News Broadcasting
Credit Suisse sees huge opportunities for Hollywood in Bollywood
NEW DELHI: Despite ‘striking’ lack of infrastructure, India is one of the four BRIC countries that Credit Suisse believes has significant revenue and profit opportunity for global media companies over the near to intermediate term. The other three countries are Brazil, China and Russia.
The report, “Indian Media: Opportunities for Hollywood in Bollywood”, says News Corp, Disney and Sony are best positioned among the biggest global media companies to capitalise on opportunities in India. This is due in part to their existing operations and in the case of Disney also due to recent acquisitions. This list could expand significantly, and Viacom, Time Warner and Discovery are already on the ground.
The report says each of the four “emerging growth” markets may hold significant long term opportunity for global media but we believe that the opportunities to distribute content and leverage a traditional advertising and subscription revenue model are now in place in India.
It is poised to continue rapid growth for several years as the multi channel TV business is evolving toward a digital platform that will expand the market as well as the ability for content providers to actually get paid.”We expect most if not all of the major media companies to establish ‘play on India’ at some point, says the report filed by Credit Suisse Global Media analysts William Drewary, Jolanta Masojada and Ashish Gupta.
Cable networks, syndicated TV shows and film production as well as Internet and mobile content will be the main products sold into India – many of these businesses are already established, the reports adds.
“There is a large local media infrastructure in the country as well, with many publicly traded companies – though market cap size is a fraction of the US based companies. We would expect consolidation opportunities in country for the global media companies and Disney has been active in this regard lately” says the trio.
But there is a slight disturbing note. “The lack of physical infrastructure in India is striking – a fact noted by any we met as an impediment of sorts to building businesses in the country.
“Rather than a conclusion, this is an issue that will evolve over time, and the entrepreneurial spirit and democratic/capitalist society should eventually override the physical infrastructure limitations. We believe there are major opportunities emerging in India and hope this report will help to highlight that.”
News Broadcasting
Rajesh Sundaram joins NDTV Profit as senior editor, assignment
The 32-year newsroom veteran has launched channels on three continents and covered everything from 9/11 to South African television
MUMBAI: NDTV Profit has bolstered its newsroom with a hire who has done rather more than most. Rajesh Sundaram, a journalist with over three decades of editorial, managerial and consultative experience across India and international markets, joins as senior editor, assignment, tasked with sharpening the network’s newsgathering and real-time response.
Sundaram’s career reads like a tour of Indian media’s most formative moments. He began at Businessworld in 1994, moved to Zee News as bureau chief across Mumbai and Chennai, then joined NDTV in 2002 as part of its political bureau during a particularly febrile period in Indian politics. A stint as India correspondent for Al Jazeera International followed, where he covered key geopolitical developments and got his first serious taste of the global newsroom.
What sets Sundaram apart, however, is his serial channel-launching habit. At NewsX, he helped get the operation off the ground. At Headlines Today, part of the India Today Group, he served as editor. At News Nation, he helped launch the Hindi news channel and its digital ecosystem. He then crossed continents to lead the launch of ANN7 in South Africa as editor-in-chief, overseeing both television and digital. Back in India, he launched Tamil news channels News7 Tamil and Cauvery News, and later served as principal consultant for the launch of Marathi channel Lokshahi. Most recently, he helped build and lead the Press Trust of India’s video service and content studio, before stints consulting for Business Today and The Himalayan Times.
Rahul Kanwal, chief executive and editor-in-chief of NDTV, left little doubt about what Sundaram is expected to deliver. “The assignment desk is where a newsroom’s intent becomes action,” he said. “Rajesh brings a rare combination of field experience and leadership in building news operations at scale.”
Sundaram has reported from across India and the world, covering elections, civil conflicts, the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the 2008 US presidential election.
At NDTV Profit, he will lead the assignment desk, driving editorial coordination and real-time response across markets and breaking developments. For a business news network sharpening its focus on speed and multi-platform delivery, it has hired a man who has built newsrooms from scratch on three continents. The assignment desk is in good hands.
