Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/big-business-weds-big-media-12701.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Big Business Weds Big Media | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Big Business Weds Big Media
-Economic and Political Weekly
 
The Reliance/Network18 deal should make us wake up to the impending threat to media plurality.

Few are discussing it. India has just seen one of the biggest media deals, where the country’s leading industrial and business giant has bought into the largest network of news and current affairs TV channels. Yet, the fact that this could mark the beginning of a trend leading to private media being controlled by a handful of corporates, as has already happened in so many countries around the world, and have a direct impact on media plurality, seems to have escaped notice. Is the silence deliberate given that most media houses do not want to be seen as too critical of a company that already has enormous influence in innumerable spheres? Or do they fear that too much talk could result in pressure on the government to look again at suggestions about regulation on cross-media ownership?
 
The Rs 2,100-crore deal between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Network18/TV18 is significant for more reasons than one. It is the first time that a non-media company of the size of RIL has obtained a direct stake in media. There are other smaller businesses such as real estate companies that have invested in media, as have politicians and political parties. But none of the leading business houses have done so. As a result of the RIL deal, Network18/TV18, which owns seven TV channels including news and business channels, will now control Eenadu TV (ETV) that has a vast reach through its 12 regional language channels with a viewership in at least 10 states.
 
Why should the RIL deal be a cause for concern? The media scene in India has seen an impressive growth in the last decade with the entry of satellite and cable television. Currently, there are around 745 TV channels of which 366 are in news and current affairs. Another 600 channels have applied for licences. Yet, these numbers hide a slightly different reality. Media presence does not necessarily translate into huge profits. The majority of networks, including large ones like Network18, are struggling with the bottom line in an industry that has high capital costs and works on low margins. It also does not guarantee viewership. Of the news and current affairs channels, for instance, 21 networks with their 46 channels have 80% of the viewership. The rest have a limited reach and barely survive.
 
RIL’s deal with Network18 is clearly not just for profits but also for other dividends that media ownership yields. (RIL has already been accused by Y S Vijaya Lakshmi, wife of the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, of earlier investing indirectly in ETV to return a favour to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on access to natural gas reserves in the Krishna Godavari basin.) But in the future, RIL could also rake in profits. Having cornered a major share in 4G spectrum through its subsidiary Infotel Broadband Services, RIL has entered into an agreement with Network18 for preferential access to the distribution of all content. Thus, the carrier and the content provider will converge in a way that has not happened to this extent before although there are smaller examples of such convergence in a few states, including Tamil Nadu.
 
Therefore, the concern for the future of the media is on several grounds. One, given the history of the influence of media giants like News Corp owned by Rupert Murdoch and the Silvio Berlusconi empire in Italy, it is already well established that when big business and big media converge, the impact on politics, policy and people’s views is enormous. It virtually kills media plurality and allows a small group to manipulate opinion to suit its own interests. With this in mind, many countries have devised regulations that check vertical integration between content providers and carriers, as well as cross-media ownership that results in concentration of ownership.
 
In India, little thought has been given to this. In 2009, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) made several recommendations on this issue but the report was never made public. The TRAI suggested, for instance, restricting vertical integration of broadcasters and distributors. It recommended a detailed survey to assess the extent of horizontal integration or cross-media ownership that already exists before working out restrictions. And it suggested that after arriving at restrictions for vertical and horizontal integration, the government should look at the guidelines for mergers and acquisitions to prevent concentration of media ownership.
 
The fact that these recommendations have never been made public, have not been discussed and have been virtually shelved illustrates the power that business houses already have. In any case, even without the kind of media concentration evident in some other countries, in India the influence of business and politics on media content is already apparent in many different ways, such as “paid news” that guaranteed favourable coverage to candidates contesting elections, or “private treaties” between media houses and businesses. The RIL deal represents a major leap towards further media concentration and subsequently more direct influence on media content. Nothing could be worse for democracy where media independence and plurality are essential. It is not too late to debate and decide on regulations that restrict the emergence of media behemoths. India does not need desi Murdochs and Berlusconis.