Small Screen, Big Jungle

 The telecom imbroglio is close to resolution. The conditional access system (CAS) conundrum, however, continues. The government and the broadcasting industry are both responsible for this mess.

 In a year when all economic indicators show that India is resurgent, the media and entertainment sector seems content with merely riding the wave instead of creating one.

 Indian broadcasters (the film folk are worse) are conservative in their business approach. There is very little innovation in content and delivery. Short-term winnin-gs seem to be the goal of most players.

 The result is a fractured market which is also one of the fastest growing in the world but has the largest slippage of revenue from under declaration of subscri-bers or advertising piracy.

 In spite of varying estimates, it is safe to say that India has about 100 million TV sets in about 90 million homes. Ballpark figures put the cable and satellite (C&S) homes at 50 million. Of these, over 10 million are, interestingly, in rural homes.

 An estimated 160 C&S channels are being beamed at 300 million viewers, relentlessly vying for their attention. The problem is that most of this is not translating into either subscription or advertising numbers.

 The C&S industry, according to some experts, is losing US$1 billion