There were some key points which came out of the convention some of which have been covered here.

Speaking for the government while inaugurating the convention Friday, minister for information and broadcasting Sushma Swaraj admitted the government needs to do more to give a fillip to the industry.

She identified the problems the industry was facing as problems of finance and insurance, unrealistic tax laws, inadequate infrastructure and problems in copyright laws and their implementaion while urging more steps towards corporatisation.

BROADCASTERS WORRIED

One of the crucial discussions at the FICCI meet on Friday was on the regulatory framework for broadcasting.

The speakers were RK Singh, CEO, Zee Telefilms; Kunal Dasgupta, CEO, Sony Entertainment Television and Kiran Karnik, CEO, Discovery Channel, with Anil Baijal, CEO, Prasar Bharati as the moderator and representing the government viewpoint.

Baijal highlighted the policy advancements in broadcasting but also accepted the fact that a lot of policies needed a relook and needed to keep abreast of the current developments.

Singh pointed out that the regulatory framework was not keeping pace with the advances in technology.

As a case in point Singh referred to the recently announced direct to home (DTH) broadcast guidelines. There were so many controls that the impetus was just not there to go ahead, he said.

"International experience shows that the more the regulation the lesser the development of this sector," Singh added.

Karnik pointed out the industry‘s worries on the convergence bill which is in the process of being finalised, particularly the issue of content regulation.

Karnik said the need was more for self regulation which was already in place in the advertising and programming fraternity and not for the government to come and lay down the law.

Codes shouldn‘t be left to the regulator because it is very difficult to clearly identify terms as vague as Indian culture/ values/ morality.

And the kind of fines which were being envisaged (Rs 500 million) for "defaulters" meant it was better to lose your licence than face paying the fine, Karnik pointed out. The licence fee for starting a DTH operation is RS 400 million.

Karnik was very emphatic that there was an urgent need to have the bill out sooner rather than later because it was already too long in the making.

He said in the event of delay a way out could be an ordinance which would set down the rules of the game till such time as the convergence bill becomes law.

Karnik suggested that the Cable Networks Act be amended to protect the end user - the viewer.

And finally he proposed the constitution of a professional body to handle issues like monopoly, tariffs and regulation till such time as the convergence commission is in place.

Dwelling on the recently issued DTH guidelines, he said it completely ignored the internet and radio, just two of the important platforms on which DTH could be propagated.

Defending the government, Baijal said the subgroup headed by Fali S Nariman was already discussing these issues.

FUTURE DTH SCENARIO

Kunal Dasgupta developed further on the future of DTH but clarified that at this point he didn‘t see his channel going in for it.

Dasgupta said DTH was bound to fail unless it was rolled out as a multi-platform convergence application.

The advantage of DTH was only if it was viewed as a multimedia tool. Dasgupta quoted the example of France where it was a bundled software aggregator having XML, IP protocol, TV protocol, streaming media, video on demand, gaming and pay per view.

Queried on what was the breakeven time frame for DTH operations Dasgupta said it was a function of penetration. If it were a single player (consortium?) a 1.8 to two million subscriber base would be where it would be achieved. However, if there were more than one player it could take over seven years for breakeven to be achieved.

And the cost - RS 6,000 million for operational set-up and another RS 6,000 million as further costs in development and distribution.

DTH AND THE LAST MILE

In a discussion on DTH and The Last Mile held Saturday, Ashok Mansukhani, CEO, Indusland Entertainment, estimated the cost of setting up a DTH operation at a lower RS 3,500 million.

Looking at the example of the United States, Mansukhani said there were only two major DTH providers supplying 225 channels. Mansukhani said he saw only a single DTH player, probably by way of a consortium, establishing itself in the near term. He echoed Dasgupta in saying that there was little to make DTH more attractive than cable unless there was a significant addition of value added services.

Mansukhani saw cable broadband is having a much more realistic growth potential than DTH which, according to him, would only come as added carriage.

