Category: Specials

FICCI Frames: The roadmap for success in broadcasting

MUMBAI: In its three decades of existence, the promising broadcast narrative in India continues to be challenged on issues such as transparency, pricing, taxation, consumer choice and lack of a coherent regulatory and policy framework.

To find a solution to these and similar questions, a panel anchored by media analyst, author and columnist Vanita Kohli Khandekar highlighted a session on the Future of Vision 2020 – laying a transformative roadmap for Indian broadcasting. The panelists stressed issues for unlocking value in Indian broadcasting on the first day of the FICCI Frames convention held on 25 March in Mumbai.

Speakers who shared their opinion and views were I&B Ministry additional secretary JS Mathur, TRAI principal advisor SK Gupta, BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan, Siti Cable CEO VD Wadhwa, Star India COO Sanjay Gupta, Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal, Viacom 18 Group CEO Sudhanshu Vats and Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific south Asia and southeast Asia GM and executive VP Rahul Johri.

According to Wadhwa, in order for the media and entertainment sector to grow, digitisation should be completed. “Digitisation must be completed and that will bring in transparency. Secondly, we need to work together to see how can we monetise the business far better.”

It may be recalled that in phase I and II of digitisation, average revenue per user (ARPU) had witnessed a significant jump in places where people were consuming cable broadband. In response to that, Nagpal said, “We can either have monopolies or regulations but one has regulation where there are monopolies. I believe that I am digging my own grave if I am not serving my customers and as a regulator, we need to make sure that he is getting adequate infrastructure to do his job well.”

Sharing his views on the media and entertainment sector, Star’s Gupta said that today the industry size is close to Rs 30,000 crore and the big challenge going forward will be on how to make it a Rs 300,000 crore industry. Gupta opined that the one fundamental issue that plagues the industry is that they have regulated the industry from a wrong perspective. “You need to get the capital to invest high, while creating innovation for consumers. That’s how industries have grown. However, that is the challenge for the M&E industry.”

When on the one hand broadcasters believe that regulation is not required, on the other hand TRAI’s Gupta had a different opinion. “If regulation is not required then what is required? Is it that we are required to keep quiet on the customer front if they are not getting any choice?” he questioned.

He went on to add that the country has 30 million DTH customers, 30 million DAS customers and 10 million addressable systems. However, the question was how many consumers have the choice of individual channels? “If I ask a consumer if he/she is watching all the channels given to them, the answer will be a big no. Therefore the price can be deregulated and total selection of the channel should be given to the consumer at the desired price. And for this to happen certain broad guidelines should be created and this should be done soon.”

Picking up points from Sanjay and S K Gupta, Vats said that in order to drive the size of the pie, pricing is the difficult thing. “If we focus on the price of the analogue cable, in some way, we are constraining the ‘X’ to increase and my request is that if we become open to it, we will allow the ‘Y’ to increase. The moment we allow the ‘Y’ to increase, I think we will define the problem collectively better between LMOs, MSOs, broadcasters etc.”

Vats was of the view that competition needs to be encouraged, even though there is enough competition in the media and entertainment industry. “Competition itself will ensure that we are reaching out to every possible Indian, outside India as well. It happens in every industry, why has it not happened here?” A firm believer of a free market, Vats is confident that it will drive the industry and take it to the next level.

March 25, 2015
TV industry to touch Rs 975 billion in 2019: FICCI KPMG Report

MUMBAI: There is some good news for Indian broadcasters, who even after digitisation of phase I and II cities, have not been able to reap its full benefits. According to the ‘FICCI KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2015,’ the sector will see a higher subscription revenue growth, which will outstrip advertising revenue increases.

The report, which was released on 25 March highlights that the subscription revenue will grow at an annualized 16 per cent; higher than ad revenue’s 14 per cent annualised growth. This will be on account of better monetisation, courtesy digitsation. According to the FICCI KPMG report, television industry in India, which is estimated at Rs 475 billion in 2014, will grow at a CAGR of 15.5 per cent to reach Rs 975 billion in 2019.

