The television industry in India is projected to grow from Rs. 22,600 crore in 2007 to Rs. 51,900 crore in 2011, a blistering cumulative annual growth rate of 22 percent. While the economic slowdown may dampen some of these projections, there are around 150 applications for new channels pending for approval and around 350-400 channels are already in operation. All this provides a positive outlook for equipment and software vendors for content production and distribution.

Keeping pace with content availability, the distribution of content via DTH is seeing an upsurge. The number of DTH subscribers has grown from an estimated 6.5 million in 2006 to 
10 million in 2007. In 2008, approximately 500,000 subscribers are being added every month and at this rate the subscriber base is expected to reach around 16 million by the end of the year. Manufacturers of cables, set top boxes, middleware software, and head-ends for the DTH industry have recorded huge growth this year and would continue to do so with an additional 10-12 million subscribers expected to be added in 2009.

Competition in the DTH space is fierce as Reliance and Airtel have launched their DTH services and are already engaged in large media spends, just after the hugely successful Tata Sky advertising campaign. Videocon is also readying itself to launch its service as early as possible. From 2006, when there were just two DTH service providers, the number has now increased to seven.

The interest of print media companies in television and radio, as well as entry of telecom players into content distribution, via IPTV and DTH, has resulted in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asking TRAI to make recommendations on cross media and ownership restrictions. As part of this process, TRAI has released a consultation paper with background information and once responses are received and discussed, TRAI will finalize its recommendations. The objective is to ensure that monopolies do not get created in the media space while at the same time adequate incentives are provided for investment and growth.

Broadcast India 2008 is scheduled to be held in Mumbai from October 17-19. We look forward to seeing our readers at the show.