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Tag: Ajit Pai

  • The event began with an inaugural session that saw the big guns from the media and allied sectors including the I&B Ministry delve on the theme of the conclave – Transforming Lives

    #FF14 Day 1: Frames takes transformational route in 15th year

     

    By a correspondent

     

    The 15th edition of the much anticipated annual event of the Media & Entertainment industry – FICCI Frames 2014, got off to a captivating start in Mumbai on March 12, 2014. The event began with an inaugural session that saw the big guns from the media and allied sectors including the I&B Ministry delve on the theme of the conclave – Transforming Lives – while also highlighting the current state of the M&E sector and its scope for the future.

     

    The lineup of the dignitaries for the inaugural session included Harshavardhan Neotia, Vice President, FICCI; Uday Shankar, Chairman, FICCI Media and Entertainment Committee, and CEO, Star India; Punit Goenka, CEO & MD, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd; Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India; Shri Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Department of IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka; H.E. Patrick Suckling, Australian High Commissioner to India and Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC, USA.

     

    Highlighting the state of the M&E industry in 2013, Uday Shankar said that while there was much talk about doom and gloom in the economy it was not the case for the M&E industry that grew by almost 12 per cent. But he cautioned that the goal of attaining the $100 billion landmark was a distant dream as yet. Mr Uday went on to highlight the role that the government could essay in simplifying several issues facing the industry and how it could work in tandem with the industry in resolving them.

     

    Echoing a similar point of view, ZEEL’s Punit Goenka too laid the pitch for a collaborative effort as he said that the M&E sector has played a key role in enhancing the prospects of the economy, especially on the jobs front. “The M&E industry has been a shining example of how an industry could work towards achieving a common goal of inclusive growth and being a facilitator to all concerned. It is a matter of pride for the sector to be employing more than 6 million people with the scope of providing employment to many more in time to come.”

     

    Mr. Goenka further highlighted the role that digitization has played in the year gone by, and how it would alter the broadcast landscape in the future. He affirmed to the audience that it was time to give back to the industry for whatever it has given us and that the same should be done by unleashing innovation and creativity as the core. In fact the collective aim should be to transform the lives of the global community and not just India, asserted Goenka.

     

    Having been introduced to the various loopholes and issues facing the industry at the introductory session, Shri Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting was vocal when he said that it was not just the government but the industry that should take responsibility in finding a solution to the problems at hand. “The role of the government is that of a facilitator, it would be great if the industry takes a collective stand on issues themselves and come to us if at all they face any hurdles.”

     

    Highlighting the several initiatives undertaken by the I&B ministry, Mr Julka said that the first two phases of digitization have met with reasonable success in about 42 cities and it could be credited as being the smoothest and fastest such initiative of its kind. The focus now would be on Phase 3 & 4 of the drive where an additional 110 million STBs are scheduled to be rolled out. “While there are a few issues concerning the digitization exercise, we are taking efforts to sort them out including at the level of broadcasters, MSOs, LCOs etc. But the good thing is that digitization has managed to bring in transparency in the broadcast sector, which was the main goal of the whole exercise.”

     

    Mr Julka said that the I&B ministry was also concerned about the content that was being shown to the viewers and urged the broadcasters to practice self-regulation. With 800 channels already existing and a further 250 plus awaiting clearances, it was important for broadcast companies to figure out how to dish out content that is accepted by the viewer.

     

    Mr Julka also touched upon the challenges facing the industry including control on monopoly & cross-media ownership, content monitoring, transponder capacity problem facing DTH players etc.

     

    The session proceeded to an engaging perspective on the US broadcast market that was provided by Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC, USA and also a keynote address by Shri Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, Department of IT, BT & ST, Government of Karnataka.

     

  • The session focused on how the government could play an integral role in allaying the fears of all the stakeholders concerned

    #FF14 Day 1: Issues abound but collective stand will help boost industry morale

    By a correspondent

     

    Starting off from where the inaugural session left, the session on ‘De-bottlenecking the regulatory hurdles’ on Day 1 of FICCI Frames 2014 saw the panelists touch upon grave issues facing the industry and how the government could play an integral role in allaying the fears of all the stakeholders concerned.

     

    The panelists for the session comprised Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd, Punit Goenka, CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, Rahul Johri, Sr VP & GM, South Asia, Discovery Networks and  Ajit Pai, Commissioner, FCC, USA. The session was moderated by Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV.

     

    Taking the opportunity to open up, Uday Shankar began by saying that the regulatory scenario in India was very diverse in its approach with some sectors being over-regulated while the others were under-regulated. “Lack of clarity on the intent of a regulation is something that is of concern. It has to be aligned with goals that have been set by the society”, said Mr. Shankar. He went on to highlight other issues that needed industry attention including the 10+2 ad cap provision and also the just introduced aggregator policy for stakeholders.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats presented a few indicators of his own as he said that there was a need to have a purpose to regulate. This, he said, could be achieved by having multiplicity of choice, have the need to operate like a free market and have adequate transparency and data. Adding further he said that the other essential needs were clarity, accountability and foresight.

     

    Rahul Johri pitched in by saying that there was indeed a need to have clarity on where the industry was headed on the issue of regulation and finding out what the core objective is. “We have regulated ourselves very well but there are too many regulations being imposed right now and we need to find a way to tackle them systematically. The aim should be to regulate well for the future of India.”

