NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday called for views from stakeholders on various restrictions put forth on ownership of media, including on powers to the government to prevent any entity from entering the media sector in public interest.

In its second consultation paper on media ownership, Trai has also asked stakeholders to give their views if there are any entities which need to be precluded from owning media enterprises, in addition to political parties, religious bodies, government or government-aided bodies which have already been recommended by the regulator to be disqualified from entry into the broadcasting and distribution sectors.

The discussion paper has listed out 32 issues on which it wants stakeholders to give their views, including on ownership rules for vertical integration between broadcasting and distribution entities.

The paper has also sought views on what should be the rules/restrictions in case of mergers and acquisitions in the media sector, and media ownership rules within and across media segments.

The paper has been placed on the TRAI website and written comments invited from stakeholders by 8 March and counter-comments if any by 15 March.

It has also sought views on what methodology to be adopted to measure ownership or control of an entity over a media outlet, identification of genres to be considered while framing media ownership rules, and prescribing norms for mandatory disclosures by media entities.

Trai also wants discussion on issues relating to identification of media segments wherein media ownership rules are to be prescribed, and identification of relevant markets for evaluating various parameters to be used for devising ownership rules and the methodology for measuring these parameters.

The paper had been issued at the request of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry made last year following a report of the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.

Trai said it was felt that reasonable restrictions may need to be put in place on ownership in the media sector, to ensure media pluralism and to counter the ills of monopolies. It pointed out that such restrictions do exist in many international markets.

However, media ownership rules, Trai said, should be so designed to strike a balance between ensuring a degree of plurality of media sources and content, and a level playing field for companies operating in the media sector, and providing freedom to companies to expand, innovate and invest.

Trai had prepared a similar paper in 2008, but the Ministry felt that the situation had undergone a sea-change since then.

MUMBAI: The Indian Merchants? Chamber is organising the second edition of its Sports, Media and Entertainment conference ?IMC Fusion? on 16 February at Grand Hyatt in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.

The conference is being organised under the auspices of IMC?s Entertainment Committee chaired by Karan Johar. Kabir Bedi will be the Host of Fusion 2013.

This year ?IMC Fusion? will feature discussions on the following subjects: 21st Century Entertainment: Talent Creation & Challenges of Nurturing & Mentoring, Hyper Channelization and The New Entertainment Landscape: Apps, Social Media, You Tube, Gaming and Commerce, The Brewing Content Battle: Who is Transforming Content and Consumer Experience for the Better?, Women in Cinema & Entertainment: New Realities & Challenges, Reality Shows on TV: Beyond Entertainment & Voyeurism, and Script is the Star: Can it also deliver Rs 100 Cr at the Box-office?.

The nine-part series is a part of Discovery?s block ?Ultimate Discovery? and starts tonight 11 February at 9 pm. Episodes begin with impromptu tricks captured by hidden cameras and culminate in full-scale, elaborate stunts in a melding of magic and science. The result is a blending of theatrical exhibition and empirical principles, bolstered by the before and after reactions of the audience.

The show looks to elevate the purely entertaining aspect of magic to new heights by proposing seemingly impossible endeavours, executing them flawlessly, and ultimately disclosing the scientific reality as the featured magicians, Canadian female, Billy Kidd, American Wayne Houchin, Briton Ben Hanlin and Australian James Galea explore the physics, chemistry, biology and a little pure Einstein that make illusions possible. The magicians are filmed in New York, London, and Warsaw with the help of both hidden and open cameras for the largest possible impact.

Commenting on Fusion 2013, IMC President Niranjan Hiranandani said, "This year the conference gets bigger in scope and scale. There will be dedicated B2B exhibition space that will provide a platform for product and service providers from the connected industry to interact with the right target group in a productive environment."

Key issues identified during the Fusion 2013 conference together with suggestions and outcomes from different sessions will be collated for taking up at appropriate levels.

NEW DELHI: The number of advertisers on FM radio has grown from 1,715 in 2005 to 5,581 in the period January to October 2012, while the number of brands has grown from 1,295 to 8,133 during the same period.

Furthermore, the number of categories has risen from 285 in 2005 to 379 in January-October 2012 and the volume of hours has grown from 5,273 to 41,202 in the same period.

According to the Ernst and Young Report ?Poised for Growth: FM radio in India? prepared for the Confederation of Indian Industry, the industry?s revenues have been estimated at Rs 14.2 billion for 2012-13 and have been growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent over the last three years.

However, the rate of growth is slowing down due to limited expansion opportunities and the overall economic slowdown affecting all segments of media.

