The Hindu Business Line : News, South grab attention

SHAH Rukh `Mohan' Khan's love for Swades did not set the box office register ringing; neither did the Punjabification of the Jane Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. But if your dil maange more entertainment, then 2005 will be the year to watch out for.

The New Year will actually witness the media industry going into overdrive, be it television, radio, print or cinema. The estimates by AdEX India indicate that the broadcasting industry will end this year with ad revenues of about Rs 4,860 crore, print with Rs 5,450 crore, radio Rs 220 crore and cinema Rs 375 crore. Couch potatoes will have several new channels to choose from.

The news channels genre, which has been among the fastest growing segments, is likely to be the most active. There will be channels from the Dainik Jagran stable, Times group, NDTV, CNBC and Zee group. The market for news channels is estimated at Rs 500 crore and is growing at about 20 per cent.

Besides this, the action is likely to move to the South of the Vindhyas. The Star group has announced its intentions to aggressively look at the Southern region; so is Viacom's MTV. The market here is attractive as it has a dedicated viewership and also accounts for about 48 per cent of the advertising revenue.

For those who are spiritually inclined, a whole new set of religious channels is also set to hit the television screen. Adding to this list will be channels from West Asia and some niche channels related to lifestyle and adventure. This year has also been the year for children with several childrens' channels taking off. After Pogo from Cartoon Network, Sony launched Animax, UTV's Hungama took off and Walt Disney finally entered the country with its Disney channels.

However, it is not just the number of television channels that are going to go up but the delivery mechanisms as well. With both Dish TV (the Subhash Chandra-promoted direct-to-home (DTH) platform), and Prasar Bharati's DD Direct taking off this year, competition is expected to go up with Tata-Star group's Space TV venture.

Broadband is also being seen as a platform of the future, especially with the State-owned BSNL, Tata group and Reliance banking on it.

For radio junkies, year 2005 is likely to see the second phase of FM radio privatisation. The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry is in favour of greater competition in the segment. While a final decision is yet to be taken on the licensing norms, officials say the second phase of bidding will take place next year. According to data compiled by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), for the financial year 2003, there are about 24 radio stations across the country, which grossed revenue of Rs 114.67 crore, while the expenditure has been about Rs 235.01 crore.

The New Year is also likely to see action in the movie world. Other than new releases, the number of multiplexes is expected to go up to as many as 100 in the forthcoming years. The IMAX chief was recently in India and Zee group's E-City is also planning massive expansion. IMAX will set up 3-D theatres in Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata after inking an agreement with Delhi-based AEZ group. "We are bullish on India. It's one of the fastest growing markets in the world. We will have 25 IMAX theatres in 2-3 years," said Mr Richard Gelfond, IMAX Co-chairman and co-CEO during his recent visit.

According to Mr Atul Goel, CEO, E-City, the company will invest Rs 300 crore in multiplexes in three years. "About 12-13 Fun Republic multiplexes would be functional by 2005-end. We would have four screens in Delhi, one in Vaishali, one in Lucknow, one in Hyderabad, one in Mumbai and one in Bangalore. Three multiplexes - in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Mumbai - are already functional," he added.

Action also heated up in the print media segment. After Henderson Global Investors picked up 26 per cent in HT Media (part of Hindustan Times), Irish Independent News & Media also bought equity in the Kanpur-based Jagran Prakashan, owner of Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran.

Meanwhile, the IPO market is also expected to get active next year. This year, TV Today, NDTV and Deccan Chronicle were the big entrants. For next year, the names of software companies UTV and Cyber Media are doing the rounds.