     

    Left to defend his turf, Shri Bimal Julka did a decent job of pacifying the panel as he said that it was a collaborative effort and that the responsibility rests with all stakeholders to get the job done. “Whatever the issues, we can agree in cohesion that it is the viewer towards whom our efforts have to be directed. Thus keeping such interests of the viewer in mind, the policies are framed with the intention of achieving inclusive growth,” he asserted.

     

    On the several impending problems facing stakeholders, Shri Julka said that the focus by the government was to throw open the field for a healthy discussion amongst all players so that they could arrive at an amicable solution. Mr. Julka asserted that despite the problems the digitization exercise was showing positive results as well including the carriage fees reporting a downward slide and more transparency being bought into the system.

     

    Mr Julka went on to add that the challenge would be to complete the phase 3 & 4 schedule of digitization and only after that could the issues of subscription versus carriage fee be resolved. But he cautioned that the stakeholders also had a role to play including deciding on how to make their content standout amongst a plethora of options facing the viewer.

     

    Sudhanshu Vats went to the extent of saying that there was no need to have a licensing system except for the spectrum allocation and that even if there is a licensing system there needs to be a fixed timeframe to address that. He added that things will be clear once the entire digitization exercise is complete but prior to that it was important that the industry take a hard look on addressability factor of digitization.

     

  • The theme of Frames 2014 is "Media and Entertainment: Transforming Lives" highlighting the role of media and entertainment as a vehicle for social change

    FICCI Frames turns 15, 2014 edition to focus on how M&E influences social change

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has announced the 15th edition of its annual Frames convention for the media and entertainment industry.

     

    FICCI Frames 2014 will be held from March 12 to 14, 2014 in Powai, Mumbai. Nearly 2000 Indian and 600 foreign delegates are expected to attend. The theme of Frames 2014 is “Media and Entertainment: Transforming Lives” highlighting the role of media and entertainment as a vehicle for social change (*See Disclosure).

     

    The convention will discuss reforms and regulatory endeavours along with working on ideas on socially meaningful and quality content. The inaugural keynote will be by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai who will touch upon content in the regulatory landscape in the US. Raghav Bahl, Controlling Shareholder and Managing Director of the TV 18 Group will make the theme keynote address on Media and Entertainment as  a Vehicle for Social and Economic Change.  Aroon Purie , Chairman India Today Group,  will deliver the keynote on Print Industry: Surviving All Odds in the Digital Era. Justin Osofsky, VP – Media Partnerships, Facebook will talk on ‘Establishing Social Networks as the Primary Online Forum for Public Conversations ‘.

     

    Apart from the core theme, Frames 2014 will focus on key avenues for monetising the sector such as Talking Numbers: Hard Facts about M &E’s Economic Contribution; TV 3.1: Content, Strategies and the Future of Broadcast; De-bottlenecking the Regulatory Hurdles, The Changing Dynamics of the Film Exhibition Landscape.

     

    Stakeholders and thought leaders such as Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India and Chairman FICCI Entertainment committee, Karan Johar, Chairman , Ficci Frames, Punit Goenka, MD & CEO , Zee Entertainment, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO Viacom 18, Mathieu Bejot, Executive Director, TV France International, Roger Fisk, Presidential PR Guru from President Obama’s electoral campaign; Jim Egan, CEO, BBC Global News, Andrew Lack, Chairman, the Bloomberg Group; Bill Livek , CEO, Rentrak,  Kim Dalton, Chairman, Asian Animation Summit; Hiromichi Masuda, Vice Chairman Business Committee, The Association of Japanese Animations,Todd Miller, the CEO of Celestial Tiger Entertainment, a Lionsgate joint venture and former head of Sony Pictures Television, are slated to speak at Frames 2014.

     

    Frames 2014 has been planned with some off-the-cuff sessions to broaden the conventional boundaries of the summit. Sessions such as “Internet & Democracy: Interloper or Catalyst?”, “The Film that Changed My Life” and “The Indian Electronic News Media: On Fine Balance?” will be held.

     

    A discussion specific to attracting the influx of private equity for the sector has been planned and film funding is a subject which will be deliberated upon. A Producers’ Masterclass wherein producers like Andy Paterson and Guneet Monga will discuss the overarching role of a producer in taking a film from start to finish. Masterclasses with acclaimed Hollywood VFX supervisors such as George Murphy , Oscar winner and Chief Creative Officer, Reliance Media works , Jon Cowley and Ben Murray  of Prime focus world are also in the offing. The cinema exhibition sector will be dealt with at the “Cinema Advertising & Alternative Models: The Changing Dynamics of the Film Exhibition Landscape” session. Creative sessions on “The Past Present and Future of Good Cinema: Film-making for a Cause” and “Cuts so Deep: Are we Sacrificing Creativity at the Altar of Morality” will focus on ‘meaningful cinematic content’.

     

    Australia is the partner country and Karnataka the “Partner State” at FICCI Frames 2014. Srivatsa Krishna , Secretary, Deptartment of IT , BT & S and T , Govt. Of Karnataka will touch upon how Karnataka has been doing much to promote growth and development of its M&E industry

     

    An innovative feature of this year’s edition of Frames will be the FICCI-Ink Salon, an exclusive by-invite only daily hour-long session with speakers from the Indian part of TED talks. The BAF award show and networking evenings will as usual be the hallmarks of the after-hours.

     

    *Disclosure: MxMIndia is a Media Partner of FICCI Frames 2014