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Friday, April 2, 2010

Indian Media and Entertainment Industry :List of TV Channels released:

By: Sheikh GULZAAR
Srinagar : The domestic entertainment industry was estimated at nearly Rs 225.0 billion and provided employment opportunities for nearly 6.0 million people in the year 1999. In terms of foreign exchange earnings, the industry contributed around Rs 4,000.0 million in the year 1999. In the current year, this is likely to increase to around Rs 10,000.0 million. This projected growth is likely to occur on account of the increasing migration of the Indian population across the globe, extensive outsourcing of content such as animation by world leaders in the entertainment industry and the imminent broadband revolution in the industry. However, massive investments are required in the area of telecommunication infrastructure with industry friendly government policies. With the domestic consumer already having access to global entertainment avenues, globalization in this industry will only increase at a far greater pace in the coming years.

Changing lifestyles and increasing disposable income levels has facilitated the increasing penetration levels of the media and entertainment industry. Recent estimates indicate that around 68.0% of total adult population have access to the conventional forms of media. The urban middle class population has grown over the years and currently accounts for over 40.0% of the total population. The southern states have a distinct edge in terms of media penetration. For instance, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have penetration levels of over 80.0% in case of mass media. Similarly, in the case of televisions, penetration levels increased to an estimated 75.0% of all urban households in the country. Satellite channels have been the fastest growing category in this segment.

Product Profiling AND SegmentationIndia is a vast country with numerous official languages and a literary history that can be traced back to the birth of civilization. Over the years, the industry has made tremendous progress in terms of technology and attaining self-sufficiency. With around 10,000 publishers and around 40,000 new titles every year, the domestic market is indeed a large market. In recent times, global authors have started to get their works published by domestic majors. This is likely to give a fillip to the industry in the near term. Simultaneously, domestic authors are gaining popularity across the globe. The low cost of production acts as a major attraction to global publishing houses.

From around Rs 6.0 billion in the year 1998-1999, production levels increased to around Rs 7.0 billion in the year 1999-2000. During the same period, import levels increased from Rs 1.4 billion to around Rs 1.50 billion. Similar to its counterparts in the entertainment industry, domestic publishers are witnessing a rapid inflow of pirated books. Recent estimates peg the level of piracy in the domestic market at around 80.0%.

The Indian Music Industry- Exponential Growth Ahead…
The Indian entertainment industry is incomplete without the inclusion of music. Over the years, the importance of music has only increased, especially in case of the movie industry. Of late, movies have gone on to become huge successes largely on the backdrop of good music. While the popularity of film music increased, it also resulted in the growth of other segments such as remix, Indi-pop etc.

Distributors- Enjoying High Bargaining Power…Despite major changes occurring in the industry, reliability on distribution network still persists. Timing is highly crucial in the music industry. New releases have to reach the target audience well on time. Hence, only majors with a wider reach are able to sustain their leadership and generate profits. Furthermore, distribution companies retain a major part of the profits generated in this industry. As a result, several music companies have diversified into setting up of their own retail stores. HMV is a pioneer in this area and has an excellent chain of stores at its disposal. This helps the company to gauge the consumers’ changing perceptions and revamp its product offerings accordingly.

Low Margins- A Major Problem Area…
Estimates peg the cost of producing a cassette at around Rs 35. Purchase of the music rights is the single largest cost component. This is compounded by the incidence of taxes and royalty that account for another Rs 2-Rs 3 per cassette. Furthermore, margins to the traders, manufacturing and transportation charges account for a large chunk of costs.

This tendency to pay rather low prices for Indian music titles is prevalent even in the overseas markets. For instance, while a consumer is willing to pay around US$9-US$11 per cassette for an international music album, he is ready to pay only US$2 for an Indian music album. Such low margins results in music stores only unwilling to retail Indian titles. Consequently, Indian music titles are predominantly found only in Mom and Pop stores in the US.

Generally, in the domestic context, prices are determined mainly by the acquisition price of the music title, the stars involved and the target audience. With music not being on the priority list of a huge chunk of the population, any price hike results in demand shifting to pirated products. Also, there exists a differential pricing policy with regard to classical/ devotional music albums. While the target audience for film music is rather large, the customer base for classical/ devotional music is rather low. Hence, these albums are retailed at higher prices. Also, demand for classical/ devotional music tends to be seasonal in nature. This has a strong bearing on pricing policies.