Highlights of the report:

Paid C&S penetration of TV households

The number of TV households in India increased to 168 million in 2014, implying a TV penetration of 61 per cent, even as the Cable and Satellite (C&S) subscribers increased by 10 million in 2014, to reach 149 million. Excluding DD Freedish, the number of paid C&S subscribers is estimated to be 139 million, implying a paid C&S penetration of 82 per cent. The paid C&S subscriber base is expected to grow to 175 million by 2019, representing 90 per cent of TV homes.

DTH ARPU Growth

While subscriber addition for direct to home (DTH) operators was muted in 2014, they had a healthy revenue growth due to sustained increase in the average revenue per user (ARPU). DTH operators have seen an ARPU increase of around 12 to 15 per cent in 2014. While some of the ARPU increase was driven by DTH operators’s ability to continue to push price hikes, the more promising trend is that DTH operators are able to increase collections from customers by providing additional services such as HD channels, premium channels and other value added services (VAS).

There are close to four million HD subscribers, accounting for 10 per cent of all DTH subscribers, while 15 to 20 per cent of incremental subscribers in 2014 were HD subscribers.

Broadcasting

Television advertising revenue bounced back in 2014 led by the Indian general elections and the improved macro economic outlook due to a stable government at the centre.

The total TV advertising market is estimated to have grown at 14 per cent in 2014 to Rs 155 billion. Going forward, TV advertising in India is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19 per cent to reach Rs 299 billion by 2019.

In 2014, the subscription revenues for broadcasters grew at only 10 per cent to Rs 75 billion. This is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22 per cent from 2014 to 2019 to Rs 201 billion.

The increase in declared subscriber base and increase in revenue share of broadcasters of the subscription pie is expected to drive up the share of subscription to total broadcaster revenue from 33 per cent in 2014 to 40 per cent in 2019.

Content Production

The size of Indian TV content production industry is RS 30 billion, excluding news, animation and sports. Of this, Hindi language content contributes to two-third of the market, with regional languages contributing the rest.

Digital Media

Digital ad spends accounted for 10.5 per cent of the total ad spends of Rs 414 billion in 2014. Digital media advertising in India grew around 45 per cent in 2014, and continues to grow faster than any other ad category.

The number of internet users in India is closing on to 300 million, thus dethroning USA as the second largest internet enabled market, the largest being China. The year on year growth stands at 31 per cent.

The total number of wired internet connection stands at 20 million, whereas there are 210 million wireless internet connections in the country. Smartphone penetration is 10 per cent, which is lower than the average global penetration which stands at 25 per cent. Driven by reduction in tariffs of 2G, 3G and introduction of 4G, the number of wireless internet connections is estimated to reach 402 million by 2017 and 528 million by 2019.

It is estimated that 52 million new internet users will login to the digital world by mid-2015. India is expected to reach 640 million internet users by 2019.

Internet users to grow faster than TV viewers

In 2014, the number of TV viewers in India was 825 million, as compared to the number of internet user at 281 million. The CAGR for TV viewership is estimated to be around three per cent from 2014 to 2019, whereas the number of internet users is expected to grow by 18 per cent during the same period.

March 25, 2015
India could have 1000 radio FM channels by 2016: JS Mathur

MUMBAI: By the year 2016, India could have close to 1000 radio FM channels. Speaking at the FICCI Frames 2015 convention in Mumbai, Information and Broadcasting Ministry additional secretary JS Mathur said, “It is an exciting time for the radio industry. The FM radio expansion in the country, which has also got the nod of the government of India, will see the first batch of phase III e-auction very soon. This will be covering 69 cities and 135 channels.”

Mathur added that while it is was exciting time for the industry, but with that also comes challenges. “The new government needs to meet these challenges and meet them in best possible manner,” he said.

