Artist, where the star of the film loses out when he refuses to move with the times. Next it was the turn of Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra who took the stage to talk about the “exciting times that all are living in”. He said that the challenge is to adopt the regulatory framework to the new technology and ensure that over regulation doesn’t kill a good thing. He also said that the move towards digitization will create a huge employment opportunity but there is a need to explore how technology can empower the field of education. The Chief Minister also touched upon the need for regulation and suggested that instead of the state regulating the media, the medium should look at regulating itself.

     

    Following his speech, the event witnessed the release of the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2012; FICCI-Amarchand Lawbook and ‘Positivity: The impact of television on India’ by The Indian Broadcasting Foundation. Jehil Thakkar, Head, Media & Entertainment Practises, KPMG made a brief presentation about the key highlights of the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2012.

     

    Uday K Varma, Secretary, Ministry of I&B, opened his address by stating that the concerns that the industry had over digitization and the Phase 3 of FM radio have been addressed by the move to allow 839 new FM stations and 500 community radio stations. He stressed that the government is committed to ensure time bound digitization and said that come July 1, the four metros will switch over to the digital format and the plan is to ensure that the move to digitization is completed by December 31, 2014. He agreed that the challenge was mammoth- to convert 80 million analog connections to digital format but added that it will ensure faster and deeper penetration. “This will address a plethora of issues facing the television industry, such as addressability, carriage fees, audience measurement and consumer preferences,” he said. Mr Varma added that in order to combat piracy, the government intended to carry out an all-encompassing multi-media campaign involving all stakeholders from the film and music industries, shortly.

     

    Punit Goenka, CEO & MD, ZEEL too spoke about the pros and cons of digitization, how the ratings are inadequate and how self regulation was the need of the hour for the broadcast industry. Carolyn Everson, VP, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook elaborated on how Facebook can benefit the media and entertainment industry and cited examples from music, gaming and films to drive home her point.

     

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    BARC takes wings; Discovery Kids to flag off operations in April

    In between the many promises and hopes that were being doled out at the inaugural session came the news of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) and Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) announcing the official formation of a nationwide audience research joint body — Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC).

     

    The announcement was made at the inaugural day of FICCI Frames 2012 in Mumbai in presence of I&B Secretary Uday K Varma, TRAI Chairman Dr JS Sarma, Managing Director & CEO of ZEE Punit Goenka, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta, Times Television Network MD & CEO Sunil Lulla, Star CJ CEO Paritosh Joshi, Madison Group Chairman Sam Balsara and Landmarc Leisure Corporation MD Paulomi Dhawan.

     

    While IBF will have 60 per cent stake in BARC, ISA and AAAI will each hold 20 per cent stake. The Board of the council will have 10 members, six members from the IBF and two members each from the ISA and AAAI.

     

    Another important announcement was made by President & CEO of Discovery Networks International, Mark Hollinger who announced the launch of its new network for children in India, ‘Discovery Kids’. Mr Hollinger said, “Launching in April, the network will initially be available in three languages – Hindi, English and Tamil. The channel will offer children a fun and entertaining way to satisfy their natural curiosity with stimulating and imaginative programming,” he said. The company plans to roll out the channel in Philippines and Indonesia later this year.

     

    ——————————————–

     

    Post the promises and pleasantries doled out by committee members and authorities, it was time for some serious discussion which began with a panel discussion on ‘Addressable Digitization – The way forward’. Sanjay Gupta, COO – Star India, Sunil Lulla, CEO and MD Times Global Broadcasting, Sameer Manchanda, Founder – DEN Networks and Punit Goenka, MD And CEO, ZEEL comprised the panellists. The panellists agreed that digitization is the way forward and will soon be a reality. Uday K Varma, Secretary – I&B, put the ball in the industry’s court as he said that there were no political opposition to digitization and the parliament too passed the law in December 2011, therefore it is now incumbent upon the industry to make digitization a reality. Sunil Lulla pointed out that the there is greater good in digitization however, the industry has to do a lot of work over the next few years. Sameer Manchanda was of the view that digitization was a reality and that it will bring more number of channels. While Uday Varma said the government is determined and committed to ensure digitization happens the broadcasters on the other hand also displayed confidence that they are ready for the June 30, 2012 deadline i.e. when metros will switch from analog TV to digital. The session also discussed opportunities and challenges that digitization has to offer and how the industry was gearing for digitization – whether they are ready or not?

