Has TV industry taken over bollywood?
The year 2008 has proved to be the
year of 'TV channel boom' with maximum number TV channels getting government
nod to go on air. Of the total 394 TV channels that have been granted licence
by information and broadcasting ministry till March 2009, over one-fourth of
them have got permission to beam in 2008 only.
While the average number of channels
to get ministry clearance every year stands at 41, last year registered a
record number of channels, with more than double the average figure (around
111) television channels have been granted permission to broadcast in 2008.
"The number of new TV channels
has gained momentum due to liberalisation and enhanced enthusiasm shown by the
broadcasters to catch a share of the huge entertainment and media industry in
India. A number of applications for uplinking are being received and proposals
for 145 private satellite TV channels for permission to uplink from India are
at various stages of scrutiny," said the annual report of the ministry,
explaining the proliferation in the number of new channels. The figures exclude
the 22 channels, which the ministry has permitted to go on air last month.
The number of news and current
affairs channels, constituting 54% (211) of the total (394), has outnumbered
channels of all other genres put together. According to IandB ministry data,
while the number of news channels have reached 211 in 2009 from 40 in 2001, the
number of channels of all other genres put together have increased to 183 in
2009 from 13 in 2002.
The factors contributing to news
channels outnumbering non-news channels include lower entry cost, a growing
share in the total media ad-revenue pie and an easy definition to be qualified
as a news channel. Currently, a news and current affairs channel is defined as
a channel with any element of news and current affair in it.
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