During his address, he agreed that there were issues of content diversification as also of newer business and revenue models. “For the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, these are exciting times as there are things, which have started rolling out, while the others that have been proposed, needs to be rolled out,” he opined.

He said that while the digitisation of phase I and II has been completed, the rollout of phase III and IV will digitise the entire country. “It is a major step forward. There is a lot at stake for all the stakeholders, which includes the broadcaster, the consumer and the platform providers. Everyone will have to ensure that the consumer gets the best product, while every stakeholder gets his due,” said Mathur.

While congratulating the media for the great work, Mathur emphasized the role of the media as well. “Media can play an important role in spreading awareness about critical issues amongst consumers,” he opined.

Mathur concluded by showing hope in the new government. “The Narendra Modi led government is prompt in ensuring that the M&E sector grows,” he concluded.

March 25, 2015
OTT, video apps can work progressively with cable & satellite platforms

MUMBAI: The market for Over The Top (OTT) services has been rapidly growing in the United States. However, can the same model be adopted for the Indian market? That was the key question asked at a discussion at FICCI Frames 2015 on the topic – ‘Clash of the Walled Gardens: OTT and Video apps versus cable and satellite.’

Joining the panel were Zenga TV founder and CEO Shabbir Momin, DGive director and CEO GD Singh, IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi, Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera, Eros Digital COO Karan Bedi, Hungama.com CEO and Hungama Digital COO Siddhartha Roy and Hinduja Ventures whole time director Ashok Mansukhani. The session was moderated by Whats ON chief executive officer Atul Phadnis.

Sharing some insights from the US market, Gracenote general manager – video Richard Cusick said that according to a study conducted by the company, nearly 50 per cent of the US broadband households used OTT video services. Young viewers were particularly driving the change as 18 to 24 year olds watched less than half as much traditional TV as 50 to 64 year olds. “Netflix for example has 57 million subscribers worldwide and is a top OTT service provider,” he said.

Cusick said the study increasingly found that networks and studios were resorting to unbundling to single channels as well as live TV bundles. “In such a scenario, consumers benefit the most as great content is served to them,” he said.

The question posed to panelists was whether the US implications were similar to that of India and if cable and DTH operators were changing the landscape? Gandhi felt that the implications were not similar to the Indian market because channel specific models like HBO were not available in India. “As a content broadcaster or distributor, the US markets are very clear that they will follow a proper pay model. Here it is still very disruptive,” he opined.

Moving to the experience of launching an OTT in India, DGive’s Singh said that while they still struggled to generate the right revenues, they did in fact receive 25 million downloads. He said when his company approached someone from the US for guidance for the company’s growth charter in India, the executive told him, “If you’re buying content, you cannot give it for free to audiences.” That was a major learning from the US market.

On the content front, Singh said that currently the company had 30 per cent of its content set under the pay wall, which was premium content. “We sell our service for $1 per month per subscriber. We have a million users paying us since we are screen, operator and consumer agnostic. We are looking at breaking even in the next seven to 10 months.”

Sharing his experience, Momin said that Zenga TV had started in 2009 and he was happy with the response from users. “What was surprising in the initial stages was that we saw response patterns coming in from Tier II cities. We now have 20 to 22 million active users per month and have been profitable for the last three years,” he informed. The company also launched a show called India’s Digital Super Star on its platform, which sold sponsorship slots.

Bedi opined that Eros Digital had 14 million active users, wherein the company followed a transactional as well free model that catered to Indian audiences as well as NRIs. “Some key points for our industry is that we will take a leap; a steroid growth will be seen. Two, revenue models like ad dependent, subscription based, free as well as paid will have to work in tandem,” he said.

The true value of the customer in the coming years will move towards mobile screen consumption, informed Roy.

Speaking from the perspective of a direct to home (DTH) operator, Khera was of the opinion that while OTT players may have a million plus subscribers, the content from OTT was for second screen consumption. Technology like 4K is only for television. On a lighter note, he added, “India gets entertained heads up and not heads down.”