The Indian Motion Picture IndustryFrom the days of shaky pictures and poor sound quality, the domestic film industry has gone on to become highly sophisticated in terms of infrastructure and product offerings. Furthermore, the domestic film industry is the largest in the world, producing over 800 films per annum, across 52 different languages. The industry generates employment opportunities to nearly 2.5 million people. By the year 2005, this is projected to increase to over 4.0 million. Currently, the industry is witnessing a period of rising pre and post-production costs.

The Changing Television Industry…Since the advent of deregulation in the domestic television industry, the going for Door Darshan has been rather tough. Various private satellite channels have emerged as strong competitors. This is evident from the recent decline in the revenues of Door Darshan. From around Rs 5.7 billion in the year 1996-1997, revenues declined to Rs 3.99 billion in the year 1998-1999. The year 1999-2000 has seen a improvement to Rs 5.0 billion, largely on account of cricket revenues of Rs 1.6 billion.

Simultaneously, revenues for DD Metro have also declined from over Rs 786.0 million in the year 1998-1999 to Rs 460.0 million in the year 1999-2000. Similarly, in terms of coverage and viewership, DD has witnessed an increased in the year 1999-2000.

Around 90.0% of the country’s population had access to DD, while area-wise coverage was estimated at around 75.0%. During the period June 1999-January 2000, viewership of DD’s programs during primetime increased by over 57.0% in the metros and mini-metros. Major reasons for this increased viewing is on account of improvement in the reception quality of signals, presentation of programs and a wider range of programs for viewers.

Satellite Cable Television- A Major Growth Engine…The boom in the satellite cable television segment has been a major cause for the high growth in the entertainment industry. The cable subscriber base has increased from around 0.05 million in the early 90s’ to around 24.0 million in the year 1999-2000. This is further estimated to increase to nearly 48.0 million by the end of the current year. With the rapid proliferation of channels (over 75), and imminent possibilities of the privatization of Door Darshan, growth in this segment is projected to be rather high.

The Coming of Regional Channels…The satellite television and software (content) industries are all set to witness a surge in demand in the coming years. Increasing emergence of regional channels is the major growth driver behind this likely growth. Subsequent to the advent of satellite television in the early ‘90s, regional channels are currently the key focus areas for majors. This is likely to offer a wider range of programs to viewers across the country. Furthermore, factors such as a decline in the pricing of color televisions, technological advancements etc have resulted in a wider audience base. This has resulted in regional advertisers clamoring for a bit of the action. With only around 30% of all households in the country speaking Hindi, this development was inevitable.

While in the past, Door Darshan monopolized the regional landscape with its 14 channels, over 20 regional channels are likely to make their debut this year. While in the South, the current trend is to diversify into news based channels, other markets such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab etc are witnessing their first dose of regional satellite television. This huge demand has even prompted global major News Corp and market leader Zee TV to look at this market.

Emerging Trends and New DevelopmentsSome of the major fast growing segments in the domestic industry include the music, cable and satellite advertising, infrastructure, exports, animation and FM. The domestic music industry was estimated at around Rs 17,000.0 million in the year 1999 and is projected to grow to around Rs 30,000.0 million by the end of the current year. The export segment is also expected to increase from around Rs 4,000.0 million to around Rs 10,000.0 million during the same period. Revenues from the animation segment are also forecasted to increase from Rs 2,200.0 million to nearly Rs 4,400.0 million by the end of the current year.

In order to capitalize on this fast growth ahead, companies are making large-scale investments in terms of infrastructure. For instance, the Modi Family has invested around Rs 1,500.0 million towards the construction of multiplexes that can screen around 16 films simultaneously. At the same time, majors such as Zee Telefilms and Eenadu TV are expanding their horizons to other markets as well.

TheGlobal Media AND Entertainment Industry- A Snapshot…Changing consumer choices, advent of new technologies and rapid globalization has been the growth drivers of this industry. Increasing penetration of the Internet has changed the dynamics of the industry. The US market has witnessed the maximum impact on account of these changes. Reports indicate that entertainment related expenditure is projected to increase from around US$675 per person in the current year to around US$814 by the year 2003.

Despite such increased spending, majors are also witnessing faster increases in costs. With margins coming under pressure, majors are trying to develop new distribution channels to minimize the impact of such cost increases.

