Real bad news for media sector

Development and supply of content for use in advertising purposes brought under service tax net.

Sale of space or time for advertisement service, to specifically include sale of space in business directories, yellow pages and trade catalogues which are primarily meant for commercial purposes brought under service tax net.

Exemption from CVD has been withdrawn on specified parts of set top boxes.

Excise duty exemption on recorded video cassettes intended for television broadcasting has been withdrawn and 8% excise duty has been imposed.

The burden of rise in advertising cost will be passed on to the ultimate consumer. Corporate advertisements garnered the maximum 29% share of ad volumes of IT sector on TV in 2006. Rise in advertising cost will bring a slowdown in the advertisement revenues to broadcasters and print media.

However, it will also depend on the performance and growth potential of industries such as FMCG, pharma, telecom and software that are involved in huge ad spends. Subscription revenues will become a key to the success of broadcasters and print media.

The implementation of CAS in specified zones has already not kept pace. Withdrawal of exemption from CVD on specified parts of set top boxes will further slow down the roll out of CAS.

Excise duty of 8% on video cassettes will lead to rise in cost for the broadcasting industry whereas on the other hand TRAI has capped the pricing for broadcasters. This is negative for the broadcasting industry.

The budget had nothing much to offer to the media and entertainment industry. Despite being one of the fastest growing sectors it is impacted by its cyclicalities. The economic growth and rising income levels have supported the sector's growth. With an estimated size of US$ 8 bn, the turnover of the sector is expected to reach US$ 18 bn by 2010 at a CAGR of 19%. The change in the way consumers consume content from many alternatives and the manner content is delivered to consumers by multiple players will influence growth. All segments in the industry are projected to grow. Maximum growth is expected in television and film segments, followed by the radio, print and the music segments.

ZEEL and Sahara India Media being the dominant players in the broadcasting industry will not be badly hurt as the compulsory roll-out of CAS will ensure elimination of under-declaration by cable operators leading to approximate 70% increase in subscription revenues.

WWIL, Hathway Bhawani and DISH TV India may take longer to break even if television audiences delay buying of set top boxes.

Balaji Telefilms may not be hurt by advertising revenues as well because 80% of its programming content is commissioned.

New entrants in the print media like Mint (Hindustan Times Media) may find it difficult to find new ad sponsors.

Tax holiday for 10 years

Scrapping of sales tax on software

Removal of service tax

10-year exemption from import duty on hardware

More animation-centric special economic zones

Service

Service tax net to include Multi System Operators (MSO) apart from cable operators.

Service tax exemption removed on broadcasting service provided by cable operators.

Broadcasting services to include charges recovered by broadcasting agencies from MSOs and provision of DTH signals to customers.

Sound recording to include recording of sound on any media and includes post-production services such as sound mixing or re-mixing.

Video-tape production to include recording of any programme, event of function on any media and includes post production services.

Sponsorship service, excluding sponsorship in relation to sports events, brought under the service tax net

Sale of space for advertisement in print media left out of the ambit of service tax.

Excise duty of 16% levied on set-top boxes and customs duty of 15% brought down to 'nil'.

Going great guns: The Indian media sector has been amongst the fastest growing sectors in the country over the last decade, thanks to the strong economic growth, which has led to a rise in the overall income levels of Indian consumers. With the availability of higher disposable income, proportionately a higher amount is being spent on products and services related to the entertainment and leisure segment.

Television at the forefront: Within the entertainment sector, television has taken the lead with cable and satellite television segment propelling the growth of the sector. Also, there is a significant transformation happening within the sector with content creators venturing into broadcasting and post-production.

Helping hand: Support from the government has also aided the growth of the industry. The government has liberalised the up-linking policy and reduced the rate of basic customs duties on import of certain specified equipments for setting up an earth station to aid broadcasting from India. Further, abolishing of excise duties to fight music piracy is also another positive gesture from the government.

Better technologies: Acceptability of DTH (Direct-To-Home) will curb the menace of under-declaration of subscribers by cable operators. Subscribers will then pay for only the channels of their choice.

Greater choices: Emergence and acceptance of new entertainment avenues like movie multiplexes and radio have provided consumers with greater choices, which will aid the growth of the sector going forward.

Widening ad base: FMCG companies, which have been key contributors to the total ad-spend of the industry, are increasingly concentrating towards rural markets. Broadcasters are launching regional channels to cater to a vast semi-urban/ rural population. Moreover, with new sectors opening up like telecom, healthcare and insurance, advertisements by these segments would also aid the adspend growth across media segments.

Increasing competition: Competition in the industry has been gathering steam, not just between different segments of the media and entertainment industry but also within the segments itself. This could lead to burgeoning costs of production for media companies in the form of higher compensation in order to retain talent and acquire properties/rights. Increasing number of options for advertisers to showcase their products and services could also cap the potential upside in ad realisations.

Subscriber under-declaration: The revenue model for the cable and satellite companies is still skewed in favour of cable companies. Cable operators are in a commanding position. However, this industry is likely to face consolidation with Multi System Operators (MSOs) like Incablenet, Siticable, Asianet, Hathway Cable and Datacom buying over the small local cable operators (LCOs) and setting up their integrated network.

Piracy menace: With the absence of any strict laws targeted at curbing piracy (films/music) in the country, significant revenues are getting lost to the unorganised sector.