What Ails TV? The Nation Wants to Know Much More

In his latest book, Behind A Billion Screens, academic and journalist Nalin Mehta attempts to explain why this is so. According to him, it’s a case of either too little or too much: too many channels (800 licensed channels,150 24×7 news channels) vying for too little advertising revenue, generating too much competition — and may the loudest win. Too many fly-by-night operators starting up news channels for “power”, too much political patronage/interference, too many regulating agencies, too little talent and much too little of that “vision thing”. One other sobering fact: TV news has a 7 per cent market share of TV viewership and thus doesn’t represent “the nation”, contrary to some claims.

In this volume, his second on the industry after India on Television, Mehta explores these issues, which he argues have contributed to bad economics and poor content. His research finds that in India, TV “is far more diverse” than in other “comparable” countries. It has low densities in terms of ownership patterns or concentration of viewership, although five media houses (Star, Zee, Sony, Sun and Viacom) together own 61 per cent viewing market share. No company, however, controls more than 20 per cent of the national market (Star TV). If a monopoly problem exists, it’s in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka — Sun TV in Tamil Nadu, for example.

Intense competition, an ineffectual subscription model, a rating viewership system not representative but nevertheless the sole arbiter, have made TV channels wholly dependent on advertising for revenues. Mehta argues these compulsions make broadcasters spend less on content and more on distribution/carriage.

True, but Mehta is rather kind here. As he reveals at the outset, Behind A Billion Screens was originally a joint venture between him and Star CEO Uday Shankar — Shankar is quoted liberally throughout the book. Mehta also worked at Headlines Today. While this gives him a deeper understanding of how the TV industry works, it also makes him somewhat complicit. While he mentions the lack of “talent” and the absence of “the vision thing”, economics alone cannot explain the poor content. Broadcasters have bowed before TRPs, settled for soap operas (on news TV too) instead of creating original programming or practising journalism.

Partly, this is because “who owns TV”. Ostensibly, the “public”, after the Supreme Court’s 1995 ruling. As many of us know, however, other than big media houses like Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV, Subhash Chandra Goel’s Zee group, the Marans’ Sun TV, there are new corporate entrants like Reliance (Network 18) and Aditya Birla (India Today). More worryingly, politicians and businesses with interests in real estate, chit funds or personal finance schemes own news channels (remember Saradha in West Bengal?).

It is the latter’s ownership of TV news across India that has given it a bad name: these channels do not promote journalism but the interests of their owners. Political ownership of TV channels or distribution networks is also widespread in the south, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Mehta backs TRAI on keeping politicians out of broadcasting and increasing foreign funding from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.

The crisis in TV is also because the regulatory mechanism is complex, confused, often contradictory. While the department of telecommunications regulates bandwidth, the I&B ministry dispenses broadcasting licenses and, as Sun TV learnt recently, the home ministry can always raise “security” objections. Mehta supports self-regulation for the industry instead of an independent Media Council. What he doesn’t say is that evidence suggests that the political establishment and TV industry are content with this status quo which allows them to leverage each other when and if necessary.

Mehta’s last chapter is more provocative: it outlines the challenge coming up next for broadcasting from the internet. Using the Netflix example and its success with the online telecast of House Cards, he says, more than the print media, broadcasters are unprepared for the future which is upon us. One question: why does Mehta all but completely ignore the general entertainment segment? And the phenomenon of paid news?

This is a well-researched, thoroughly documented account of what ails television in India. It is descriptive rather than prescriptive.

However, with television, the question is not what to do with it, but if anyone has the will to do anything.