Emerging Trends and New DevelopmentsIn the long term some of the major developments likely to have a deep impact on the global media and entertainment industry include,
· Shifting Preference For Internet-Based Content And The Emergence Of Interactive TV
· Proliferation Of Wireless Application Devices
· Large-Scale Migration To E-Tailing
· Development of Sophisticated Telecommunication Technologies
· Faster Globalization
· Growing Popularity of Mega- Theaters, Super Stores Concept etc
· High Degree of Consolidation in the Industry
· Increasing Digitization in the Industry
· Convergence of the Entertainment, Information and Telecommunication Segments and
· Rapid De-regulation in the Industry

Phenomenal growth in the cable and satellite television business has presented new revenue streams for global entertainment majors. Reports indicate that movie majors are projected to witness revenues of around US$ 11.0 billion by the year 2002 on the sale of their content to satellite television networks. This represents an increase from the 1998 level of nearly US$7.0 billion. As a part of the ongoing “Americanization” of the world, companies such as CNN, HBO, Espn etc have started to focus on their regional versions. Consequently, the scenario in the European, Asian and Latin American markets is fast changing.

However, this globalization process is likely to take some time with the respective governments of various countries still protecting their domestic media industry. This is largely on account of the politically sensitive nature of this medium. With the liberalization process gathering momentum across the globe, these companies will be forces to reckon with in the future.

However, Piracy Remains a Key Issue…Piracy remains the single-most important issue across the global entertainment industry. Estimates indicate that the revenues lost on account of piracy in case of the music industry is around 25%. Furthermore, this level is likely to increase to 40% in the near term. Consequently, the music industry could be affected to a larger extent than its counterparts. This is largely on account of the highly fragmented nature of this industry. Smaller players are likely to suffer the most.

In this regard, the major initiative taken by the industry to protect its intellectual capital is the launch of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (Sdmi). The Sdmi comprising of around 150 companies has adopted the first set of standards to prevent the piracy of music. April 2000 was decided as the deadline for the second phase of regulations. The members of this initiative include music distributors, on-line PC communications service providers. PC manufacturers, home electronics appliances manufacturers etc.

The Internet is not perceived to be a threat by certain majors. Sony Music for instance has been aggressive in formulating an e-strategy. The company has forayed into activities including the promotion of digital broadcasting. Also, strategic alliances have been forged with majors such as EMI, Universal Music, Warner and IBM in order to facilitate the download of full-length CDs. IBM and Microsoft are intensely competing to gain a foothold in this emerging area. IBM and Sony Music have formed a partnership to deliver pirate-free songs over the net. Microsoft, on the other hand tied up with Musicmaker.com to enable users to access the latter’s entire product catalog over the net. Other players including AT& T, Matsushita and Seagram are also trying to foray into this segment. Seagram has formed an alliance with Bertelesmann AG, Germany in order to compete in the on-line music retail segment.

However security protection is still in a primitive stage in this area. For instance, when Microsoft launched its Wmdm software, hackers cracked the software code within hours and distributed the same over the net. Despite such initial problems, there exists a huge potential for music software. In the long-term, companies need to develop technologies that facilitate the freer flow of content rather than trying to enforce more stringent regulations that are only difficult to monitor.

Future Outlook…
The Indian entertainment industry is on a high growth path. Domestic majors are finding better earnings potential in the huge overseas markets. At the same time, corporatization is finally starting to emerge in this highly unorganized industry. This is likely to instill a greater discipline in the functioning of the industry and lead to greater consolidation in the future. The domestic consumer will opt for more sophisticated technology in the near future. Consequently, domestic majors will have to redefine their product offerings.

With literacy levels forecasted to increase in the future, the publishing industry will continue to witness growth. Advent of new technologies such as e-book etc will take a longer time to have an impact on the domestic market when compared to the global markets. While piracy levels are declining slowly, better copyright laws and the rapid implementation of the same are imperative to preserve the creative talent in this industry. The government needs to implement the same in order to facilitate the high growth in this industry.

Innternational Information Resource has been collected the contact information of Satellite TV Channels from all over India and brought out a database on CD-Rom. It contains complete details of hundreds of all Satellite TV Channels of India.

Features: Each data Contains Name of the TV Channel , Channel Logo, Complete postal address, Email, Address,website address, phone No, Fax No. etc.
| Pages: N/A | | Format: Word | | Price Rs: 1550/- US$150

For more details:
International Information Resource Centre
PO Box 667 Srinagar SGR JK 190001
Admin. Off: Ist Street, Shaheed-e-Azemat Road, Nambalbal, Pampore PPR JK 192121
e.m: iirc@rediffmail.com,director.iirc@gmail.com
Cell: 09858986794
Ph: 01933-223705
http://mediadirectoryindia.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Nepal’s floriculture business blooms

KATHMANDU, MAR 29 -A group of floriculture entrepreneurs have set up Floriculture Cooperative Limited to produce flowers collectively with the aim of fulfilling the increasing demand for flowers in the domestic and international markets, reports Kathmandu Post.

"Both demand and production have been increasing every year," said Arun Chettri, president of the Floriculture Association of Nepal. "However, we have not been able to increase quality production despite good demand from the international market."

