Indian TV globalization is ‘in fashion’

October 15, 2002 marked 25 years since the advent of satellite TV in India. Its globalization has impacted across the populous country which in its turn, has both, changed the way Indians perceive the world outside, and prompted the Indian satellite and cable industry to cross frontiers with world programming. The national television channel, Prasar Bharti, had to grapple with the entry of cable television and the increasing number of channels vying for viewership and revenue.
According to industry estimates, in 2000, a total of 43 channels generated a demand for 40,000 hours of original content with 37 million homes wired to cable television. Statatics show that a family watches television together in India, and hence programming is reflecting the approach of appeal to this audience with an increase in dramas and soap operas about family life.
TV producers are looking at globalization. Ekta Kapoor, managing director of Balaji Telefims, producer of India’s most successful soap operas emphasizes, “We must see how our content can monetize the ethnic international audience”. While regional language programming continues to cater to the linguistic diversity of the Indian television audience, the scope is broadening to incorporate new services such as internet-over cable, pay per view (this has been approved by the Indian parliament but the bill is yet to be enacted), video on demand and cable telephony. In fact, in the past year, various TV conferences held around India have focused on continuing changes in Indian television and the cable industry that have incorporated the necessity of globalization.
According to reports, in 2001, more than half the growth in cable and satellite homes came from the rural and semi-urban areas, indicating an increasing penetration of cable into less populated regions and What to do NOW if you want to be in film and Television?

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