rahul_parab2006
Rahul Parab
Overview
The Indian Entertainment and Media (IEM) sector (as the sector is generally referred to) is one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy. According to a PriceWaterhouse Cooper Report, India will be one of the key drivers in driving the global entertainment and media industry to US$ 2trillion by 2011. The industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18.5% till 2011 to touch Rs. 1 trillion from Rs. 436 million in 2006.
Growing demand, along with advances in technology, policy initiatives of the Indian government to encourage the inflow of investment and initiative by private media companies have been the key drivers of the industry.
As per current estimates the television industry is projected to grow by 22% from Rs. 191 billion to Rs. 519 billion by 2011; filmed entertainment by 16% from Rs 85 billion to Rs 175 billion; print media by 13 from Rs 128 billion to Rs 232 billion; the Indian advertising industry is set to grow 61 per cent by 2010 with advertising spend climbing to Rs 36,731 crore from Rs 22,721 crore this year.
International media giants are all vying for a stake in the segment. In the last three years, US$ 88 million of foreign direct investment (FDI) has flowed into the sector and in 2006, 13 FDI proposals were approved by the Government. Growing demand, along with advances in technology, policy initiatives of the Indian government to encourage the inflow of investment and initiative by private media companies have been the key drivers of the industry.
Separately, the Media industry is no doubt exciting and fun, but it is extremely fast-paced and stressful as well. Additionally, being creative on a tight schedule can be emotionally draining, especially because most of the work includes long hours and meeting stringent deadlines.
Structure
The Media industry can be essentially categorised into the following categories:
o Filmed Entertainment
o Television
o Music
o Radio
o Print
Opportunities
The opportunities in the Media industry are many and varied. Most of these opportunities lie in the areas of animation, mass communication, film industry, television, FM radio, and event management.
Roshni Mitra (name changed), is a Features Editor with one of India’s largest selling women’s magazines. She has been a journalist for the last 10 years. She says when she started out with, journalism was not considered even half as hot as it is today. “The remuneration was a bit of a joke. So those long workdays would seldom yield much in terms of increments. No special qualification was required and you were made to learn on the job -- which isn't a bad thing really. But what you learnt depended a much on how inspiring your seniors were. I would say I was lucky to have a boss who sat me down one day and corrected a copy, line by line, in front of me. That half hour taught me more about writing copies than anything else has.”
Over the years, Mitra says the scene has become far more professional. Journalism is fairly paying now and there are plenty of avenues to explore. On her growth path, Mitra recalls she started out as a trainee where she was given some pages to handle which would duly be supervised by others. Once she climbed the ladder a bit more, she was asking to handle a particular section of the newspaper myself. This meant ensuring there was a bank of relevant and interesting articles and being held responsible for the section. Currently, as Features editor she brings out an entire broadsheet supplements, city-specific sections and a smaller version of the magazine in her own. To succeed in this sphere, Mitra says one needs to be sensitive and alert to things happening around you. Creativity, ideation and being able to put it across lucidly and crisply are of primary importance. You have to be able to smell out a story where others see none. It is also important to build a network in order to smell the right story,” she says.