According to the association, cut flower exports soared 140 percent to Rs. 60 million during the last fiscal year from Rs. 25 million in the previous year. Japan, Kuwait, Qatar, India and a number of European countries are the major importers.

Chettri said that the cooperative would facilitate joint investment and large-scale production. It would target international customers in particular.

"The cooperative will monitor flower cultivation and carry out studies on the possibility of growing flowers in various parts of the country," he added.

Currently, floriculture entrepreneurs produce more than a dozen types of cut flowers in Chitwan, Dhading and Kavre districts. In the Kathmandu Valley, there are nurseries in Godavari, Sankhu, Naikap, Chapagaon, Bunkmate, Jorpati  and Ichangu. According to the association, flower farming is being carried out on 105 hectares of land in 35 districts.

"Seasonal production has been increasing significantly every year, but demand during the production season is low," said Hira Sharma, manager of Flora Incorporated Trade, a wholesaler in the valley. "Summer is the best season for production, but there are few takers presently as it is not the wedding or festival season."

Increased production has also meant that flower imports from India have declined. Earlier, 75 percent of the requirement would be met by imported flowers. Imports now account for only 25 percent of the demand mainly during the Tihar festival.

Chettri said that presently output had exceeded demand as many farmers had turned to growing flowers without first doing a market study. "Around 90 percent of the farmers who are growing flowers do not know the technicalities and the market," said Chettri. "There is a good market inside and outside the country if we can produce flowers that are in demand during the season."

According to the association, Kuwait has emerged as one of the major markets after Japan for Nepali flower producers. Bagmati Flora is planning to open a wholesale outlet in Kuwait with a local partner.

In the next fiscal year, the association plans to carry out a study on potential foreign markets such as Denmark, Holland and the Gulf countries.(Writer-South Asia)

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Headley Saga: Mumbai attack was a joint IB-CIA-Mossad-RSS project

Headley Saga: Mumbai attack was a joint IB-CIA-Mossad-RSS project
28 MarchWith the row over India getting access to David Headley growing acrimonious each day, the CIA's double agent saga seems all set to open up a can of incredible worms.First, the case unmasks the pro-US face of the Indian English media. When the Headley saga first came to light, Vir Sanghavi of the Hindustan Times carried an editorial piece claiming that if 'Headley is CIA, and knew about 26/11, the CIA knew about the attack.' In other words, Sanghavi accepted the 'conspiracy theory'–which in the eyes of the English media was 'peddled' by Aziz Burney and this author during the terrible aftermath of 26/11–that the event was a CIA/Mossad/RSS/ISI plot, reports New Delhi based Milli Gazette.

In November-December 2008, Vir Sanghavi and his cohorts in the English media attacked both Aziz Burney and this author for spelling forth the 'conspiracy theory'. Then after Headley's name surfaced, they changed tune, without of course admitting their debt to Mr. Burney or this author.

The fact of the matter is that in the 2009 Parliamentary elections, the English media was all set to project Lal Krishna Advani as India's next Prime Minister. It was the feverish anti-RSS, anti-Mossad work done by Aziz Burney and this author that went a long way in ensuring the victory of Congress and secular forces.

Now when the CIA hand behind 26/11 is slowly being unraveled, the English media is seeing red. It is again trying to portray Headley merely as a Lashkar operative, severing thus his links with the CIA.

This highlights the second point, that basically Headley and the CIA cannot be de-linked. Thank God the government of India put into place the NIA, a new National Investigative Agency. The NIA was set up, as the IB and other Indian agencies, especially the IB, had not only gone anti-Muslim-they had gone anti-India. This was proved in the case of Azamgarh boys picked up in and around the Batla House encounter on various bomb blasts charges. Most of the boys were products not of madarsas, but modern schools. They were youngsters in their teens; they had made a mark for themselves in professional courses and were holding jobs in the new, professional sector of the economy.

When Shri Digvijay Singh, the General Secretary AICC and the most secular leader of the India, went to Sanjarpur (under the banner of Anti-Communal Front) in Azamgarh to find out the facts for himself, he was shocked to find that Zeeshan, a boy from Azamgarh who on the fateful day of the Batala House encounter was giving his exams, had more than 50 cases slapped over him in more than three states–which meant that his parents could go on fighting cases for more than 100 years and yet Zeeshan would be in jail.

