Entertainment industry in India

Television is one of the major mass media of India and is a huge industry and has thousands of programs in all the states of India. Today India boasts of being the second-largest television market in the world.[4] The small screen has produced numerous celebrities of their own kind some even attaining national fame. TV soaps are extremely popular with housewives as well as working women. Approximately half of all Indian households own a television. Television first came to India in the form of Doordarshan (DD) on Sept 15, 1959.[5] Doordarshan is the National Television Network of India and also one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world. Apart from the state-run Doordarshan, there are six direct to home players with 54.52 million DTH users in India with the present prediction; it is likely to overtake the US in terms of the largest DTH market in the world. As of 2012, the country has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 823 channels of which 184 are pay channels. Total television viewership of 415 million is amongst the world's highest with nearly 15-16 Television companies beaming programmers to India. The major players being Doordarshan, STAR TV (Satellite Television Asia Network), Zee Television, United Television, CNN, Sony Television, ATN (Asia Television Network), BBC World, SUN TV, Discovery Channel, TNT and others.[6]

India's television business has an estimated $3.4 billion in revenue in 2005, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. With the government focusing more on digitalization, TV distribution is taking a new shape. Digitalization has been a major challenge for the government as the digital cable is not gaining momentum. According to the new deadline, pan India digitalization is expected to happen by December 31, 2014. Another challenge for the Television Industry is Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). India is amongst the countries with the lowest ARPU as compared to developed countries like the US and UK where ARPU is around US$45 to US$60, India has an ARPU approximately US$3.5.

The Indian print media industry was expected to grow by 9.6 percent over the period 2010-15.[7] The print industry was expected to grow from Rs 128 bn in 2006 to Rs 232 bn by 2011, at 12.6% CAGR. In 2007, while the newspaper industry was estimated at Rs 112 bn, the magazine segment was valued at Rs 16 bn.[8] The newspaper industry was also projected to perform well for the next five years growing at a CAGR of 10.1 percent according to a report titled "India Entertainment and Media Outlook 2011" by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Indian print industry is growing strong and is expected to grow similarly while the global print industry is moving towards digitalization and showing a negative growth rate year on year. The print industry in India is the world's second-largest with over 90 million copies in circulation daily after China with 130 million copies in circulation daily. Most newspapers have an online[9] presence and growing view counts on their portals. Much of the entertainment and media segments are now focusing on growth in regional areas and smaller towns. In 2009, when there was a slowdown, the regional print showed growth in local to local advertisement.[10] In 2010, regional print further increased its share in overall print advertisement revenue pie. Regional papers give advertisers access to localized populations and their niche target audience, difficult to do via national broadcast media. Newspapers have realized the value and have gone one step further and have launched area specific newspapers.[11] With the rise in literacy in past decade has let to the rise of regional newspapers, they have much greater reach and a large audience to entertain. Magazines have not been at their best performance in past few years. However, niche magazine are doing well and is expected to show positive growth. The major challenge faced by this segment of media and entertainment industry is newsprint which continues to threaten profitability. Newsprint forms a major component of the cost of publishing a newspaper. It is roughly 40 -50 percent of the total cost.[12]

Films are the most important form of entertainment in India. Film industry in India is among the largest in the world in terms of films produced[13] (approximately 1000) in different languages which include films in Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi and Malayalam.[14] Approximately twenty-three million Indians go to see a film every day. Film Federation of India is the apex body of the film industry in India whose objective is to popularise and promote the cinema[15] According to unofficial estimates available in January 2001, the Indian film industry has an annual turnover of Rs. 60 billion (approximately US$1.33 billion). It employs more than 6 million people, most of whom are contract workers as opposed to regular employees. As at the start of 2001, a reasonable budget film in any Indian language could cost US$1.75 million. A low budget Indian language film can be made for even as low as Rs. 15 million. A big-budget Indian language movie can cost in excess of US$30 million. The 'bigness' of the budget is attributable mainly to the high fees paid to 'stars', celebrated music directors, high-end technologies and expensive travel costs to shoot in exotic locations worldwide. At the time of writing, it is believed that lead actors 'stars' are paid around Rs. 100 million (US$440,000) per film. India has a National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) which finances some films. A few filmmakers, who would find it hard to obtain finance from the regular sources, have been financed by the NFDC.[16] However, NFDC cannot be considered to play a central role in the film industry because it finances too few films which, too, are not of the type that has made the Indian film industry so vibrant.

Radio broadcasting in India started in British India in 1923 with the Radio Club of Bombay. All India Radio (AIR) was established in 1936 which is one of the largest radio networks in the world including the AIR FM. AM, FM and even Satellite Radio have made a huge impact on the Industry in India.[17] Most of the media houses either already have a presence in the industry or are looking to get a license in the next round. Famous stations are Radio Mirchi (of the Times Group) has maintained a lead position in most cities it operates in and other channels like Radio City, Red FM, Big FM, Fever, Radio One have also been able to get significant traction.[18] Till 1990 Indian economy was closed, no private player was allowed to enter and Akashwani has the sole responsibility to cater to the wide and culturally diverse Indian consumer base. In the last 5 years, the Radio industry in India has seen a compound annual growth rate of approximately 20% and has grown to a size of around Rs. 8.3 billion in 2008. By the end of 2010, there were 245 active radio stations in India and had a market size of INR 10 billion. It registered a cumulative growth rate of 11 percent from 2007 to 2010. The industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20 percent over 2010- 2015 and is expected to be INR 25 billion in terms of revenue. Phase III privatisation of the radio FM is expected to add 839 new radio stations in 294 cities.[19] The government has approved Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in FM radio channels to 26 percent from the current 20 percent. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is planning to release additional frequencies in all markets, automatic renewal of the license at the end of the initial term of the license of the term.[20] One of the major reasons for such an interest in the industry is the increased profitability. The government has cut the license fees to 1/10th of the previous amount.

The indian film industry has allegedly engaged in illegal activities by hiring IT professionals who were said to have launched a Denial-of-service attack against websites that they believe are violating the intellectual property of their clients.[21][22]