Mansukhani too had a similar opinion. According to him, being an old cable company didn’t mean being out of date. He said that they too provided pay channels on a pre-paid model. “Most Indian homes today use multiple screens. It doesn’t matter who wins. There is space for all as content is being consumed via tablets, mobiles as well as television.”

Mansukhani went on to compliment Star India’s Hotstar app saying that it was a fantastic proposition.

“As a businessman, I am interested in exploring various opportunities but I’m worried about providing free content as high content cost is not justified in providing the content without a price tag. I am against giving free content on OTT,” Khera opined. He also hinted at Videocon d2h entering the OTT space but refused to give any details.

Speaking on the challenges of the OTT space, Roy said that for them to benefit from the digital advertising pie, the pie itself should grow in order for profits to trickle in.

The notion that OTT platforms are for free should be broken. “OTT is about the bundle and there is no choice if one has to pay or not. Cable companies are our allies as they provide us pipes for distribution,” Bedi said.

Having the last word, Mansukhani said that all stakeholders should come together and ask customers on the kind of content and pricing for platforms. The profits could then be shared, he suggested.

In conclusion, the panelists agreed that the three key challenges were cash flow, content windowing and specific business models.

March 25, 2015
Relativity Media upbeat on Make In India; could shoot ‘Immortals’ in India

MUMBAI: Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s ‘Make In India’ dream has made a headway in the entertainment space. Relativity Media in association with B4U is looking at the possibility to shoot the sequel of the blockbuster movie Immortals in India. The entire movie will be shot across the country and will be distributed globally. The association will back the initiative by offering significant roles to Indian actors to attract Indian audience in theatres.

The Relativity – B4U joint venture, which was inked last year, is also set to remake global hits like The Best of Me, 3 Days To Kill,Masterminds, and horror thriller Oculus in India for the Indian market, which also complements the ‘Make In India’ campaign and Make For India concept of RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. The Best of Me is already in the production stage and overseen by Balaji Telefilms, where as Zahak the Bollywood version of Oculus has been already shot featuring Huma Qureshi and Hawa Hawai star Saquib Saleem and is in the post production stage.

While delivering a keynote on FICCI Frames 2015 Relativity CEO Ryan Kavanaugh said, “We associated with B4U in order to understand the Indian market, which is one of the biggest in the world. We have 120 partnerships with B4U where they educate us about India and we use our distributing muscles to promote Indian movies. Content plays the biggest role in success, but the content has to be created after detailed research, which includes segmentation, targetting and positioning.”

B4U CEO Ishan Saksena added, “The association with Relativity is huge as it breaks many barriers and opens up new possibilities for us. B4U with the help of the distribution muscle of Relativity took Queen to areas where Indian movies have never reached before and that’s the beauty of this partnership. We will, in future, ensure that Indian content is distributed abroad and Hollywood movies reach Indian theatre with ease. As a result of this association, soon we will see Indian actors working in Hollywood movies and American superstars featuring in Bollywood films.”

The association will also launch a new online content platform B4U online. “The number of hits Hotstar got in recent time shows us how digital is going to be the next big thing in India and that brings us to our new venture. Unlike other American companies, I don’t want to change the culture. I want to suit myself in it and hence I think Relativity has a future,” concludes Kavanaugh.

March 25, 2015
“The Rs 100 crore Bollywood film club is bullshit:” Mukesh Bhatt

MUMBAI: The year 2014 will go down in history as one of the worst years for Indian cinema in recent times with poor box office collections. Movie economics were also adversely affected by dramatic reduction in demand for satellite rights by broadcasters.