     

    A session on ‘Maximising the power of digital distribution’ saw industry leaders speak about the challenges that come along as the country is experiencing the much talked about shift – from analog to digital cable – the investments that goes into and many such challenges. Industry honchos such as K Jayraman – MD and CEO, Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd; SN Sharma, CEO, DEN; Anshuman Misra – SVP and MD, Networks and Content Distribution, Turner, Asia Pacific; Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV; Jagi Mangat Panda, Co-Founder and Director, Ortel; Prof Jonathan Askin, Professor of Law, Brooklyn School of Law and Anita Wallgren, Government Attorney, US Department of Commerce, Former Program Director, US Government’s TV Converter Box Coupon Program. Vivek Couto, Executive Director, Media Partners Asia moderated the session.

     

    While digitization comes in as a relief for broadcasters who will be benefitted from additional subscription revenue the relaxation on paying heavy carriage fees, and of course providing viewers with a superior content experience – MSOs and cable operators have to quickly respond to the digitization mandate by investing in set-top boxes – the cost that is only possible to recover after four years. Jagi Mangat Panda pointed out that digitization will result in some sort of consolidation in the distribution space where bigger players will look to expand their presence in the Indian market.

     

    Vikram Chandra talked about the difference digitization makes to the news industry. “Digitisation is important for news players. It is leading players in the news industry into areas they don’t want to be in. In the race of chasing TRPs, people are forgetting that digital has a great potential that has to be tapped, a business model which needs to be looked at.” Chandra also mentioned the role of tablets and high-end devices as new distribution platforms.

     

    Anita Wallgren and Prof Jonathan Askin spoke about how the United States saw the transition of analog TV to digital – the learnings and challenges.

     

    It could be said that the media and entertainment industry of India has scripted a glorious growth story in the past ten years or so. And now, when the future looks more promising with digitisation and the advent of technology across media verticals such as broadcast, print and also films – one area which that has not seen enough progress is the lack of private equities and VC funds showing adequate interest. In a session titled “Financing the Media and Entertainment Business” eminent personalities such as Prashant Jain, Executive Director, HDFC Mutual Fund; Mathew Cyriac, Sr Managing Director, Private Equity, Blackstone; Soumo Ganguly, Managing Director, Moxie Entertainment Pvt Ltd; and Daniel Dubiecki, Founder and Partner, The Allegiance Theatre, Hollywood shared their views on the subject. Ashok Wadhwa, Group CEO, Ambit moderated the session.

     

    Mathew Cyriac started off the session by pointing out that majority of the investments within the media and entertainment industry were made in television and print as they represent a fairly large share  in terms of sheer numbers as against Internet and Radio. The Hindi GECs in TV is typically where a lot of money goes to followed by regional GECs and sports channel. For print media, it was the regional publications that command a lot of attention as regional advertising is very robust – one which extracts a lot of profit.

     

    Prashant Jain pointed out that a lot of companies in India have managed to get good funding and that it is not reflective of a very, very sorry picture as is being talked about. “It’s not that all of India in the media entertainment space are not attracting funds. Companies like UTV and a few others have attracted investors.”

     

    Ashok Wadhwa remarked that the film industry in India is not institutionalised enough to attract private equity. Daniel Dubiecki spoke about the need to be more global in concept, widen the scope of market and thereby making it more viable to attract investments in the films business.

     

    In the session on ‘Protecting Copyrights, Infringements & New Trends i.e. Remake’, the panellists chose to rummage over the impediments surrounding copyright issues in the film and music industry in India. The panellists included Sai Krishna from Sai Krishna Associates; Deborah Benattar, Head, TV & Cinema, French Embassy; Jagdish Rajpurohit, Head, RCL Motion Pictures & Producer; Bertrand Mouiller, former DG IFFPA and Amar Butala, creative director, UTV Motion Pictures. The session was moderated by Dina Dattani, Consultant & Lawyer. Sai Krishna provided a hopeful insight as he said, “The industry should take heart in knowing that the Copyright Amendment Bill is currently being debated in the parliament and is expected to be passed after the current Budget Session. There are provisions that can alter the way the entertainment industry functions in India.” But he cautioned by saying that the Bill has its setbacks too as there are no clear guidelines when it comes to copyright issues between the writer, music composer and the producer of a film. Mr Butala added here saying, “We have made huge leaps in terms of the legal paperwork with actors and performers where copyright issues are concerned. But it is just the start and the challenge would be to sort out legal issues and take the offenders to Court with the hope of finding a favourable outcome from the judiciary.” The panel proceeded to discuss the trend of moviemakers bagging rights for remaking movies and that there was a need for a law that would streamline procedures for the industry at large.

