Concerns voiced over Indian media

Abu Dhabi: India's media and entertainment industry has witnessed a remarkable growth in recent years, but multinationals eyeing the market have been cautioned not to get carried away by its size and scale, local media heads speaking at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit 2010 said Thursday.

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They said that although the industry continues to grow at a fast clip, there are lot of distortions in the market which could deter new players.

"The multinationals that are looking at this market, should focus on building a business that will last a long time," said Uday Shankar, chief executive officer of Star India.

Aveek Sarkar, Chief Editor of ABP Group, said although the potential for the print medium is large, TV has overtaken print in urban India.

Total volume

"Total volume of space sold by column centimetres is stagnating. Print readership in India is under threat," he said.

Rajesh Sawhney, President of Reliance Big Entertainment, said the last 10 years in the multiplex industry had proved that the Indian consumer is ready for upscale experiences in cinema.

"We now have to take this model to India's 5,000 villages and towns to give them low-cost luxury experience.

"The low-cost, high-quality multiplex is a sustainable model which will drive the next wave in business growth," he said.

According to a report jointly published by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and KPMG, the media and entertainment industry in India is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.5 per cent per annum between 2009 and 2013 and touch $20.09 billion (Dh73.4 billion) by 2013.

With a majority of the population below the age of 35, and an increasing disposable income in Indian households, the average spend on media and entertainment is likely to grow, according to the 2009 edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers' Indian Entertainment and Media (E&M) Outlook, covering the forecast period of 2009 to 2013. According to the study by FICCI and KPMG, the television industry, which is currently valued at about $4.63 billion, will expand by 14.5 per cent between 2009 and 2013.

Digital distribution platforms such as direct-to-home (DTH) and Mobile TV are transforming the industry. Mobile TV — where content will stream on mobile phones — is poised to grow with the advent of 3G. The television distribution industry is expected to reach $5.2 billion in 2013 from the estimated size of $3.12 billion in 2008.