In an endeavour to produce bigger and larger movies, is the emphasis on quality declining? Are studios misreading audience tastes? Are movie budgets bloated beyond control? These questions were raised in a session of FICCI Frames 2015 moderated by Sikhya Entertainment founder Guneet Mongia with Viacom 18 Motion Pictures CEO Ajit Andhare, Eros International MD and group CEO Jyoti Deshpande, film distributer Anil Thadani, PVR Pictures president Kamal Gianchandani, Fox Star CEO Vijay Singh and Film and TV Producer Guild president Mukesh Bhatt.

With a mere growth of 0.9 per cent, the film industry has reached its abysmal low. The panelists citied the major reason behind that as filmmakers getting carried away by big names and not sticking to the budget drawn.

Deshpande opened up the discussion by aggressively protesting over budgeting. “We should immediately stop chasing big names and stick to quality content in order to make the industry prosper. Before green lighting content, we need to tackle a number of issues and better research can help the industry grow. Simultaneously, we also need to ensure that the number of screens increases as more screens mean more money.”

Speaking on the shrinking number of screens, Gianchandani said, “While we are growing in some parts of the country, the fact is that there is stagnancy in some areas. The growth of multiplex depends on numerous factors, government and content being the two vital ones. We need to ensure that we have content that rejuvenates consumers and they reach the theatres.”

It should be noted that in China a new screen starts in every three days and the industry is growing bigger and faster, whereas India is witnessing the exact opposite. Addressing the issue, veteran producer Mukesh Bhatt asserted, “In this business, if you don’t have the temperament to take a risk then you are on the wrong ship and you will certainly drown. Playing safe is not possible in the film industry and the perception that only the Khans can earn you money is ruining the industry. The Khans are good but they are 50 now and people won’t accept them singing romantic songs anymore. We have to discover new stars and new directors. All studios need to back raw and new talent. Moreover, multiplexes should have different pricing for movies that star newcomers. My father advised me that all my spending should reflect in the frame. However, nowadays our spends hardly reflects in the frame but satisfies the ego and arrogance of big names. The media given Rs 100 crore club is absolute bullshit and make no sense. I thank Viacom for green-lighting films like Mary Kom and Bhag Milkha Bhag and hope they keep it up.”

Viacom CEO Ajit Andhare added, “I don’t recall when the film industry made profit or grew larger. The biggest challenge is to make people believe that spending more is not the key to success and one has to pay more attention to content and not green-light a movie going by the actor or director’s name.”

Great content like Aankhon Dekhi, Dr Prakash Baba Amte and Chatuskone find it difficult to stay in theatres where glamour and big names keep knocking. Similarly, the scenario where a common man finds it difficult to afford a ticket needs to change in order to ensure growth of the film industry.

March 25, 2015
Tata Sky awaits MIB approval for Rs 250 crore investment

MUMBAI: Direct to home (DTH) operator Tata Sky has been applying a wait and watch policy not only for transponder space, but also for an approval from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B), for an additional Rs 250 crore investment.

“The money for the project has already come. But, if the approval doesn’t come in the next 48 hours, I will have to return that money to the foreign investors,” said Tata Sky MD & CEO Harit Nagpal, while addressing the inaugural session at FICCI FRAMES 2015.

Responding to this, I&B Ministry additional secretary JS Mathur said, “Well, we had granted the approval a month back, and then Tata Sky realized that for the route it wanted to take with the investment, it had to reapply and this is the reason it is taking time.”

Taking cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ campaign, Nagpal said, “The enabler of connectivity is broadband.”

As per Nagpal, with low Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), putting fresh wires in the country would not give any return on investment. “Otherwise, there are enough hungry entrepreneurs, who would have used the opportunity. And if they haven’t, means that conditions are not viable in the country,” opined Nagpal.

The country, though has hundreds miles of wires all over, which can carry broadband, and all it’s waiting for is an enabling and uniform environment, to use this infrastructure and deliver broadband to the consumer. “The rest as has happened in telecom, will happen,” he added.