     Photograph: Fotocorp

  • Discovery Networks chief Mark Hollinger announced the launch of its new network for children in India, 'Discovery Kids'. The channel will be available in three languages.

    @FF12: Discovery to launch kiddie channel in India

    Video and Text By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    President & CEO of Discovery Networks International, Mark Hollinger announced the launch of its new network for children in India, ‘Discovery Kids’. The announcement came on the sidelines of FICCI Frames 2012 that is being held in Mumbai from March 14 to 16.

     

    The channel will be available in three languages. Mr Hollinger said, “We shall be launching a new network in India – Discovery Kids. It will be launched in early April and the network will initially be available in three languages – Hindi, English and Tamil.” The company plans to roll out the channel in Philippines and Indonesia later this year.

     

    Mr Hollinger said, “Discovery Kids will offer children a fun and entertaining way to satisfy their natural curiosity with stimulating and imaginative programming.” He added, “India is definitely poised for growth in this market. 30% of the population in this country is below the age of 14. In light of the massive digitization drive in India, we believe viewers will express their demand for such distinct television networks. I cannot think of any other country more poised for the launch of such a remarkable network.”

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzeqO3KTTww[/youtube]

    The company also expects a significant boost to its subscription revenues from satellite television digitization in India and expects the country to be its biggest satellite television market in the next few years, said Mark Hollinger.

     

    Speaking about the digitalization drive in India and the country’s subsequent growth potential Mr Hollinger said, “The fact that India is moving towards 100 percent digitalization presents an overwhelming opportunity for all of us. Digitalization of broadcast will make bandwidth usage more efficient, leading to a wider choice for the viewers and newer opportunities for media companies. Digitization means viewers will be more discerning and I predict that the programming with the best storytelling, compelling characters and stunning visuals will win out.”

     

    Talking about the share of revenue from India, Mr Hollinger said, “International markets account for one-third of our operating profit, of which India contributes a significant part. We don’t break it down on a regional level. India is one of the top five growth markets on a worldwide basis.”

     

    He also said that going forward the company is looking to enter retail, merchandising and licensing space.

     

  • The move to digitisation and ensuring a smooth transition, the benefits, the bottlenecks, curbing piracy were some of the topics discussed in the augural session

    @FF12: Opening session weighs pros & cons of digitization

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    FICCI Frames 2012, now in its 13th year, kicked off on March 14, Wednesday at Hotel Renaissance, Mumbai. The morning session started with a welcome address from Karan Johar, Co-chair, FICCI Entertainment Committee. After Mr Johar’s welcome address, Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India & Chairman, FICCI Broadcast Forum, took the stage to address the audience.

     

    In keeping with the theme, ‘Embracing the Digital World’, Mr Shankar said “digitisation is a big reality which will revolutionise the way content (creation and distribution) is offered”. Even though he said that digitisation will create a level playing field for the broadcasters and the cable operators, he had a word of caution to ad when he said that his biggest concern was “the chaos which will be caused by the broadcast industry’s inaction”.

     

    Mr Shankar was of the opinion that instead of lamenting the loss of carriage fees, the MSOs should appreciate the opportunity of “customisation and localisation of content” being presented by digitisation.

     

    Though Mr Shankar admitted that there is a need for legislative enablers to remove the bottlenecks, he also said that the broadcast industry is still not ready to move to the digital format. To drive home his point he used the example of the film The Artist, where the star of the silent era films loses out when he refuses to move with times. With this word of caution, Mr Shankar ended his keynote address.

     

    Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister,Maharashtra, next took the stage to talk about the “exciting times that we are living in”. He said that the challenge is to adopt the regulatory framework to the new technology and ensure that over regulation doesn’t kill a good thing. He also said that the move towards digitisation will create a huge employment opportunity. He stressed on the need to balance technology with creativity, adding that “growth should not be lopsided but all inclusive”.

     

    Shri Chavan also stated that the government is taking all possible steps to ensure that content piracy is curbed but accepted that the state has not delivered on its promises to curb piracy till now.

     

    He also touched upon the need for regulation and said that regulation is a major challenge. Shri Chavan suggested that instead of the state regulating the media; it should look at self regulation.