Click below for more on FICCI-Frames 2001:

Address by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Union I & B Minister

Nearly 80 per cent of content on TV linked to films: Bachchan

Legal, Copyright & IPR in Entertainment industry

Entertainment & Media Research

Satellite TV: The future trend

Animation: India the new hub.

Speeches at the Inaugural address

Snapshots - Frames 2001

Star team conspicuously absent from proceedings

Parekh was taken into custody by the CBI‘s Bank Security and Fraud cell and is to be produced in court today morning. The worst hit were again the new economy or ICE (information, communication and entertainment) stocks because it is here that Parekh had maximum exposure. The euphamistically called K-10 (ten favourite stocks of Ketan Parekh) counters like Himachal Futuristic, Global Tele-Systems, SSI Ltd, DSQ Software, Zee Telefilms, Silverline, Pentamedia Graphics and Satyam Computer bore the brunt of investors wrath.

This is the second big scam involving banks and stock brokers after the securities scam of 1992 in which the infamous "Big Bull" Harshad Mehta was involved. That scandal involved the illegal channelling of bank funds of over RS 50,000 million into the stock market through the collusion of bankers, brokers, and public and private sector companies. Parekh‘s name was linked to this case as well but he was a relatively minor player then.

The CBI registered a case against Parekh after BOI filed a complaint Parekh had defrauded it. After the case was registered, the CBI raided Parekh‘s residential and office premises in Mumbai yesterday.

The stock markets went into a free fall on the last day of the settlement on BSE as panicky investors resorted to selling. The BSE 30-Share Sensitive Index (Sensex) fell by 147.18 points to 3604.38 from its previous close of 3751.56.

Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, meanwhile, speaking in Delhi, said that the market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), was looking into the issue, indicating that some action could be taken only after its inquiry was over.

In a related development in Kolkata, CBI sleuths launched operations at the office premises of some leading stock broking firms after Parekh‘s arrest.

The Black Friday record: The Sensex tumbled by 107.67 points on 16 February, 140.39 points on 23 February, 176.49 points on 2 March, 174.98 points on 9 March, 74.12 points on 16 March and 78.69 points on 23 March.

India‘s most significant global convention of the entertainment industry, Ficci Frames 2001, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, begins today at Hotel Regent, in Mumbai‘s western suburb of Bandra.

The two-day event will see major players from the entertainment industry, right from business leaders, representatives of the government‘s decision making bodies, stars, broadcasters, cable TV industry, and the advertising sectors out in force. They will be participating in the discussions, and workshops at the convention.

Its main idea: converge cinema, television, audio, cable, together and focus to bring about an upgradation of quality, content and professional management of the entertainment industry, similar to that seen in Hollywood.

Nearly 116 representatives of the various segments of entertainment from all over India will be present. Among those attending: Sushma Swaraj, union minister for information and broadcasting, Pawan Chopra, secretary, ministry of I&B, Anil Baijal, CEO Prasar Bharati; V Chandrasekaran, chairman and CEO Pentamedia Graphics Ltd; Amit Khanna, CEO Reliance Entertainment; Markand Adhikari, vice-chairman and managing director SABe TV; Shabana Azmi, MP; Ronnie Screwvala, chairman and MD UTV; Lalit Modi of Modi Entertainment; director Shyam Benegal, and film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan.

Top-notch representatives of the entertainment world will also speak on issues and hold discussion panels. For instance Discovery chief Kiran Karnik, SET‘s Kunal Dasgupta, Bhuvan Lall, executive director IBF will be speaking on the regulatory framework of broadcasting.

Munesh Khanna, country had, corporate finance, Arthur Anderson, will make a presentation on the present status and future of the entertainment industry. Bonds contracts, insurance, and debt financing in the entertainment industry will also be brought up for discussion.

A lot is being promised, right from a glimpse into the business of story telling by Mahesh Bhatt to the art of content creation by Ekta Kapoor, creative head of Balaji Telefilms. Meanwhile, Ravina Raj Kohli, CEO HFCL Nine Broadcasting, will be talking on the business of commissioning programmes by TV networks and distinguished movie-maker Ramesh Sippy will speak on the relevance of big screen entertainment for the small screen.