According to Nagpal, the industry lacks new thinking. “If anybody finds a successful format, 20 others follow and copy. I have seen general entertainment channels (GECs) being launched as pay TV, churning out the same content, and then either vanishing or becoming free to air (FTA). They lose viewership and distribution and then they are forced to carry 20-22 minutes of advertisement, which the regulator starts questioning and they are then seen sitting in courts,” he said.

The problem, as per Nagpal, is not the producers, but the economics of the business, the restrictions and the permissions needed to do business. “All this restricts the producer from taking risks and choosing a safe and successful path,” he said.

Nagpal, further went on to say, “I don’t think there is room for more Stars, Zees and Sonys. Also there is one Arnab and one Barkha, you can’t have too many of them. It is the niche, which will take us forward, and they are low investment and high return product.”

Flair of creativity and new ideas is the key ingredient in the media and entertainment sector. “The deeper I travel, the more gems I see, but the production centres in the country are all located in the big cities. There is need to take production centres in smaller towns, where the talent is and create more self employed professionals in those areas,” he added.

According to Nagpal, while the rules for setting up, funding and running the business are in place, one still needs to follow rules and ask for permission at every step. “Things have improved in the past few months and the government is keen to clear files, faster than ever before,” he said.

The only way the industry can grow, as per Nagpal, is by allowing the businesses to inform and not seek approvals and also by self regulation. “In case we violate the law, issue penalties, cancel the licence,” he announced.

Touching upon the movie business, Nagpal said that while we make the highest number of films, the industry is still not making money. “We have reached a choking point in terms of adding screens and it is marred by either high cost of real estate or the long list of approvals,” he said.

According to Nagpal, the increasing number of digitized homes will help more producers to monetize their production. “This has already started, a lot of films are breaking even only on the basis of selling their rights to cable and satellite,” he said.

The country has seen digitisation of 42 cities. Touching upon the condition in the digitized cities, Nagpal said, “The local cable operators are running the digitised area and the multi system operators (MSOs) are watching. Customers are not getting packages they want and neither are they getting value added services. The customers are willing to pay, unlike what is being projected by LCOs.”

Digitisation is equal to automation. “The new role of the LCO is to be of a service provider to the MSO and not a partner. I think this needs to be thought about,” concluded Nagpal.

March 25, 2015
FICCI FRAMES: Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar to speak on pubcaster & revenue

NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati chief executive officer Jawhar Sircar will be addressing the annual FICCI FRAMES convention commencing in Mumbai on how a public broadcaster can still earn revenue.

Sircar’s talk is on “India 2015: Role of the Public Service Broadcaster and Lessons from the World.”

The three day convention from 25 – 27 March will extensively cover discussions on various issues related to the media sector centred around the theme – how to make India a Global Entertainment Superpower.

Sircar said, “There is no nation in the world that does not have a decent public broadcaster and some of them like BBC or NHK Japan or the Korean Broadcasting System are legends, mainly because their nations, people and their governments wanted them to be so and help them succeed. India cannot be an exception as it is the only public broadcaster, which operates from the icy peaks of Kargil to our lonely borders in Arunachal, right down to Andaman and every possible corner of India: without ever looking at short-term commercial gains.”

This panel discussion is scheduled on the second day of the entertainment and media conclave and will be moderated by business journalist Pranjal Sharma featuring BBC Global News CEO Jim Egan and Russia’s largest media corporation and public broadcaster – VGTRK deputy CEO Ayuna Badmaeva.

The other key participant is Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) secretary general Javad Mottaghi, who is a special invitee at FICCI FRAMES 2015.

FICCI secretary general Dr A Didar Singh said, “The discussion would provide greater clarity on how to maximise the efforts of public service broadcasting, and also how institutions like Prasar Bharati can balance their programming mandate with effective revenue generation, and remain relevant in the digital era.”

The session will explore the relevance, importance and space for Public Service Broadcasting in today’s ‘always connected’ world which offers a multitude of choices by way of content, delivery platforms and engagement channels.