     

    Moving on, Shri Chavan welcomed the foreign delegates and announced that his government was creating new centres for film shooting in the state. He stated that the first such centre will come up atKolhapur, where entrepreneurs would be provided with lots of financial incentives. He said that the government will “protect any creative attempt within the framework and not allow any fascists elements to disrupt it”. He also assured the film industry that its concerns over policing on film locations would be looked into.

     

    The Chief Minister also released the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2012; FICCI-Amarchand Lawbook and ‘Positivity: The impact of television on India’ by The Indian Broadcasting Foundation.

     

    Mr Jehil Thakkar, Head, Media & Entertainment Practises, KPMG made a brief presentation about the highlights of the FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2012.

     

    Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman, Motion Pictures Association of America, who took the stage next, underlined the need to look into stringent regulations against content theft.  “When content is stolen, 95 per cent of the people who contribute to the vitality and success of a film are adversely affected”, he said. Quoting an Ernst & Young report, he said, movie theft contributes to a loss of US$ 1 billion annually and threatens the jobs of half a million people. He stated thatIndiais among the top 10 nations as far as online copyright infringement is concerned. He said that technology (digitisation) and content need each other and one can’t be without the other.

     

    Mr Uday K Varma, Secretary, Ministry of I&B, opened his address by stating that the concerns that the industry had over digitisation and the Phase 3 of FM radio have been addressed by the move to allow 839 new FM stations and 500 community radio stations.

     

    He stressed that the government is committed to ensure time bound digitisation and said that come July 1, the four metros will switch over to the digital format and the plan is to ensure that the move to digitalisation is completed by December 31, 2014. He agreed that the challenge was mammoth- to convert 80 million analog connections to digital format but added that the move will ensure faster and deeper penetration. “This will address a plethora of issues facing the television industry, such as addressability, carriage fees, audience measurement and consumer choice,” he said.

     

    Mr Varma added that in order to combat piracy, they intend to carry out an all-encompassing multi-media campaign during the 12th five year plan period involving all stakeholders from the film and music industries.

     

    He also outlined the ministry’s plan to celebrate 100 years of cinema inIndia. Mr Varma said that the Government of India, in cooperation with the film industry, has a line of activities between May 3, 2012 and May 3, 2013. It also proposes to present a tableaux of ‘100 years of Indian Cinema’ at the Republic Day parade next year where the plan is that the stalwarts of the industry also take part.

     

    Mr Varma also announced that the government is setting up a National Film Heritage Mission to safeguard India’s celluloid history by undertaking picture and sound restoration of more than 2,500 films. In Addition, theMission, with a budget of over Rs500 crore, would also look at constructing preservation vaults for archiving restored material, and for conducting workshops and training.

     

    The session closed after a vote of thanks given by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Secretary General, FICCI.

     

  • Mark Hollinger, Puneet Goenka and Carolyn Everson discussed the challenges and opportunities for media

    @FF12: Entertainment has become a revolution

     

    The second session of FICCI Frames had ‘industry doyens, including key enablers, shed light on challenges and opportunities for the times ahead’. The session was moderated by Vishnu Som, Editor, Documentaries and Senior Anchor, NDTV.

     

    The session was opened by Mr Som welcoming Mark Hollinger, President & CEO, Discovery Networks International (DNI), who took the stage to talk about DNI’s journey in India. From a single network launched in 1995, today DNI has grown to seven channels. Mr Hollinger gave the credit of this success to DNI’s advantage of being an early mover in the Indian market.

     

    While talking about the process of digitisation, Mr Hollinger said that it is a great opportunity for a truly interactive pay TV experience. He appreciated the investment  made by the C&S community (the set top boxes and the marketing for the same).

     

    Mr Hollinger was of the opinion that the viewers today prefer sophisticated technology and the same applied for TV too. He said that digitisation is a win-win situation for all. The consumer gets a better product with ‘wider choices’ and the broadcasters will get a better business model which allows ‘faster and broader penetration of HD channels’. He stated that embracing digitisation will push broadcasters to perform better.

     

    In the Q&A session with Mr Som, when he was asked about the benefits of producing content v/s revenue, Mr Hollinger said one-third of their operational revenue and profits is recovered from the market due to their early mover advantage. He revealed that they spend almost $1 billion on producing content.

