News Broadcasting
Subscription revenues to be linked to content post-CAS – SSB
MUMBAI: Solomon Smith Barney (SSB) claims that the subscription revenues will eventually be linked to the content quality and the viewership. This will reiterate the fact that “Content is King!” and augur well for the production houses. The report also states that the pricing and the composition of the basic tier could affect the subscription revenues of the networks.
SSB’s report entitled CAS is a reality but let’s await implementation, raises the issue of a future scenario wherein the genres of channels might have to follow their respective leaders, especially if the leaders belong to influential and dominant groups.
For example, if Star Plus were to decide to convert to free to air and be a part of the basic tier, the demand for other Hindi general entertainment channels (Zee and Sony) would suffer. There could also be alternative strategies such as launching two variants – for instance, a free to air Zee TV and a pay Zee TV Premium (with premium content transferred to the same) – could also come into play to manage the transition.
The report claims that the regime of individual pricing for channels, instead of a bouquet pricing strategy, will be based on the pricing for the basic tier of services. However, in all likelihood, the pay-TV channels would need to revise their channel rates downward. Pricing power on the subscription rates would also rest with the numero uno channel in each genre.
Additionally, the report states that a high basic tier price (in excess of Rs 60 per month) could negatively impact the pay-TV broadcasters.
The report also claims that the propensity of the consumer to invest in Set Top Boxes (STBs) would be a key issue. It also states that the entire post-CAS improvement in disclosures through subscriber addressability rests on the take-up of STBs; if the viewers do not aggressively take up STBs, the status quo prevails. Therefore, it is imperative for the banking and finance companies to tie-up with the MSOs or cable operators for attractive funding schemes for the consumers.
The channel reach could decline and advertising revenues could be affected if the transition period for STBs to be installed in metros is less than the estimated six to eight month period. Audit and compliance procedures will have to be implemented to ensure that the law achieves its goal of increased declarations and reduced piracy.
Piracy is a reality of conditional access in every country – developed or underdeveloped. Piracy problems are common to most pay-TV operators across the globe and the estimates of piracy for the Indian markets, while important for earnings estimation, will be a major issue, the report says.
It states that the 40 million Cable and Satellite households (C&S), paying an average of Rs150 per subscriber, could generate annual revenues of around Rs 72 billion. Currently, broadcasters such as Star and Zee have priced their channels on the basis of bouquets. Their subscription revenues are hence a function of the declaration from cable operators and their bouquet price.
For the future financial modeling, the subscriber base will need to be divided into three tiers:
a) metro subscribers (approximately 7 million) who are covered in the first phase of CAS and install STBs – approx 20 per cent or 1.5 million – Payouts from them will be based on the basic tier pricing and their choice of FTA (free-to-air) channels.
b) FTA subscribers in the metros which do not install STBs/get pirated signals – payouts from them will be only the basic tier pricing – cable operators will continue to charge the same rates and pocket the difference.
c) Rest of the country – status quo – Bouquet based pricing regimes will continue and subscription revenues will be a function of negotiation between broadcasters and cable operators until Phase II of implementation of CAS across the country is notified.
News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