March 21, 2015
Sports broadcasters expect reforms from budget 2015

MUMBAI: Private sector is one of the largest contributor to Indian economy the first step towards economic reform would be making an investor friendly scenario. With a vast market like India if private sector is refraining from investing then there are certain issues at the bureaucratic level, which are hampering the economic growth. In such a scenario the biggest challenge is to garner trust, not by compromising with national security independence but by policies. Policies that rejuvenate investors to invest exp. Be it in Madison Square or Sydney Allphones Arena, the entire Indian diaspora was promised a better business friendly India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which laid foundation to skyscrapers of aspirations.

Now emphasising on the current business workflow in India, a company has to abide by both central state laws, which turns out as an obstacle. Moreover government often intervenes in the financial strategic affairs of a private company. Sports broadcasting industry is one of the sufferer of such obligations. Broadcasters purchase content from firms by paying the amount demed, but while producing the content they are forced to follow certain regulations, which indirectly decides how much should be charged for the content.

Opposing such intervention Ten Sports CEO Rajesh Sethi told Indiantelevision.com, “In India, private sector is a huge contributor to the economy with digitization process in its final stages sports media can play a key role in economic growth provided we are backed with business friendly policies. The matory sharing of sports feed is something that directly hits us, though it’s not an issue related to the budget, I would certainly like the government to look into such issues. Moreover, we purchase content from somewhere by paying certain amount regulations restricts us when it comes to selling it. So the next level of de-regularisation or de-tarrifisation is something that I expect from this budget. I have high expectations from Arun Jaitley as he is someone who has immense knowledge of finance economics understs the problems that we are facing. He has delivered so far I hope he does in this budget too.”

That somehow sums up the private sports broadcasting industry’s aspirations from budget Jaitley.

The perspective of government broadcasting sector came from Doordarshan (DD) deputy director general C K Jain. Hailing the concept of Make in India he insisted that the government should reduce dependence on Chinese products. “I expect the government to remove service taxes from advertisements as we also have the same functions responsibilities. Also I would request the government to treat us as a government entity exempt us from various taxes liabilities. From sports perspective, service tax on advertisements is certainly a botheration should be dealt with.”

Sharing his personal expectation Jain added, “Make In India has the potential to play a key role in economic growth provided government pays special attention to it. The local manufacturers need to be backed financially with loans tax rebates. The poor of the country needs to be benefited from the budget, as the goal is to uplift the poor to middle class, which will reduce the dependence in subsidies. If subsidies are reduced government will have more money which they can spend other important sectors.”

The Finance Minster has been criticised as pro private sector in recent past after he decided not to intervene in a legal battle between DD Star regarding World Cup. The Sports Act of Prasar Bharati forces private channels to share feed of any event of international importance with pubcaster DD, which enables them to showcase it live. Now the act was brought to ensure that one who cannot afford private channels gets access to events of such magnitude. Which is a fair call considering every citizen in the country has a right to information should not miss the World Cup or Olympics as they cannot afford private channels. The problem is with sharing the feed with cable subscribers. BCCI, Nimbus Communications the two sports channels (ESPN Star) went to court with a plea that no cable television network could broadcast such sports events without a licence from the content owners.

In an affidavit, Star Sports had said that it was losing around Rs 290 crore every year by sharing its sports signals with Doordarshan was expecting to lose around Rs 120 crore by sharing the telecast of the World Cup this year. Under the Act, the rights holder gets 75 per cent of the revenue from the telecast on DD. The remaining 25 per cent is retained by DD.

While Jaitley plans to increase GDP reduce fiscal deficit through his financial proposal policies the entire nation’s eyes ears are glued to his words even as you read this report today (28 February, 2015) with immense expectations aspirations. It remains to be seen if Jaitley company makes it or breaks it.

