(18 February 2009 10:30 pm)

MUMBAI: The Indian television industry needs to head for 'disruptive consolidation' to combat the ongoing downturn, believes UTV group chairman and CEO Ronnie Screwvala.

Speaking at the session on "The next big thing in film and television", Screwvala said supply has to shrink as the TV broadcasting sector, which is heavily advertising driven, is under revenue pressure.

As advertisers are looking at cutting costs and targeted marketing schemes that will yield definite results, revenue mining is a big challenge the industry will face in 2009. "While channels which are planning to launch this year may not see the light, existing channels may have to pull down the shutters if the sector doesn't go for consolidation," Screwvala quipped.

Screwvala, however, is optimistic that the new market conditions will bring in price corrections within the industry.

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur warned that Indian channels, who were banking on an exit strategy when the global market was on a high, will now find it difficult to find international buyers. "Indian channels have never been so good on content. They were mainly launched to be later sold to international companies. Now that the recession beast is here to plague us tight, the exit policy no more stands valid. As a result, survival for channels will become a big challenge in India."