     

    Being an international channel which enteredIndiain 1995, Mr Hollinger talked about howIndia, as a country, is more open to foreign content. He also said that even then they offer regionalised content created specially for the local viewers and also the option to view the international content in the local language. Mr Hollinger stated that their strategy worked as was evident from the Brand Trust Report which has named Discovery as the third most popular channel and TLC as the fifth.

     

    In the Q&A session, when Mr Som questioned him about the pros and cons of local v/s international content, Mr Hollinger said that the local staff keeps them appraised about how the content is received. He said that the mix of international and local content is almost 50-50.

     

    Mr Hollinger saved the best for the last. While closing his speech, he announced that DNI is launching Discovery Kids in India, which is the launch pad for theAsialaunch. The channel will also be launched inIndonesiaandPhilippines.

     

    He also revealed plans to expand DNI’s scope to DVDs, retail, publishing and merchandising in the “biggest satellite market today”.

     

    Next up was Puneet Goenka, CEO and MD, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL). Mr Goenka opened his address by stating entertainment is no longer an evolution but has become a revolution. He said that digitisation of content is a good move as the drivers of today’s content are “highly motivated youngsters who are high risk takers and have large disposable income”. They have the power to influence products to be customised and digitisation will help achieve just that.

     

    With the help of a powerpoint presentation, Mr Goenka listed out the pros and cons of digitisation. He listed the fact that the penetration of private channels is still low and there is a lot of scope to grow as a benefit. Citing the example of Ditto TV, he said that now new media is the media to go to.

     

    During the Q&A session, when asked about the benefits of digitisation, he said that the sheer choice that the consumer gets is the benefit which will also be beneficial to them as the number of channels being offered in HD will go up.

     

    While talking about self-regulation in media, Mr Goenka said that it is still early days, as the norms have just been laid out by the news and entertainment industry. Time is needed to let them evolve and make a difference.

     

    Next to address the audience was Carolyn Everson, VP, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook, whose address featured on how Facebook can benefit the media and entertainment industry. Giving the example of Open Graph, Ms Everson illustrated how Saavn in music, Zinga in gaming and films being released in theUSuse Open Graph by sharing stories built their brand on “top of Facebook”.

     

    Her ‘Aaha’ moment about Facebook came when, while talking to an anthropologist, she realised that communities and networks have always been around us but Facebook brings them to us at a scale never seen before due to the technology available.

     

    She said that Facebook is a reflection of the unique individual identity and the social graph is created using the information shared by the individual.

     

    Ms Everson also dealt with how Facebook is trying to take marketing from ads to stories. The thought behind the idea is that ads may be remembered once but stories are shared and remembered by millions. The best example of this is the Timeline pages for the brands which allow them to communicate one-on-one with their fans.

     

    During the Q&A session, Ms Everson faced some tough questions from Mr Som, when he asked her about how Facebook has been dealing with objectionable content. She answered that they work very hard to regulate content and address complaints regularly. When she was asked how and why do they decide what is unsafe or objectionable, she answered that the communities regulate the content and Facebook takes their input very seriously.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • In a session titled "Financing the Media and Entertainment Business", industry personalities discussed the lack of private equity and venture capital funds.

    @FF12: Financing, a cause for concern in M&E

    By A Correspondent

     

    The media and entertainment industry of India has scripted a glorious growth story in the past decade or so, and the future looks even more promising with digitization and the advent of technology across media verticals such as broadcast, print and also films. But one area of concern is the lack of private equity and VC funds showing adequate interest.

     

    In a session titled “Financing the Media and Entertainment Business” eminent personalities such as Prashant Jain, Executive Director, HDFC Mutual Fund; Matthew Cyriac, Sr Managing Director, Private Equity, Blackstone; Soumo Ganguly, Managing Director, Moxie Entertainment Pvt Ltd; and Daniel Dubiecki, Founder and Partner, The Allegiance Theatre, Hollywood shared their views on the subject. Ashok Wadhwa, Group CEO, Ambit moderated the session.

     

    Matthew Cyriac started off the session by pointing out that majority of the investments within the media and entertainment industry were made in television and print as they represent a fairly large share in terms of sheer numbers as against Internet and Radio. The Hindi GECs in TV is where typically where a lot of money into followed by regional GECs and sports channel. For print media, it was the regional publications command a lot of attention as regional advertising is very robust – one which extracts a lot of profit.

     

    Prashant Jain pointed out thata lot of companies in India have managed to get good funding and that it is not reflective of a very, very sorry picture as is being talked about. “It’s not that all of India in the media entertainment space not attracting funds. Companies like UTV and a few others have attracted investors.”

