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Tag: media

  • Big Cabinet Reshuffle: Prakash Javadekar steps down as I&B minister

    Big Cabinet Reshuffle: Prakash Javadekar steps down as I&B minister

    New Delhi: Prakash Javadekar has stepped down as the union minister of information and broadcasting, here on Wednesday. The decision is part of one of the biggest cabinet reshuffles during the second term of PM Narendra Modi-led government.

    Apart from Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad who held the portfolio of the ministry of electronics and information technology (meity) also submitted his resignation along with ten other ministers. The list also included the union minister of health and family welfare Harsh Vardhan. Javadekar also held charge for the ministry of environment, forest, and climate change.

    Later in the evening, as many as 43 new ministers took oath at Rashtrapati Bhawan, however, the new portfolios are yet to be announced. A total of 15 individuals were sworn in as ministers in the Union Cabinet and another 28 as ministers of state (MoS). The cabinet has now grown in strength from 54 to 78 ministers which include several new names, and representation from states like Karnataka, Rajasthan, and north-eastern states.

    There are 11 women in the new cabinet. Nisith Pramanik (35), the Lok Sabha MP from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar, is the youngest minister to be sworn in, while the oldest member in the council of ministers is 72-year-old Som Parkash. There are 78 members in the council of ministers now.

  • Centre moves SC seeking transfer of pleas challenging IT rules

    Centre moves SC seeking transfer of pleas challenging IT rules

    New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday approached Supreme Court seeking transfer of all pending pleas challenging its new IT rules to the apex court.

    Numerous petitions challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, are currently pending in various high courts across the country. The new rules notified on 25 February, came into effect on 26 May recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media.

    While the government has maintained that the new rules were introduced to make social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram more accountable and responsible for the content hosted on their platform, many have challenged the new rules over issues of privacy. Several petitions are pending in several courts, including the Delhi high court.

    In June, Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) , composed of digital arms of 13 leading media companies of the country had moved high court against the rules, which it said ” violate the fundamental right of equality (Article 14) and freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1)(a)”.

    The Foundation of Independent Journalism (the non-profit company that publishes The Wire) and legal website, LiveLaw has also filed petitions against the new rules

    Meanwhile, Delhi high court has directed Twitter to inform it by 8 July as to when it will appoint a resident grievance officer in compliance with the new IT Rules after the microblogging platform informed court that it was in the process of doing so.

    The government had earlier announced that if significant social media intermediaries, those with more than 50 lakh registered users failed to comply with the new requirements by 25 May, they will lose their intermediary status. On Monday, the Centre, had filed an affidavit in the high court, stating that any non-compliance amounts to breach of provisions of IT Rules, leading to Twitter losing its immunity conferred under the IT Act.

    Under the new rules, the digital publishers are required to take urgent steps for appointing a grievance officer, if not done, and place all relevant details in the public domain. “They also need to constitute self-regulatory bodies through mutual consultation so that the grievances are addressed at the level of publishers or the self-regulating bodies themselves,” according to the ministry.

  • More media deals on anvil says Discovery CEO David Zaslav, as streaming war intensifies

    More media deals on anvil says Discovery CEO David Zaslav, as streaming war intensifies

    New Delhi: Emerging fresh from the blockbuster deal that led to Discovery’s merger with AT&T’s WarnerMedia, company’s CEO David Zaslav said that media consolidation will only accelerate from here, and he intends to be a catalyst.

    “We’re not done yet,” Zaslava told reporters on Tuesday, as he reached Sun Valley, Idaho to attend the annual Allen & Co. conference. “The talk of the week is going to be that the industry is going to start consolidating a little bit more.”

    The streaming war is heating up this summer, with a slew of media mergers shaking up the global entertainment industry. In May, AT&T agreed to spin off its media operations with Discovery Inc in May, to create a new global entertainment and media business, named Warner Bros. Discovery to be led by Zaslav. The deal could close in eight months, though it may also take longer, he had earlier said.

    Soon thereafter E-commerce giant Amazon announced its$8.45 billion deal to acquire the film and television company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer  to earn more big-spending Prime subscribers as it competes with Netflix and Disney Plus.

    “We’re all vying for eyeballs and people’s time, and we’re all telling stories,” Bloomberg quoted Zaslav saying. “I think the Amazon deal with MGM is interesting. It reinforces that we need to be bigger.”

