State of TV Channels in India #SunTVAftermath

The Ministry for Home Affairs has denied security clearance to 33 TV channels of the Sun Group, owing to 'economic security' reasons. It may reconsider its verdict only in case of an ownership change, or if the current board of Directors is dissolved.

While the company has applied for extension of its licenses, and they certainly won’t go off air immediately, the Rs. 2,290 Crore Sun TV stock crash has left many unsettled about the general health of entertainment channels in India.

After all, India has a vibrant and robust audience for entertainment channels. Among the 830 plus channels now live, around half are divided into entertainment and pseudo entertainment. So is there reason to worry?

“National channels are doing fairly well. Ad revenue is on the rise, the economy is looking robust, and media spending is coming back. However, the market is accruing towards 4 or 5 top players. The lower rung is getting squeezed”, Jehil Thakkar, Head of Media and Entertainment, KPMG India says.

India is touted as a ripe ground for entertainment. But is there an over-saturation of entertainment channels like many believe?

“Entertainment channels in major media markets like the US, UK or Japan address very specific demographic niches. We aren’t there yet, and this is majorly because of our distribution infrastructure. Once that matures, and digitization is complete, we can expect further growth”, Thakkar says.

So is the market creating hindrances for new TV channels which might not be able to match up to the might of the big sharks?

Most industry experts believe there’s still a lot of headroom for growth in the Indian market given one is able to garner distribution, and have ad money pouring in.

Sun TV was unavailable for comment.

(Image credit: Indiatimes)