(28 February 2009 10:30 pm)

MUMBAI: The Indian television industry, which is estimated to have reached a size of Rs 240.5 billion, a growth of 14.2 per cent over 2007, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.5 per cent over 2009-13 and reach a size of Rs 472.6 billion.

By 2013 there would be 149 million TV homes and 85 per cent of them would be cable and satellite. Subscription revenues will grow at a CAGR of 14.9 per cent over the next five years compared with 12.4 per cent during 2006-08. These findings are contained in the Ficci KPMG report on the media and entertainment industry called "In The Interval... But Ready For The Next Act."

Some of the growth drivers for the sector would include rapid growth in the number of digitised households, steady increase in ARPUs (average revenue per user) realised through digital distribution platforms, growth in the number of channels - especially in niche and regional categories, and growth in the number of TV and C&S households.

To have addressability and reduce leakages, the report recommends pushing for government regulations for mandatory digitisation of all TV distribution, development of alternate audience/viewership measurement systems, and rationalisation of content production costs through discussions with stakeholders at all levels actors/technical staff, production houses and broadcasters. There is also need to create content for audiences in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns from where the next wave of growth is likely to come.

The report notes that going forward a basket approach will be important for success in the broadcast industry. Creating channel boquets will increase the bargaining power of broadcasters with distributors. Differentiation in content will also be key as the market is getting overcrowded. They also need to build up a strong content library so that different revenue streams can be taken advantage of. These would include dubbing of content into regional languages and net distribution.