MUMBAI: Subscription revenues will drive growth in the television segment, jumping 29 per cent compounded annually over the next five years, from an estimated Rs 86 billion to Rs 306 billion in 2010.
The average monthly cable TV subscription fee is expected to go up from Rs 130 to at least Rs 250 per month by 2010, according to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) report titled Indian Entertainment and Media Industry - Unravelling the Potential. This growth is projected to be lower in the initial years, primarily due to regulatory interventions such as the price freeze on cable rates.

Further fueling the growth will be the increase in number of television households, especially in the lower socio-economic strata. "Cable and satellite (C&S) households are projected to grow faster than the growth in the number of television households and the number of C&S homes are projected to reach 90 million by 2010, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 per cent in the next five years," the report said.

Television advertising, estimated at Rs 54.5 billion in 2005, is expected to touch Rs 105 billion by 2010. While Rs 95,000 million will come from C&S homes, Rs 10,000 million will be from terrestrial. In 2005, C&S advertising revenues are estimated at Rs 47,900 million and terrestrial Rs 6,600 million.

"The share of ad pie of terrestrial and C&S networks have not changed over the last two years and are not projected to change for the next five years, as both the broadcast mediums are expected to gain from the increasing advertising pie," the report said.

The television segment is slated to grow from its present size of Rs 148 billion in 2005 to Rs 427 billion in 2010. Subscription revenues will increase its share from 58 per cent to 71 per cent, according to the report.