February 28, 2015
I&B budgetary allocations up by Rs 600 crore; Prasar Bharati’s grants-in-aid upped

NEW DELHI: The total budget of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been raised to Rs 3711.11 crore for 2015-16 against the revised budget of Rs 3176.80 crore (against the initial allocation of Rs 3316 crore) for the year 2014-15. This was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to the Parliament on Saturday, while presenting the Union Budget 2015 – 16.

Additionally, the grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati have been also raised from the revised estimates of Rs 2361.54 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2824.55 crore for 2015-16, apart from an investment of Rs 200 crore by the government in the pubcaster.

The investment in the pubcaster was stopped over the past two years but has been revived this year in the budget for 2015-16.

Although the grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati had provided for Rs 90 crore for the Kisan TV channel in the budget presented by Jaitley in July last year after the new government took over, the revised estimates for 2014-15 show the amount as Rs 21.68 crore and this amount has been raised to Rs 45 crore in the budget for 2015-16.

An explanatory memorandum says that the grants-in-aid is meant for meeting salary and salary related expenditure. In addition, there is a proposal for Kisan TV for making available information to farmers across the country.

(Expenditure on salaries of Prasar Bharati has fallen on the shoulders of the government since all Prasar Bharati employees, who were in employment as on 5 October, 2007 have been given deemed deputation status.)

The allocation under ‘Secretariat – Social services’ covering centenary of cinema celebrations and digitisation of cable television among other things has gone up to Rs 235.23 crore as against the revised estimates of Rs 92.81 crore. Other subjects under this head include the National Film Heritage Mission, anti-piracy measures, promotion of Indian cinema overseas, production of films and documentaries, and setting up a centre of excellence for animation, gaming and visual effects. The explanatory note adds that Secretariat – Social services also covers expenses on development of community radio, and development support to the north-east as well as Jammu and Kashmir and ‘other identified areas’.

The allocation under the Film Sector has been reduced to Rs 130.69 crore for 2015-16. The budget for the film sector for 2014-15 was Rs 135.81 crore while the revised estimates had put this figure at Rs 128.40 crore. There is an additional outlay of Rs 7.68 crore towards certification of cinematographic films.

For the sixth year in a row, the government has not announced any investment in the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

The allocation for Press Information Services, which includes grants to the Press Council of India has been marginally increased to Rs 71.45 crore from last year’s revised estimates of Rs 65.47 crore to meet the expenses for the Press Information Bureau, and the Press Council of India.

For the first time after almost three decades, there is no allocation to the Press Trust of India for running the non-aligned countries news pool. (The pool had been established in the eighties but had gradually ceased to exist, although the allocation to PTI had continued.)

The allocation to the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre has been reduced marginally to Rs 10.41 crore from the revised estimates of Rs 12.52 crore in 2014-15. The EMMC was set up for monitoring television and radio channels for violation of programme and advertising codes.

The allocation for advertising and visual publicity has been more than halved to Rs 91.02 crore against the revised estimates of Rs 210.48 crore and budget allocation of Rs 230.37 crore for 2014-15, covering expenditure incurred by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity for publicity campaigns through advertising and other printed materials, as well as through radio, television, exhibitions and other outdoor campaigns.

The allocation for research and training in mass communication has been raised marginally to Rs 26.26 crore as against the revised estimates of Rs 24.48 crore and the budgetary allocation of Rs 33.54 crore for 2014-15. This covers the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and the Research and Reference Division of the I&B Ministry, which collects and collates basic information on subjects of media interest for providing assistance to the Ministry and to its media units, Indian missions overseas, and newspapers and news agencies.

There is an increase in the lump sum provision for projects/schemes for development of North-eastern areas including Sikkim to Rs 92 crore for 2015-16. The budgetary allocation had been Rs 100.5 crore in the 2014-15 but had come down in the revised estimates to Rs 75.2 crore.

The Minister has also proposed a Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh for the North Eastern states. Though there is no separate budgeting for it, Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that this will come under the lump sum provision for the North East and from the Development of North Eastern Region Ministry.

February 28, 2015