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The curtains have come down on the biggest annual global convention in Asia spanning across all aspects of the media and entertainment industry (M&E), Frames 2005 (April 4-6), organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). According to the latest FICCI-Pricewater-houseCoopers (PwC) study, the Indian entertainment industry, which stands at over Rs 200 billion ($4.5 billion) today, is expected to grow at 18 per cent per annum compounded annually over the next five years to reach over Rs 450 billion ($ 10 billion) by 2009. However, amidst the pronouncements, deliberations, confabulations (and blatant plugging), it’s time to do a reality check as to whether the opportunity of the Indian media and entertainment industry unfolds into the ‘Big Picture’. Here is a low-down on the highs, hits and misses of Frames 2005…
Celebrity quot(e)ient
Since, Frames 2005 is an industry event, the biggest ‘celebrity’ of them all — S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, made it to the convention and spent quality time. A poignant moment of Frames 2005 was the Minister and all his men (FICCI’s men too) gathered for the ‘first-day supper’ at Mumbai’s picturesque Rennaissance Hotel against the backdrop of the lovely Powai lake. His moment came when he announced the Government’s intention to adopt a liberal policy in FM radio and move towards a revenue-sharing arrangement. Listeners (advertisers and ad men) will wait for “400 radio stations” (Reddy’s figure) to spring up.
Regulator Pradip Baijal, Chairperson, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), chose the contentious topic of direct-to-home (DTH) and urged the players to view it as a mere distribution platform. However, the clear message for the players was that ‘lack of quality content’ and ‘resistance’ from their own side could hamper the growth of DTH and prevent it from taking off.
Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, SET India, however, maintained, “We will comply with TRAI’s policy without forgetting the commercial aspects. DTH players are not paying us even the cable rates and piracy issues need to be addressed.” Baijal also announced that the Government is looking for an independent content regulator.
India’s iconic media and entertainment industry entrepreneur, Subhash Chandra, CMD, Zee Telefilms (Frames 2005 event’s main sponsor), minced no words when he demanded a ‘level-playing field’, while adding that foreign media companies were at a disadvantage in terms of ownership laws. Brushing aside the pain-stakingly compiled projections by PwC, Chandra was adamant that the Indian M&E industry (and the Government) should think of topping the Rs 1 trillion mark in five years from now (as against PwC’s figures).
The omnipotent Big B hogged the limelight with his baritone voice and impeccable sense of ‘posing’ for ‘still hungry’ cameras. Chairman of the Entertainment Committee of FICCI, Yash Chopra (Chairman, Yashraj Films) informed that the world has started seeing India as a high quality base. He added that the FICCI Frames committee members would lobby with the Ministry to meet the industry’s demands to stimulate growth.
Barrie Osbourne, producer of ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, was confident that India just needed one big break (a la his film for New Zealand) to make it big on the global arena.
While conducting the valedictory session on the last day, N. R. Narayanamurthy, Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd. urged the need for high aspirations to make the media industry global while enumerating the innate similarities between the infotech and M&E industry.
Notable Absentees
Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for Communications and IT, didn’t attend the event as promised. Yash Chopra couldn’t get Shah Rukh Khan
To read the entire story, grab your copy of Impact Marketing, Advertising and Media Weekly magazine issue dated April 11-17, 2005