There are dozens and hundreds of Zeeshans from Azamgarh and other districts of UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra languishing in various Indian jails on unsubstantiated charges. This in fact is India's Guantanamo Bay story–that right here in the world's largest democracy the Indian security services like the IB have secret detention and torture centres where innocent Muslim youths are tortured and put to death. The IB today has been infiltrated heavily by RSS, Mossad and CIA. In fact, this one agency is an anti-national agency—it is obstructing the work of NIA and secular Indians like Shri Digvijay Singh. Soon, in India's interest, the IB will have to be closed down. All its communal officers will be hunted down and tried in a court of just law.

The IB knew about Headley—this is proved by the fact that the SIM cards used by the ten 26/11 terrorists were purchased by an Intelligence Bureau (India) (IB) informer. Till date, the investigations into the 26/11 case, which the IB is handling, have been unable to state as to how the ten terrorists got hold of the SIM cards.

The State IB chief of Maharashtra told a very senior Mumbai Police Officer just after 26/11 that he was ‘entirely in the dark about 26/11 investigations as Delhi (meaning the chief IB office) was handling it'. Basic information about 26/11 was not shared with secular Indian officers. The Headley lead would never have come to the fore had the NIA not stepped in.

IB training criminals [read here Charge-sheet against IB]
Now comes the news that the IB has set-up training camps in Gorakhpur, where it trains criminals–and then uses them to kill Muslim under-trials. The name of Chota Rajan is used as a convenient scapegoat. It is in this manner that dozens of accused in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, several other such accused in other cases, Muslim businessmen and men of influence have been eliminated on a systematic basis in Maharashtra. The latest in the long list of victims killed allegedly by IB is Shahid Azmi, the lawyer defending the accused of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. Shahid had hit upon evidence which proved the innocence of the accused-and that is why he was bumped off, again by criminals with Nepal–Gorakhpur links!

In fact, the state of Maharashtra holds the dubious distinction of almost institutionalizing the extra-judicial killing of Muslim youth and personalities. Headley was in India months and years before the 26/11 attack; he even surveyed Pune where a blast took place as late as February 2010. It beats one’s imagination as to how the IB did not know about Headley and his movements. There can only be two scenarios: that the IB is totally incompetent–or that the IB is heavily infiltrated by CIA and Mossad: the agency knew about 26/11 and did nothing to stop it.

This places the IB at par with Headley, as executioners of 26/11 and mass murderers. There can be no other honest conclusion.

Headley holds the key to the fact that 26/11 was not just a mere Lashkar operation–that it was a joint Mossad-CIA operation, conducted with possible ISI and RSS help.

If the charge-sheet against Raj Kumar Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya, accused in the Malegaon and other blasts, is read, it is clear that there was always some sort of collusion between the RSS and the ISI. The so-called nationalists, the Hindutva forces, took money to the tune of crores of rupees from the ISI! The IB knows about this transaction but is keeping quiet!


The Headley saga has links to Abhinav Bharat and pro-Hindutva terror groups. The pro-Hindutva terror groups are widely believed to be behind the Pune blasts where a combination of RDX and Ammonium Nitrate was used. Right after the visit of Shri Digvijay Singh to Maharashtra in February 2010, the state home secretary spoke of the possibility of the involvement of Hindutva groups in the Pune blasts. Other officers, including the ATS chief Raghuvanshi, purported to be an RSS/opportunist also spoke of this possibility. But then RR Patil, the Maharashtra Home Minister whose role during 26/11 was disastrous and who was removed from his post in the wake of the attack on Mumbai (but who was restored after the 2009 assembly elections), made amazing statements ‘that those who take the name of Hindu organizations in the Pune blasts will be punished'!


How can a Home Minister make such a statement? Now we hear that Rakesh Maria, a notorious anti-Muslim officer, with pro-Israeli links, a man who has killed and tortured innocents, has been made the new ATS chief and Raguvanshi has been promoted! Secular organizations in Maharashtra were demanding that Raghuvanshi be removed and that an honest, secular officer be made the ATS chief so that Hemant Karkare's seminal work in cracking the shell of Hindutva communalism could be promoted!.


But Rakesh Maria is even worse than Raghuvanshi. It seems that the NCP in Maharashtra has taken a clear anti-Congress, anti-national line. RR Patil, who is a third grade, uncouth, thoroughly communal, NCP leader should be removed from his post. The Maharashtra chief minister should act, because if the NIA gets access to Headley, the latter's links with Hindutva organizations–and the whole RSS-Mossad-CIA-ISI-IB nexus–will be exposed. This nexus is working overtime to destabilize the Congress government and undo the commendable work done by the party under the secular leadership of Sonia Gandhi.

 
Amaresh Misra is a famed historian and chief of the Anti-Communal Front of the All India Congress Committee (AICC)