Retail Advertising on FM radio

Advertiser revenues comprise more than 85 to 90 per cent of the total revenue generated by FM Radio companies. Unlike in international radio markets, in which local retail advertisers contribute as much as 75 per cent of a station?s ad revenues, retail advertisers account for only 40 per cent of the total ad revenues of Indian radio companies. Regional radio networks generate the higher proportion of their revenues (averaging between 60 to 80 per cent of their total ad revenues) from retail advertisers.

In the past three years, retail advertising on FM radio has grown twice as fast as national advertising. Overall, there is a 10 to 20 per cent growth in the number of ad campaigns using radio, which is now an integral part of around 50 per cent of all ad campaigns ? rising to as much as 70 per cent of ad campaigns during festive seasons.

Revenue growth in FM radio is driven by launch of new stations in the A+ and A category towns, allowing for more programming variety to emerge and for new listeners to be acquired. At present there are only 4 to 9 stations available in these towns. In contrast there are many more TV channels, newspapers, magazines, outdoor sites and websites available.

Ad rev expansion

Launch of stations across more tier II and tier III cities, which enables radio companies to provide advertisers with a bouquet of channels that can support brand launches across states or regions as a substitute for print or regional TV, retention of key sales talent and client relationships, extensive focus on events and activations to give more practical solutions to advertisers and enable them to experience the effectiveness of radio, and implementation of an accurate nationwide measurement mechanism that will evaluate returns across FM stations can also help revenue growth.

The largest categories on radio include retail, real estate, auto, FMCG, education, and so forth. Of the total media spends on radio, real estate alone contributes 10 to 15 per cent. Telecom, TV channels, Retail, and handsets contribute 6 to 10 per cent while auto, FMCG, durables, and financial services contribute less than 5 per cent.

Radio companies are witnessing increasing inventory utilization ratios, despite a subdued advertising environment, on the back of sustained, albeit falling, GDP growth and reduced effective rates. Utilization of inventory in the radio industry grew by 10 per cent in 2012 over 2011 accounting for the bulk of the industry?s revenue growth. Average utilization of ad inventory across radio players ranged between 65 to 75 per cent. The 10 largest Indian cities recorded high inventory utilization at around 85 per cent in FY12. These calculations assume a 13-minutes-per-hour, 17-hour day from 7 a.m to midnight.

Ad rates

Ad rates have been growing, but are still nearly 25 per cent below their pre-slowdown peak levels of 2008. Currently, the ad rates for a ten second slot vary from Rs 100 to a few thousand rupees, depending on the radio station, city and time-band. Ad rates are the highest in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, where city-specific advertising can go up to Rs 2000 for a ten-second slot. Rates for pan India advertising can vary from Rs 4000 to Rs 10000 for a ten-second slot, and there is still significant room for them to grow.

The average ad rates of a large radio network were Rs 9,800 in FY 12 ? substantially lower than the peak average rates of Rs 13,000 to Rs 14,000 witnessed in 2008. The dip is also the result of changes in the ad inventory mix, with higher utilization in non-metro stations where ad rates are lower than in the metros.

Innovating on campaigns

Radio companies have been experimenting with the medium and innovating over the years, trying to incorporate interactive elements that engage their audiences better and increase advertisers? ROI (generally referred to as non-FCT sales). Furthermore, innovative campaigns command a premium over plain vanilla ad-spot rates. Non-FCT sales can contribute up to 20 per cent of a radio company?s total revenue today.

Live and telecasted events, primarily centered round music awards, sports events, youth events, and so forth provide alternate sources of revenues, as do activations to help advertisers connect directly with their target audiences to demonstrate products, generate leads, create awareness, induce product trials, and so forth. Customer promotions through internet or mobile phone-based contests, ticketing agents for concerts and plays, mobile radio, which enables listeners to access niche content on their mobile phones, Internet radio, and international revenues also provide alternate sources of revenue.

Activations

Activations are a growing source of revenue for radio companies. Entertainment Networks (India) Ltd reports that activation revenues currently contribute around 17 per cent of its overall revenues, and that it seeks to grow this segment in coming years.

Activations have become an integral part of the revenue mix of radio stations, and account for five to ten per cent of the revenues of large companies. Moreover, since radio is a local medium and activation teams have a good understanding of the dynamics of a town, activations generally create a greater buzz (with on-air promotions) than other media.

FM radio stations have introduced internet radio services, which help them to reach a targeted audience with a taste for niche genres. Radio Mirchi and Radio City operate four and three online radio stations respectively that cater to diverse tastes, including modern Bollywood and retro Bollywood songs as well as club mix and international music in their offerings.

FM radio stations are also looking to generate revenues by selling programming software of certain popular programs to international radio players. Moreover, Radio Mirchi runs radio stations outside India as well. ENIL assists international radio companies to create programmes and stationality for stations targeted at non-resident Indians.