    Zaslav’s key role in getting AT&T’s WarnerMedia to align itself with the network he leads has ensured that stays in charge of the company through at least the end of 2027. His previous employment contract effective till 2023, was extended this June.

    The Sun Valley Conference, from 6 to 10 July, is attended every year by who’s who of the finance, tech and media worlds, holding deliberations on the key media trends. The annual media finance conference hosted and funded by private investment firm Allen and Company could not be held in 2020 due to the pandemic.

    Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg; Disney chief executive Bob Chapek, Netflix co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos are other key names who are likely to attend the conference. 

  • Print media will reach only 75 % of its pre-pandemic revenue this fiscal, says report

    Print media will reach only 75 % of its pre-pandemic revenue this fiscal, says report

    New Delhi: Despite 35 per cent on-year growth this fiscal on a low base, the country’s print media sector will reach only three-fourths of its fiscal 2020 revenue, according to a new CRISIL report.

    While the cost of newsprint continues to remain high, there is a good probability that profitability will revive to 9-10 per cent driven by sharp cost rationalisation measures and digitalisation of content, shows the report. The analysis assumes the impact of the second wave to continue to subside, as is seen currently.

    According to CRISIL, the credit profiles of large print media companies will be resilient, cushioned by healthy liquidity and strong balance sheets, while for the remaining ones, liquidity management will be crucial, shows an analysis of CRISIL-rated companies that account for roughly 40 per cent of the sector’s revenue.

    The sector’s revenue of Rs 31,000 crore in fiscal 2020, split 70:30 between advertisement (ad) and subscription revenue, had declined 40 per cent last fiscal amid the first wave. However, it is expected to reach to Rs 24,000-25,000 crore this fiscal, notwithstanding the second wave.

    “The second wave has impacted ad revenues in the last quarter, as it correlates strongly with economic activity,” CRISIL Ratings, director Nitesh Jain said, “We expect ad revenues to recover from the current quarter as economic activity revives. But it would still reach only 75 per cent of the pre-pandemic level this fiscal, as seen during January-March 2021, before the second wave took hold.

    As for subscription revenue, the sector is witnessing a structural change with a shift in consumer preference towards digital news, from physical newspapers. This is more prominent for English newspapers, which have a higher share in metros and Tier-1 cities, where digital adoption is also higher. These companies are, therefore, focusing on monetisation of content by putting premium news behind paywalls and pushing digital subscription along with print subscription. Non-English newspapers, on the other hand, had relatively resilient subscription revenue even in the first wave because of their strong roots in the hinterland.

    “We believe, unlike western countries, print media will remain popular in India. Besides low cover price and the convenience of home delivery, it benefits from the ability to provide original and credible content, and people’s habit of reading physical newspapers,” stated the report, according to which, the overall sector’s subscription revenue loss this fiscal should be restricted to 12-15 per cent of the pre-pandemic level.

    That said, printing physical copies of a newspaper requires newsprint – a key raw material that accounts for 30-35 per cent of the total cost for print media companies. Over the past six months, newsprint prices have risen 20-30 per cent

    The run-up in cost notwithstanding, the operating margin is expected to reach 9-10 per cent this fiscal, or 100-200 basis points lower than the pre-pandemic low of fiscal 2020. This is because of sharp cost rationalisation measures undertaken by the companies, such as reduction in pagination, employee cost and other expenses.

    Last fiscal, retailers strengthened their balance sheets through equity infusions of Rs 2,000 crore, which reduced overall debt for CRISIL-rated apparel retailers by 30 per cent.

    CRISIL Ratings associate director, Rakshit Kachhal said, “Credit profiles of large print media companies will continue to be supported by ample liquidity and sustained strong balance sheets, with most being net-debt free. However, for the smaller ones, whose interest cover has declined to 1.6 times as on 31 March from 2.1 times a year ago, ability to manage liquidity amid the second wave and rising newsprint prices will still be crucial.”

  • India Today Group appoints Khyati Shah as AVP marketing & alliances, TV

    India Today Group appoints Khyati Shah as AVP marketing & alliances, TV

    Mumbai: India Today Group has announced the appointment of Khyati Shah as assistant vice president – marketing and alliances, TV.  She will be based at the Noida office and report to India Today Group’s chief marketing officer Vivek Malhotra, it said in a statement.

