Indian TV Grows: Q & A With Shah.

Doordarshan TV's CEO Rajeeva Ratna Shah comments on changing scene

Indian national TV is expanding to compete with a ballooning satellite and cable industry which is changing the face of Indian television.

The "Asia-Pacific Television -- The Big Picture" report commissioned by Salomon Smith Barney in 1998 predicted that "the Indian market will represent the greatest medium-term and long-term commercial opportunity in the television industry in the Asia-Pacific region[ldots]The Indian TV market will grow from an estimated commercial revenue level of $300 million in 1995 to $2.8 billion in 2005. [This] translates into a 10-year nominal compounded annual growth rate of 25 percent in local currency terms and 18.6 percent in real terms.

The Indian industry will be a multi-hued television environment: digital will co-exist with analog as cable and satellite have chiseled out their niches and terrestrial will continue to grab the bulk of revenues.

Accordingly, Indian television continues to dominate as a result of its terrestrial reach. The report predicted that "the level of private consumption in television will rise at a 13.9 percent nominal growth [rate] during 1995-2005, with a growth of 26.8 percent per year.

One of the leaders in the budding Indian television industry, Rajeeva Ratna Shah, took the helm as CEO of Indian National Doordarshan TV in June 1999, and has rechristened the organization the Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India. The former government official has worked in various ministries, including a stint in New York City as chairman of the India Trade Promotion Organization.

Shah has also been appointed president of the Indian Broadcasters' Foundation and in this capacity donned two hats when he addressed the Broadcast Engineering Society exhibition in February. "The government must correct its basic mistake of regulating convergence from the television rather than the telephony angle since there are 29 million TV sets in India and only 23 million phone connections. Telephony has no conception of content and technological growth in the future," he told the engineers.

Video Age caught up with Shah in his New Delhi headquarters at Prasar Bharati and discussed the changing globalization direction of Indian TV, among other issues:

Video Age: What is the current direction of Prasar Bharati?

Shah: We began using the name Prasar Bharati since Doordarshan lost much of its identity among the many regional channels and our international channel. We are moving in the direction of more information and news channels and recently started an education channel.

VA: Autonomy has been suggested many times for Indian television. Is it foreseeable?

Shah: Autonomy was conceived in 1990 but technology has overtaken us. It makes sense that there is more self-sufficiency. This is a transition time due to the changing environment. Most important is that we now have a clear transmission which we previously lacked. We have gone digital nationwide in India [although] all our channels are [transmitted] in analog.

VA: What are the global aspirations of your national channel?

Shah: Recently [January 26] we started the Kashmir Channel. It is a national effort since there is no cable system in Kashmir due to militants. We are trying to go global with a DTH platform. In three months, we will be signing up with a satellite, but we have not signed up yet.

VA: What are future developments?

Shah: We've sealed an exclusive five-year agreement for all international cricket matches played in India to be beamed only on our channels, a great coup for a cricket-loving country. We will also broadcast the Olympics. We are negotiating with major Indian writers for quality programs. Right now, we are talking with the BBC to do a joint venture in Hindi and English to produce the book "A Suitable Boy" by Vikram Seth. You will see that the thrust of Indian TV will be developing more international audiences for our programs.

In other Indian television developments, India's sole Internet portal on the cable, satellite and terrestrial TV business -- Mumbai-based Indian television.com -- has announced its public offering. According to its chairman, Anil Wanvari, "Indian television.com is aiming to be the one-stop source for everything related to India's booming television industry. We are currently seeking partners to better expand our services and boost developments."

Another indicator of the growing Indian market is the sixth Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF2000) held under the supervision of the Films Division of India, which was kicked off February 3-10. This year's festival was favored by a larger audience and screenings of more than 500 films and videos from more than 60 countries.

No market was held this year, but MIFF director Bankim Kapadia predicted the biannual festival will have an expanded market in 2002: "We have urged Indian TV to give documentaries and shorts a slot and eventually establish a full documentary channel like Discovery or National Geographic. A resolution for the compulsory screenings was passed at a seminar by the Indian Documentary Producers Association. It was the first time that there was a national and international video competition section."

Highlights at the Festival included a package of films by New York-based Debra Zimmerman, whose organization Women Make Movies is the largest international distributor of films made by women.