BBC Entertainment’s pull-out symbolises deep flaws in the TV channel business
06/11/2012 – BBC Entertainment could not survive due to extreme fragmentation of the advertising cake and high cost of operations. But then how are so many other Indian channels surviving? By a combination of paid news and endless supply of dubious funding? If so, we have created a system by which bad channels will drive out the good ones
BBC Worldwide has confirmed the closure of two of its channels, BBC Entertainment and CBeebies in India. In a statement it said, “BBC Entertainment and CBeebies are to be withdrawn and will no longer be available beyond the end of November 2012 for viewing from India.” The closure of these channels, which were providing quality entertainment, raises a key question over the means and methods of survival by other mediocre TV channels that continue to thrive in the country.
According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), as of March 2012, there were 831 registered private satellite TV channels in the country, out of which 184 are paid channels. Maximum number of TV channels including pay, free-to-air (FTA) and local being carried by any of the multi-system operators (MSOs) is 377, while the same for conventional analogue form is limited at 100 channels. Last year, the number of TV channels in India was 745, out of which 366 were in news and current affairs category while 379 were in non-news and current affairs category. That too when the government increased the net worth criteria for those seeking permission to run TV channels in the country in order to deter non-serous players from crowding the electronic media landscape.
Read more at Moneylife