The regulations in foreign direct investment (FDI) in print may not be conducive yet for News Corporation to step up its print media plans in India; nor is the stage set for a large internet play here. But for Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of the media giant, broadcast holds a lot of promise at the moment, and that too, in regional languages, given India’s huge diversity. On Monday, Murdoch, the aggressive acquirer of media companies round the world, said his company would launch six regional channels in India, investing $100 million in the next one year.
In Mumbai to launch the Dow Jones “blue-chip index” here, Murdoch said, “We plan to launch regional channels in six cities in India with over $100 million investment over the next 12 months.” He also said that there could be partnerships for the launch of these channels but declined to specify on the same. FE had written earlier that Star India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of News Corp, was planning to launch Bengali, Gujarati and Telugu language general entertainment channels (GEC) within this fiscal.
A top executive of The Wall Street Journal, a News Corp company, also said that it was waiting for a relaxation in the FDI guidelines in the print media space before the company could beef up its presence in India. “We will look at a relaxation of the regulations before we could commit to India,” said Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Journal. Murdoch also clarified that the company did not see itself taking an equity stake in any Indian newspaper.
Regarding joining the internet bandwagon, Murdoch said, “It’s still early days for the internet in India.”
Murdoch also expressed faith in the current management at Star India, saying the team was doing “wonderful”. He said the present team is well placed and profits are coming in. Murdoch says that he is also happy with his tie-up with Tata (for the direct-to-home business, Tata Sky) and feels that pay TV is a good driver for subscription-based revenue in India.
Star India had a joint venture with Balaji Telefilms, which is the custodian of some of the most popular and longest run television soap operas in India, for launching regional language television channels in South India. Also, Star India holds 26% stake in Balaji, which the former now wants to exit. When asked about divesting the Balaji stake, Murdoch said he couldn’t comment on the issue.
Murdoch unveiled the The Dow Jones India Titans 30 Index that measures the performance of the 30 largest and most liquid stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The final composition of the index is based on ranking by free-float market capitalisation and 12-month average daily trading volume. The top five companies that made it to this list include Reliance Industries, Infosys Technologies, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro. The three biggest sectors represented in the index are financials, basic materials and oil and gas.