Our Correspondent
K. Madhavan, the Managing Director of Star and Disney India, was recently elected as the President, Indian Broadcasting Foundation. A veteran of many media wars, the head of the Star and Disney in India, has been elected to the position at a crucial juncture in history of broadcasting in India.
He believed that Indian broadcasting space was among the largest in the world with nearly 100 million households without television. He stressed that getting the content right would get the viewers and pointed to the growth of Doordarshan on the back of mythological shows during the lockdown.
He opined that broadcasting is projected to grow to Rs.882 billion from Rs.787 billion by 2022 Mr. Madhavan said that the industry wanted to exceed that expectation and for that the support of policymakers and regulator was critical..
Mr. Madhavan also spelt out a few priority areas that he would be dealing with for the growth of the industry. Stating that three key players were needed for the growth of the broadcasting industry in the country, he said that the first priority of the IBF is to get broadcasters, policymakers and regulator together to create an atmosphere conducive to the growth of broadcasting. The idea was to meet the growth projections but he said that the New Tariff Order 2 was not conducive to growth.
The second one, Mr. Madhavan said, was to try to exceed expectations on growth. The third priority was the longstanding request to grant infrastructure status to broadcasting. This, he said, would bring cost side benefits and help formalise the business. This would help in availing loans for day-to-day business and also investment for content development.
Mr. Madhavan also brought the focus on GST and called for its revision as it would facilitate growth of the industry. He also called for a push for policies that will facilitate growth.
Talking about the present situation of the broadcasting industry in the COVID-19 situation, he said that the viewership has increased 25-30 per cent on both entertainment and news. With the Indian Premier League getting under way, there has been a 30 per cent rise in viewership. Mr. Madhavan believed that the sector paid a key role in keeping the audiences engaged while they were homebound. He claimed that broadcasters also supported cine artistes during these trying times when production had come to a standstill. He said that the industry had reinvented itself.
Mr. Madhavan also holds the view that there was a need for a separate regulator for the broadcasting industry. He said that the IBF believed in a dialogue between the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The IBF had tried to convey its points of view to the regulator but it did not heed its requests.
Setting new standards was nothing new to Mr. Madhavan who had proven his mettle early on in the television industry. When he switched career from banking, assuming a pivotal role in Asianet, the channel was in the doldrums and the television field a minefield. It was a bold step even by the most capable of professionals to step into the murky world of media that face the vagaries of fickle viewership and TRP ratings.
Given the fact that the television world was ruled by the likes of Zee TV and Times TV, the move of Madhavan to take up the role of Director at Asianet Communications Ltd in 1999, forgoing his years of experience in the banking world shocked many. He soon rose to the position of Managing Director and Chief Executive.
In 1999, when he joined Asianet, the regional brand from South India was on the verge of closing down. Turning a struggling channel into a media powerhouse, Mr. Madhavan ensured that the Asianet bouquet of channels became the undisputed market leader in Kerala.
Mr. Madhavan is post-graduate in Commerce from Calicut University and Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB) and the driving force behind Asianet’s growth as the undisputed leader in Malayalam with more than 50% of market share.
Challenges did come his way and he took them head on consolidating the assets of the regional media company and soon built up an empire that some of the biggest media conglomerates came to covet.
Mr. Madhavan joined Star India in 2009 as its South head after Star India acquired a 51 per cent stake in Asianet, popular in the Kerala market then. Star eventually took full control and ownership of the channel in 2014 by which time Mr. Madhavan had taken Asianet to other markets in the south, sources said.
Under his leadership, the company has built a thriving regional entertainment portfolio.
Mr. Madhavan’s vision for the regional language network has led the company to set benchmarks in quality programming in South India, which is now being replicated throughout India. Under his trusted leadership, the channel has reached more than 100 countries. Mr. Madhavan believes in the entrepreneurial culture. His vision has forced many others in the field to set benchmarks in quality programming in the South, which is now being replicated throughout India. It is these expertise and negotiating skills that would hopefully aid Mr. Madhavan in his new responsibility in building bridges with the regulator and policymakers and bring in much-needed changes in the broadcasting industry in India.
Recently, the Confederation of Indian Industry appointed Mr. Madhavan as the Chair of National Committee on Media & Entertainment for 2020-21. He is responsible for driving the growth of the business, focussing on innovation and creating compelling content for consumers.