    Khyati joins the group from Star India Network, where she was the AVP for marketing & content for Star Utsav. Her previous stints include Dainik Bhaskar Group, International Flavours & Fragrances, ICICI Prudential, Ogilvy & Mather, Grey Worldwide, Triton Communications, and Publicis.

    She brings with her more than 17 years of experience in brand management, digital marketing, content marketing, advertising, campaign management and brand solutions.

    She is a post-graduate in advertising and PR from Welingkar institute and, additionally, in digital business strategy. Khyati is a bachelor of commerce from Mumbai University.

  • Tele-wise Bangla to bring together top names from media and advertising

    KOLKATA: Several players including big broadcasters have a strong presence in the West Bengal market. Zee Entertainment and Star TV Network were among the fast movers in the Bengali entertainment industry, followed by Sony, Viacom18, and Sun TV. Over the years, the market has grown to be one of the most important ones for those planning to expand their national footprint.

    The increase of original content, viewership, and advertisers also led the industry to turn its eyes towards the market. Several local brands, pan-India advertisers also began investing in the market. Even amid the pandemic, Bengali GEC and Bengali News continued to contribute three per cent of total volumes each in 2020. Regional growth is here to stay, at least for some time now.

    This Tuesday, 29 June, Indiantelevision.com is all set to bring together some of the industry’s biggest names from the world of advertising, advertising, broadcasting, and production to understand the potential of the market. The leading b2b publication will host the inaugural edition of Tele-Wise Bangla, presented by Zee Bangla.

    The day-long virtual summit will open with a welcome note by Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. BARC India client partnership and revenue function head Aaditya Pathak will share insights on the viewership trends in the market. Kantar Insights Division director Puneet Avasthi will give a glimpse into the consumer profile in West Bengal.

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    In the session ‘Gauging the Might of the market’, representatives from Big Bazar, Godrej, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Shyam Steel, Wavemaker India will discuss questions like what are the opportunities leveraged by brands on Bengali channels, how different are the approaches to strike a chord with Bengali audience, what are the most lucrative genres to invest in along with many other pertinent issues.

    As the regionalisation of TV channels has made it easier for the local brands to reach a specific audience, advertising spends on the channels have also risen. Leaders from Rollick Ice Cream, Ajanta Shoes, Initiative Media, Keya Seth Aromatherapy will deliberate on the growth of media spends in the last few years, challenges post-Covid, media spend ratio of local to national brands in the session ‘New Bastions for Growth’.

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    From a content perspective, the market has always seen progressive shows and experimentation with new concepts. With more formats of content now available, the audience has grown to accept content that is pushing the boundary of creativity. The panel will focus on the evolving content consumption trends, innovations, content investment in the West Bengal market in presence of spokespersons from Zee Bangla, Colors Bangla, Shashi Sumeet Productions, Acropolis Entertainment.

    To register: https://www.indiantelevision.com/events/telewise-bangla/

    The virtual event will begin at 3:00 pm on 29 June and will be live-streamed on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. 

    Join us for an insightful discussion! 

  • Is Comcast eyeing a mega-streaming deal?

    New Delhi: The world is moving towards streaming at a pace like never before. And, the media titans are eyeing every opportunity they can get to consolidate their digital entertainment businesses and brace up for the streaming war.

    After AT&T and Amazon, it is now the turn of the US cable giant Comcast to make its move to turbocharge its streaming operations. According to media reports, the company is mulling a mega-deal with one of the two media giants- Roku or ViacomCBS.

    However, the question that Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts is wrestling with is- whether to build something internally or buy to become a streaming powerhouse, reported The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The merger seems unlikely, but Roberts is evaluating his options, which include a potential tie-up with ViacomCBS or acquisition of Roku Inc, the business daily reported citing unidentified persons.

    All three companies have declined to comment on the matter and issued no statements so far.

    The US cable giant Comcast had branched out from its cable and broadband into entertainment in 2009 with the acquisition of NBCUniversal, whose streaming service Peacock is yet to catch up with the likes of Netflix or Disney+. However, its broadband business has continued to grow. As the first wave of the pandemic ravaged the world last year, its broadband business added nearly two million customers and the unit’s revenue rose 10 per cent to about $21 billion.