     

    Ashok Wadhwa remarked that the film industry in India is not institutionalised enough to attract private equity. Daniel Dubiecki spoke about the need to be more global in concept, widen the scope of the market and thereby making it more viable to attract investments in the films business.

     

    Photograph: Fotocorp

  • The Indian Broadcasting Foundation has released an in-depth report on the Socio-Economic Impact of Television at FICCI Frames 2012 which shows how television helps viewers live better lives.

    @FICCI-Frames 2012: TV influences life: IBF study

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has released an in-depth report on the Socio-Economic Impact of Television at FICCI Frames 2012. The IBF has conducted an extensive research in 3 phases to measure the impact of Television on Indian viewers. In the first phase, qualitative research was conducted across 20 focus groups to identify various forms in which television impacts the audience. This information was used to design the questionnaire for the second phase of the research, in which 5400 respondents were interviewed in the 7-60 years age group across 18 cities. They opined on 54 different attributes that encompassed the impact of television on their lives. The third phase of the research was a set of 25 in-depth interviews that amplified the learnings of the previous two phases. This enormous study spanned across 6 months. The research was facilitated by Ormax Media.

     

    The research findings are published in a formal documentthat is aptly named ‘Posi-TV-ity’. This in-depth report bears testimony to the overwhelmingly positive impact of television on audiences across the country.

     

    Uday Shankar, President, IBF emphasized, “Posi-TV-ity showcases the wide-ranging impact of Television beyond its conventionally understood & accepted role of being an entertainment destination. Today, television has moved ahead to offer more… a lot more. It in fact impacts the way India thinks and lives. Its impact on the socio-economic fabric of our country is indelible”.

     

    Today, television gone beyond entertainment and has become a medium that influences public opinion and stirs up sentiments. Everything that one sees on television has an impact and to measure that impact, this extensive study has been conducted by IBF. In this process of understanding the impact, the study has shattered several myths associated with television that were created due to stereotypes associated with it.

     

    In particular, Posi-TV-ity identifies 7 key roles that television plays in the life of a viewer. The study validates and substantiates these roles and impact of television in the country:

     

    Education – Respondents agreed that TV has helped them take more informed career decisions, financial decision and also learn new things that they could apply to their jobs.

     

    Personality Development – Viewers agreed that TV boosted their confidence, helped them become all-rounders and also widened their thinking.

     

    Social Interaction -Audience today feel that TV has helped them in having a better relationship with in-laws, keeping families together in today’s changing world, and strike a balance between Indian culture & westernization.

     

    Exposure – Viewers feel TV keeps them updated on the latest fashion & trends, latest products and also aids their purchase decisions. TV also keeps them informed about health related issues.

     

    Awakening – Respondents felt TV increases awareness of women’s rights, social issues, and rights as a citizen of India as well.

     

    Opportunity -It is widely believed that TV also gives opportunities to people from all over the country to showcase their talent, makes viewers feel closer to celebrities!

     

    Rejuvenation – Many viewers feel that TV makes sure that there is not a single boring or dull moment in their lives.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media Pvt Ltd added, “The role television plays in the life of the Indian viewer is grossly underrated. This research identifies seven distinct roles of television, beyond entertainment. Each of these roles have a deep socio-economic or psychological connect with the viewers’ life. The research offers a new way of looking at the medium, in context of today’s India.”

     

  • Every Thursday, Ranjona Banerji will write about a grouse. Either spewing venom or tongue-in-cheek.

    [MJR] A little respect for readers, please

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Living in big cities, you accept the privileges given to you with an entitled sense of arrogance. Yes, we have pubs everywhere in Mumbai, dear Virginia, and women can walk out at any time without fear of being raped.

     

    But this grouse is not about that. It’s about trying to read a newspaper in non-big city India. The past three weeks in Dehra Dun mean that all the news in the English newspapers are between 24 and 48 hours old and given the pace at which TV spews out the stuff, completely outdated. Internet facilities in the capital of Uttarakhand – and I am stationed a few km above Dehra Dun – have improved considerably. This means that by the time you get The Times of India, The Hindustan Times or The Hindu in your hands, your only interest in the front page is which paper has given more importance to which news.

     

    I understand all the compulsions which newspapers face about printing and travelling times and the costs incurred in transportation. But there has to be a better way of dealing with “dak” or “mofussil” editions than methods used decades ago. In fact, just a decade ago when I was with The Times of India in Ahmedabad, we were aware of the problems faced by our readers in Vadodara and Surat and pushed the management to look closely at the logistics.

