What do you make of the new uplinking and downlinking policy, will Star India have to rejig itself?
One will have to read the fineprint, because without it one cannot make a calculated comment. But prima facie top of mind, legitimate broadcasters will now have to register themselves with the I&B ministry in a thoroughly transparent manner, adhering to all the regulations. We will register ourselves and vindicate what we have been saying all along, that we pay our taxes, have corporate governance policies and follow a code of conduct on content. More importantly, we won't be seen as a foreign player anymore, we will be required to present our financials, which we do to the tax authorities anyway to the I&B Ministry as well now.
Will this mean that over a period of time you will do a listing in India?
No, I don't think so, we haven't thought about doing a listing. Five years at the top is unique because in the western world, leadership is about days and seasons.
So, what next after Star One?
We would like to continue experimenting with new genres of content. Star One as you said seems to be working well, comedy has given us resonance and there are other programmes which have given us traction. Opportunities for growth of channels like Star One are endless. The reaction to the channel from the programming community, viewers and advertisers is positive and at the same time, we haven't seen a drop off in Star Plus at all.
Programming evolves continuously and we are examining the possibility of doing dubbed versions of Star Utsav in say Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali. The content is rich on Star Utsav, dubbing is easy to do and extremely cost effective. It can act as a beachhead for us in these markets. And as against rigging up new regional channels which will cost a bomb, this entry strategy is much cheaper. It is an idea which requires some fleshing out. The price regulation on cable is not helping. Say if we want to kickstart a new regional channel, it will entail big bucks. The price cap imposed on the cable business is not helping as distribution revenues are more or less stagnant. This is taking us backwards and hence we are recycling old content.
{{/usCountry}}Programming evolves continuously and we are examining the possibility of doing dubbed versions of Star Utsav in say Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali. The content is rich on Star Utsav, dubbing is easy to do and extremely cost effective. It can act as a beachhead for us in these markets. And as against rigging up new regional channels which will cost a bomb, this entry strategy is much cheaper. It is an idea which requires some fleshing out. The price regulation on cable is not helping. Say if we want to kickstart a new regional channel, it will entail big bucks. The price cap imposed on the cable business is not helping as distribution revenues are more or less stagnant. This is taking us backwards and hence we are recycling old content.
{{/usCountry}}But there is another criticism -- that Star Plus hasn't been able to come out of the Saas Bahu syndrome and even as your rivals were innovating you had to take recourse to KBC 2...
This is unwarranted and unsubstantiated criticism. Star One is completely original programming. Over time, Star Plus has seen a number of shows which are original creations -- Sanjeevani, Hatim among others. We have two distinct programming teams -- one on Star Plus and the other on Star One. They fight for audience slices in the Hindi entertainment space. Let me give you another factoid, Hindi movies have been taken off Star Plus and shifted to Star Gold. This is acting as an enabler for Star Gold's emergence as a premier Hindi movie channel.
Then what is the next big play from Star?
DTH is a very big opportunity for us. I think India is ready for DTH and it will change the way TV is received and consumed by Indian audiences. It will allow broadcasters to transport content in a new way. There will be fundamental shift once you as the viewer have the choice to choose what you want to view.
But TSky has been held up for sometime and you haven't signed up with Zee's Dish TV despite the government's must carry clause?
We have been in a dialogue with Dish TV, but haven't got around to cracking the commercial terms, it is not just pricing, but about piracy as well. I think DTH will revolutionise everything. When a consumer is able to buy TV content as a retail product, then we are on the verge of a dramatic shift. As far as must provide issues are concerned, I believe that they are a disincentive to competitiveness. Pricing and service will be the determinants and not content in the new age.
So, what is holding you up?
We still haven't received approvals from the telecom ministry (SACFA). We still require 8-10 clearances from various ministries. Our DTH operation will generate employment through creation of call centres, new billing systems, installations and marketing set-up. But we have hit a real roadblock. The new RTI Act asks for transparency, but we are making no progress with the telecom ministry which keeps telling us that the matter is under process.
What else is Star looking at?
I think the convergence theme is taking up our attention span. Wireless and mobile communication and content could be the immediate future in the absence of broadband. Look at it this way, there are 65 million cable and satellite households and over 60 million mobile subscribers. Think of a way of converging the content on TV and mobile telephony and you have a new form of interactivity. Between Indian Idol and KBC 2, it presents a huge revenue opportunity for telcos and broadcasters. Another important area is FM radio where we believe that it could be the medium for the Indian mass retail market.