Tough times ahead for the media industry
The Indian media and entertainment industry has a massive reach. The industry itself is primarily driven by increased digitization, growth of regional media, robust film industry and emergence of new media for content delivery. But it has also been challenged by the launch of complex media devices and emergence of new business models and revenue streams. Currently, the media and entertainment industry is growing at 20%. And despite the economic slowdown, the industry is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18%. But even then, selling news for instance has become a problem in the wake of digitization when news is being offered in real time on the Internet. Tough times stare at the media industry, some of which are highlighted below: 1. Retrenchment As mentioned earlier, the industry continues to grow at a robust rate, with a compound annual rate of 10%. By 2017, it would be the sixth largest print market in the world. Yet, iconic print institutions are shutting shop and top media companies are sacking employees, sometimes without any advanced notice. In India, this downturn can be seen in form of Outlook shutting its three international publications and organizations like the Network 18 group and The Pioneer handing out pink slips to their employees. This is a telling reflection on how new-age corporate-employee relationships work, the ways that have moved stealthily into the Indian media industry as well. Television channels that shut down over the last year include Turner Broadcasting Inc.’s Imagine TV, acquired from NDTV, one of the oldest private networks, in 2009. The Eenadu Group, which operates channels across the country, sold its majority stake to the Network18 Group in early 2012. The bubble in the form of sudden and vigorous media growth seems to be bursting in the wake of new challenges. 2. Internet and growth of social media Social media has changed the way we consume information, virtually and socially. Traditional media like TV, radio, newspapers have partly moved online where information is easier to find, manage and share. Various studies show that social media is trusted more than traditional media channels. Both forms of media provide the opportunity to communicate their message to the world; but while traditional media uses a centralized approach and production to distribute the information, social media, by nature, is more decentralized and provides the opportunity to research and produce information in several different places at the same time, making it more popular. It has thus eroded traditional media’s consumption and advertising revenues. 3. Funds are drying up Thirty years ago, India had one television station. Over the past decade, a boom in the country’s media industry led to the launch of several hundred channels. Today, there are more than 800. According to the Information & Broadcast (I&B) Ministry, as of March 2013, there were 410 news and current affairs channels and 438 entertainment channels. But today, companies are struggling to stay afloat while others are hanging on the edge of a cliff. Easy funds have dried up while those who invested in the media for promoting personal agendas backed out. The ongoing economic slump crushed advertising revenues as companies’ marketing budgets shrunk amid fierce competition for a share of the shrinking market. 4. Media regulation Media, due to its inherent nature of reach and influence on masses, plays a vital role in a country’s political, economic, social and cultural setup. There is no dispute about its power. But the current discourse on regulation of the media has emerged from certain troubling practices that saw roots in capitalist quest of garnering profits and TRPs. One such deeply troubling practice has been of paid news, which really shows how the deteriorating integrity and independence of certain Indian media houses. The focus of these media houses seems to have shifted from maximizing public good to power struggle. It is in this wake that the calls for regulation have emerged. The challenge is to stay focused and build consensus. 5. Lack of innovation No renewal can happen, either in our economy or in our industry, if we are not open to new ideas. The industry is going through a phase of evolution, as it faces the challenge of emerging technologies. With the entrance of social media, the idea of ‘content’ itself has changed. And with this phase of evolution, the industry has to introduce certain innovations, in order to keep the growth on track. One innovation that is needed today is in policy making. While industry experts complain that the moment they attempt to take an initiative, the government policy making creates a hindrance. 6. No government aid Policies have to keep pace with changing technologies and for this the government has to come to the front to aid the media in rescuing itself from the slump. There should be no needless innovation and should be guided by logic, as Winston Churchill said. But we need swift changes in the execution of policies. One such policy for instance that did not go down well with industry owners was that of price control. The idea of capping content so that it can be uniformly priced has been an idea that the industry is slowly rejecting. The policy of price control on television content itself had led to restrictions on consumer choice. It has done most damage to the consumer choice and the government should take an early note of this. Media in India stands at the threshold of reaching new marks of global growth but amid scares of falling into slump that will be hard to be revived into positives soon. The industry faces challenges of enforcing more rigorous professional standards, of responding to the need for more serious reporting on governance issues, of upholding its own freedom to function in the face of browbeating by the government of the day. It has to be substantially localized as well as globalized. In a way, all these reflect the challenges the country faces. But when taken care of, the media can touch global heights and maintain its strength that every citizen will be proud of. Feedback: abatra@exchange4media.com
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