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Sony had bought out the stake of Indian shareholders for $271
million taking its stake to 94 per cent. The company had also
marked its foray into the Southern market by acquiring 30
per cent stake in Maa Television Network. In 2009, it had
acquired Channel 8, a Bengali movie channel, and later renamed
it as Sony Aath.
"Digitisation
is very important for attracting foreign investment into the
media sector. We are seeing that in Sony. Good luck 1 November
(analogue cable shuts off from that date in the four metros),"
said Singh.
The
whole value chain will gain from digitisation. For broadcasters,
the over-dependence on advertising revenue will reduce and
the business models will change. Subscription revenue will
climb from 20 per cent to a 50 per cent ratio, providing broadcasters
a stable source of income.
Broadcasters
will also be able to launch a whole bunch of niche channels
as carriage bandwidth capacity opens up.
Multi-system operators (MSOs) will get to own the customers.
Though coming at a higher price, this will guarantee future
revenues. They can also tap the broadband market, Singh added.
DTH
will get a level-playing field and the competition between
them and the cable players will be on service quality and
innovation. Multiple revenue streams will evolve in future
for all the stakeholders in the broadcast sector.
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"Digitisation
has given Sony a huge confidence to invest more in India.
It first bought out the Indian shareholders in Multi Screen
Media (MSM). It has also agreed to buy stake in regional broadcaster
Maa TV," said MSM CEO Man Jit Singh, while speaking at
the India Digital Operators Summit (IDOS) 2012 jointly organised
by Indiantelevision.com Group and Media Partners Asia.
Den
Networks CEO S N Sharma agreed that digitisation coupled
with the hike in FDI (foreign direct investment) cap in
carriage-distribution services would attract foreign investors.
"The basic fundamental of the cable TV industry is
being set right. Strategic and financial investors will
be interested now," he said.
Videocon
d2h CEO Anil Khera, however, does not believe that there
will be a quick inflow of foreign capital. "It is not
like the foreign investors will come with their bags full
and invest here immediately. They will first study the market
and look at the performance of the first phase of digitisation.
Then they will decide on which companies they are going
to invest," he explained.