The Chairman of Zee Entertainment Mr. Subhash Chandra presented the keynote address at Mipcom in Cannes, earlier this week. During his address, he asserted that India had the potential to become the largest pay television market in the world. Queried over whether he saw Direct-to-Home (DTH) becoming the primary feed into TV homes, he responded, “It will not become the primary feed because regulation will not allow it. But I do agree that other delivery platforms will take 40-50 per cent of the distribution market over the next five-seven years.”
On the issue of there being only one or at the most two dominant competing DTH platforms in India, Mr. Chandra expressed, “India is a country of surprises. We will still be able to see two or three DTH platforms operating. Not five or six as is the case now though. So in that sense we will see consolidation.”
During his interaction with Chris Forrester, Rapid TV News Editorial Director, Mr. Chandra was asked if the current trend of gaming, animation and mobile paths among today’s youngsters will be a threat to television. The Chairman dismissed the notion. “When we started television, everybody in the film industry said this is going to kill the industry. It didn’t. It actually enhanced the film experience.”
“Today in India, more than 70 films are screened per day and available to 70 million homes but still people watch cinema. All these newer avenues (for content to flow) will consume more and more media as they are made available at cheaper prices. As the newer applications come, they will all complement each other,” he added.