    An acquisition of streaming giant Roku at this stage could help it to step up its streaming game against the industry titans – Netflix, Disney, and Amazon. Roku’s valuation has more than tripled in the past year to $53 billion.  

    On the other hand, a transaction with ViacomCBS which owns streaming service Paramount+ could provide the much-needed boost to its streaming operations, but it is too early to say.

    However, several analysts say, the latest buzz could be just ‘speculation’ as a merger at this stage seems unlikely. One of the reasons is that Comcast has been largely focussing on developing the software behind its Xfinity cable boxes, called X1, and its Flex streaming boxes which resemble Roku. The other being its potential partnership with Walmart to further the Smart TV technology.

    The reports come close on the heels of two major media deals that happened over the last few weeks. First AT&T announced its decision to spin off entertainment giant WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery becoming the world’s second-largest media firm by revenue after Disney. The new entity Warner Bros. Discovery is now led by Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Soon thereafter, Amazon made its most ambitious move in the entertainment business and announced that it is buying MGM Studios.

    So, whether or not Comcast is considering a transaction with ViacomCBS or the acquisition of Roku, it has definitely stirred many questions on the cable giant’s next step.

  • HC issues notice to Centre over media firms’ plea against IT rules

    New Delhi: The Madras high court has issued a notice to Centre over a plea filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) against the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

    This petition challenged the constitutionality of the Rules and alleged that it violates the fundamental right of equality (Article 14), freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1)(a), and the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business (Article 19 (1) (g)). The association sought a stay on Rules 12, 14, and 16 of the IT Rules 2021.

    Formed in 2018, DNPA is an organisation comprising of the digital arms of leading media companies of the country, including the ABP Network, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar Corp, Express Network, HT Digital Streams, IE Online Media Services, NDTV Convergence, Lokmat Media, Jagran Prakashan, TV Today Network, The Malayala Manorama, Times Internet Limited, and Ushodaya Enterprises. 

    According to DNPA, the online news portals of traditional media houses, which run newspapers and TV channels, do not come within the purview of IT Rules.  “While ‘newspaper’ is not governed by the IT Rules 2021, ‘publisher of news and current affairs content’ is governed by Part three of the IT Rules 2021. This implies that some of the members of DNPA association which are primarily newspaper publishers would not be governed by the IT Rules 2021 if they only published newspapers. But by making available, inter alia, the same content on a digital platform, they ought to be governed by the IT Rules 2021. Therefore, the IT Rules 2021 have created a distinction that is vague and arbitrary…” stated the plea, Live Law reported.

    The plea also contended that there are several regulations in place already for traditional and legacy media outlets in print and broadcasting, which have been operating before the advent of the internet and digital media. The petition filed by DNPA and journalist Mukund Padmanabhan was tagged along with the petition filed by Carnatic singer TM Krishna, which also claimed that the IT Rules 2021 were in violation of the Right to Privacy.  

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 that into effect on 26 May recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media. Under the rules, the digital publishers are required to take urgent steps for appointing a grievance officer, if not done, and place all relevant details in the public domain. “They also need to constitute self-regulatory bodies through mutual consultation so that the grievances are addressed at the level of publishers or the self-regulating bodies themselves,” according to the ministry.

  • No such transaction being undertaken, Zeel refutes reports of merger

    New Delhi: Putting speculation to rest, the entertainment giant Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) on Monday said, there are no merger talks underway with Viacom18, as reported by a leading English daily.

    “We herewith confirm that there is no such transaction being undertaken and the matter is speculative in nature. This is for your information and records,” Subhash Chandra’s Essel group owned media company posted on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Monday.

    The statement comes in the wake of a report published by Livemint, about a potential merger between Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd and Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) through a share swap deal.

    According to the report, the merger was proposed to be done through a share swap deal. “The talks started a few weeks ago, and the deal is unlikely to involve any cash transaction,” reported the publication.

    Founded by Essel Group’s Subhash Chandra, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd is majority-owned by foreign institutional investors – Investco Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund and Ofi Global Fund China LLC. The company is run by Chandra’s son and CEO & managing director Punit Goenka.

    Earlier in the day, Zeel spokesperson had also refused to confirm or deny the speculative news item. Said a Zeel corporate official:“The company does not comment on speculation and rumours.”