     

    The most amusing newspaper which we get here is The Asian Age, which really is a day old since it’s the Delhi edition. With it, you play the game to see which front page item is completely redundant.

     

    A little more respect for readers may not be such a bad thing, perhaps.

     

  • Slowing excitement levels, consumer fatigue, and Indian players' performances… some of the reasons IPL needs to look sharp, feels Ashish Bhasin.

    4 reasons why IPL ratings & revenue won’t be better this year

    By Ashish Bhasin

     

    #1 There has been an overdose of cricket. Immediately after the World Cup last year, which was like a climax, we had the IPL and subsequent to that we had nearly continuous cricket, causing some amount of fatigue in consumers.

     

    #2 Viewership and interest in cricket in India is directly proportionate to the performance of the Indian cricket team. Given the disastrous tour of England, followed by a similarly disastrous tour of Australia, the Indian cricket team’s performance perhaps is at its lowest in the past several years and I feel this will impact cricket in general. Even though IPL is not directly an Indian team tournament, most of the players involved are in the IPL and hence the overall interest gets impacted.

     

    #3 Rightly or wrongly, I think the best days of the IPL were when Lalit Modi was running it because of the hype and excitement he was able to create around it. Subsequent to that the journey has only been downhill for IPL. Hence I feel that will continue for a while, until something new is done to reinvent this tournament and regenerate interest.

     

    #4 Perhaps, because of some of the reasons given above, the Indian consumer has started acknowledging that other sports also exist in the world, like F1, hockey, wrestling and so on. As these sports catch on, IPL will be affected.

     

    Ashish Bhasin is the Chairman India & CEO South East Asia – Aegis Media.

     

  • Rakesh Jariwala, partner and tax expert, Ernst & Young and one of the finest minds in determining the taxing truths for the Indian media and entertainment sector, presents his wishlist.

    Special for MxMIndia: Budget Wishlist for Media

    By Rakesh Jariwala

     

    The key issues affecting the sector and the wishlist from the Budget:

    – High entertainment tax burden on industry that showcases Indian art and culture to the world is totally unjustified.  Hence, the entertainment tax structure across the country should be rationalized by bringing down rates of entertainment taxes in important states like Maharashtra, Delhi, UP, West Bengal, Gujarat, Haryana and others.

     

    – Film producer generates revenues from theatrical and non-theatrical rights both of which are liable to service tax.  Separately, various State Governments classify ‘copyright’ as goods thereby levying Value Added Tax on transfer/ licensing of copyright on non theatrical streams.  To prevent multiple taxation, the government should exempt ‘copyright in theatrical distribution of cinematograph films’ from service tax levy and continue this exemption in the negative list.

     

    – The Government should take a cue from steps taken by federal/ state governments across the world such as Singapore, UK, Germany, South Africa and the US and incentivize the film industry through a well defined plan, for both, content creation and infrastructure. This will help the industry parallel its western counterpart and showcase Indian creative talents to the world.

     

    – The concessional rate of 10 percent on gross basis, as prevalent for non-resident sportsperson for participation in any sport in India should be extended for taxation of foreign artists, performers and entertainers.

     

    – An alternate mechanism for obtaining Income-tax Clearance Certificate (‘TCC’) for clearance or a monetary threshold for triggering TCC provisions is provided as the current set up provisions and administrative burden discourages foreign talent to shoot in India.

     

    – A clarification from the government that the payment for grant of distribution rights to foreign telecasting companies is not for the ‘copyright’ in the content and hence, is not in the nature of royalty thereby preventing protracted litigation.

     

    – Entry into premises such as films, theaters, amusement parks could be liable to service tax under the negative list based service tax legislation.  Since these activities are already liable to high entertainment taxes by states, entry into premise where entertainment is held should be excluded from service tax levy.

     

    – The Government should grant relief from levy and collection of service tax on subscription charges received by cable operators and DTH operators since these charges are already subject to entertainment tax.

     

    – The weighted deduction (ie deduction for 200 percent of the qualifying expenditure incurred on in-house research and development) under Section 35(2AB) of the Income-tax Act should be made available to products as well as production services companies.

     

    Rakesh Jariwala is Partner and Tax Expert, Ernst & Young. Please log on to mxmindia.com on Saturday, March 17 for a special budget edition.