Wednesday, August 24 2005 16:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Part 2 - The Satellite Television

Satellite TV and Global Media

Dating back to 1990, when satellite TV came to Indian entertainment market, it brought about a change in the cultural nationalism of our country. The global media had then turned towards active and self-conscious indigenisation. Though MTV culture was popular at that time, Star-TV made a giant entry to the entertainment world of not just India but it reached viewers from the Gulf to South-East Asia. Fully acquired by Rupert Murdoch by the end of 1995 Star now forms a central part of his global media empire. In both news and culture, Star-TV is as challenging to some Governments as United States (US) imported programs and news have been.

In 1995, Star-TV reached 53.7 million television households in 53 countries in English, Mandarin and Hindi. It carries global United States and British channels as well as channels in Mandarin and Hindi targeted at regional audiences, defined by language and culture, and in so doing has helped define a new type of geo-cultural or geo-linguistic television market that stands between the U.S. dominated global market and national television markets.

In April 1990, China's Long March III rocket launched a C-band satellite called AsiaSat-1. China International Trust and Investment Corp. (CITIC), Cable & Wireless of Britain and Hong-Kong's Hutchison Whampoa, jointly owned AsiaSat, making it Asia's first privately owned satellite. In December 1990, Hong Kong granted a license to Hutchison Whampoa's satellite broadcasting arm, HutchVision, to begin a Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) service via AsiaSat. In a $300 million venture, the Satellite Television Asia Region operation, (Star-TV), began transmissions in August 1991.

In July 1993, News Corp.'s Chairman Rupert Murdoch, already a power in Australia, Britain and America, bought Star for $525 million (a 63.6% stake), forming a partnership with business tycoon Li Ka-shing, whose family owned the company. With the purchase, Murdoch's FOX studio and network had access to a successful Asian window in which to distribute programming. It was a huge revolution on Indian media along side the global media, from Asian games in 1982 to Star TV in 1990.

Not even a decade, its viewers saw a drastic change in the screen images. Foreign investment proposals, directly linked to Broadcasting, will be kept pending till Broadcasting Law comes into effect. Presently, companies with 80% Indian equity may be allowed to uplink for satellite channels. The proposals related to production of software and marketing of TV rights, airtime, advertisements, etc. may be recommended with the condition that All future laws on Broadcasting will be applicable to them and they will not claim any privilege or protection by virtue of this approval; they will not undertake any broadcasting from Indian soil unless specially permitted to do so;

Companies desiring to market TV software in India will, in addition to some conditions, will observe the Programme Law and Advertisement Codes of Doordarshan. Proposals having an Indian equity of atleast 25% will be encouraged, however, in genuine cases, even 100% foreign equity can be allowed. There is no foreign equity allowed in private FM broadcasting though.