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Nithya Subramanian

New Delhi , Dec. 28

IT has been a rather action-packed year for the media sector. While improved ad spends lifted the spirits of the sector on the whole, the Government was in the limelight with several changes in policy.

The norms for uplinking of news channels was revised, the conditional access system (CAS) was implemented and an expert committee on radio has recommended major changes including permitting 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector.

So what's in store for 2004? While the feel-good factor is expected to continue with advertising remaining healthy, the chaos surrounding the rollout of CAS is expected to be cleared, radio companies are expecting the second phase of FM privatisation to take off and the print media could see some more new launches.

In year 2003, Star India was in the eye of a storm first with the uplinking application for its Star News channel and later with its radio operations - Radio City. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry this year modified the uplinking guidelines for news channels bringing it at par with norms for news and current affairs publications.

"Till we received the application from Star News, there was no differentiation in guidelines for channels wishing to uplink from India. But Star had applied as a 100 per cent foreign company and hence the need to put a cap on the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit and other safeguard measures such as ensuring that management and editorial control remain with Indians," said a senior Ministry official. To fall in line with the new policy, the Star Group has tied up with Aveek Sarkar's ABP Ltd.

The year also saw the implementation of the CAS whereby consumers would receive pay channels through a set-top box (STB). While the system rolled out in Chennai first, it was deferred in Delhi due to "political compulsions". CAS is now being implemented in the south zone of the Capital. However, in Mumbai and Kolkata, the system has not been rolled out. The process of implementation brought to fore the differences between the cable service providers and the broadcasting industry.

ASC Enterprises (a Subhash Chandra promoted company) launched its direct-to-home (DTH) services in the country. Unlike the West, where DTH is a premium service, in India, this service is targeted at the far-flung areas which are currently not connected by cable. Star Group's DTH operations is expected to commence only next year while the Cabinet has approved for Doordarshan's pilot project of `Ku-band transmission.

The radio industry may, next year, see major policy changes with the Government planning to allow 26 per cent FDI in the sector, permitting news on private FM channels and also allowing networking. The private FM companies have said that they have incurred losses of Rs 120 crore on revenues of about Rs 47 crore. The second round of FM privatisation is also expected to commence next year.

The spotlight in the radio sector was on Radio City, a private FM channel whose airtime sales and content is managed by Star. While Music Broadcast Private Ltd (MBPL) held the licence, Digiwave - a Star company - had given the Ispat company a loan. The Government was of the opinion that this was violation of the licence agreement, but the company has approached the Bombay High Court for reprieve.

There has been an expansion in the number of news channels being beamed into households. The highlight has been the success of DD News that has catapulted to No. 2 position.

The print media also saw some foreign investment with Henderson Private Equity picking up equity in HT Media (a Hindustan Times company) while Financial Times has picked up equity in Business Standard Ltd.

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