Rupert Murdoch battles on in India

icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu
Fri Sep 26 17:36:39 EDT 2003


Many countries fear foreign control of their news media, especially when the
foreigner is Rupert Murdoch. India, where suspicion of multinational firms
runs deep in everything from soft drinks to accountancy, has more qualms
than most. Star News, a Hindi-language news channel produced by a scion of
Mr Murdoch's News Corp, has had to jump through a series of regulatory
hoops. The Indian market, it seems, is worth a few contortions.

Star's persistence highlights the potential of the Indian market. About 44m
Indian households, some 22% of the total, have cable TV, the third-largest
subscriber base in the world. Star has a very successful “bouquet” of
channels, covering movies, music and sport, and Star Plus, which offers
Hindi-language entertainment. Last week, this channel broadcast all of
India's 20 most-watched cable TV programmes. Star News, too, is gaining
market share. According to TAM Media Research it now reaches 27% of viewers,
just behind the market leader, Aaj Tak, with 29%.

Source:
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2087928






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