THE Indian small screen is getting bigger and more crowded by the day as television broadcasters, both domestic titans and media moguls from around the globe are rushing in for a bigger share of the pie.

Rupert Murdoch, the Australian media tycoon, recently announced plans to invest $100 million in a slew of six regional television channels. “We are happy to be in India,” said Murdoch. “Slower expansion of the economy may slow growth a bit, but in the long term, there is a lot of growth to be had.”

While India’s GDP growth rate might decelerate this year to around seven to 7.5 per cent – as against over nine per cent every year over the past four years – the electronic media continues to expand at a frenzied pace.

Media Partners Asia, a top independent research company, estimates that the Indian television industry will surge by 16 per cent annually over the next few years. PricewaterhouseCoopers, an international consultancy, predicts an 18 per cent compound annual growth rate.

Television advertising is growing at an even faster pace; during the first six months of 2008, it is estimated to have grown by 26 per cent. Revenues from ad spends on television are expected to double to $11 billion by 2011 and top $16 billion by 2015. The direct-to-home satellite market is expected to jump to 38 million by 2015, up from a little over 2.5 million in 2006. The first-half of 2008 alone saw an additional 17 million viewers being added in India.

Not surprising then that media majors from Star TV to Turner Broadcasting and Reliance Big Entertainment to Zee TV are salivating at the thought of raking in the money. According to Steve Marcopoto, president and managing director, Asia-Pacific, Turner Broadcasting System, India accounts for 30 per cent of its Asia-Pacific revenues and is one of the highest priority markets for the company worldwide.

One of the fastest growing segments is regional television, with advertising revenues soaring by over 22 per cent last year (as against less than 15 per cent for national advertising). So it was not surprising that Murdoch announced plans to launch half a dozen regional channels in India.

Unlike the regional print media – where newspapers are starved of funds and lack modern printing presses and technology – language channels in India are thriving, both in terms of viewership and advertising. Star TV had a tie-up in the past with Balaji Telefilms for starting general entertainment channels (GECs) in south Indian languages, but that venture has turned sour.

Star TV is now entering into a fresh pact with leading Kerala-based broadcaster, Asianet, for launching GECs in the four south Indian languages. The Murdoch group broadcaster is also keen on launching GECs in Bengali and Gujarati. It recently launched Star Jolsha, a Bengali GEC.

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REGIONAL languages including Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati are attracting a lot of television networks, wanting to start their own channels. The Zee TV group and the Eenadu group are at the forefront, having launched several such channels.

Star is now entering the fray and wants to expand its presence in the regional space. Political parties and top regional politicians are also launching their own channels in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and other states.

The Sakaal group of Pune – which is controlled by a close relative of Sharad Pawar, the federal agriculture minister and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo – recently launched a Marathi channel. Other parties have also drawn up plans for their own channels.

Not to be left behind, the new kid on the media block, Anil Ambani, has also announced plans for the launch of 20 television channels, including regional ones. Reliance Big TV Ltd, part of his Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG), has already got licences for 20 channels, says Sanjay Behl, a senior Reliance Communications executive. ADAG recently launched Reliance Big TV Ltd, a direct-to-home service, which is in direct competition with Tata Sky (a joint venture between Tatas and Star TV’s British Sky Broadcasting), and Zee TV’s Dish TV.

Arun Kapoor, CEO, Big TV DTH, says that three of the new channels would be launched later this year and about five early next year.

Another broadcaster with ambitious expansion plans is New Delhi Television (NDTV), which is coming up with two non-news channels and a local news channel in Chennai. NDTV already operates half a dozen channels – including NDTV 24x7, NDTV India and Imagine – in India and three overseas channels.

The network, founded by Prannoy Roy, its chairman, sold off a 26 per cent stake to NBC Universal last year for $150 million. It now plans to plough back the same amount for setting up studios and production facilities.

Other broadcasters are also planning major expansions. UTV, which has also emerged as a leading media and entertainment giant, has sold a 15 per cent stake in UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd to Walt Disney Co. The American media and entertainment giant now has invested almost $2 billion in the UTV group – including a 32 per cent stake in UTV Software Communications.

The group has television channels including Bindaas, Bindaas Movies, World Movies UTV Movies and UTV Business News.

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INDIAN television viewers have access to a mind-boggling range of nearly 450 channels. But broadcasters feel there is room for more channels. Applications for about 150 additional channels are awaiting approval from the government.

About 60 per cent of these 150 applications relate to news and current affairs channels, hunger for which appears insatiable. This year so far, the government has already given licences to 33 news and current affairs channels.

Many of the Indian news channels have degenerated into sordid, electronic tabloid versions, focusing on crime, sensationalism, bogus spirituality, superstition and voyeurism.

Even the Supreme Court recently lashed out at news channels, accusing them of sensationalising news. It directed the government to lay down guidelines for the electronic and print media while covering criminal cases under investigation. The immediate trigger for this was the shocking coverage of the murder of a school girl near Delhi, with television networks carpet-bombing viewers with saturation coverage of the crime and passing off wildly speculative stories as facts.

Surprisingly, despite the channels’ obsession with perversity, superstition, celebrities and other inane subjects, their ratings keep climbing, indicating the popularity among viewers. This is driving other entrants to set up their own ‘news’ channels, hoping to grab a share of the growing advertising market.

But some degree of churning is also happening in the Indian television business, as weaker players are swallowed by the bigger ones. Global Broadcast Network, which has promoted CNN-IBN, recently acquired Channel 7, while Sony TV bought SAB TV. There are many other pickings available, and analysts expect a lot more of consolidation to happen over the coming months.

Besides regional markets, many of the channels are also eyeing the overseas markets, especially countries with a significant expatriate Indian population, like the US, Canada, the UK, the Gulf, South East Asia and Australia. About 25 million overseas Indians or persons of Indian Origin live around the globe, many of who are hooked on to Bollywood and Indian entertainment programmes.

Channels like Star, Zee, NDTV, 9X and others are being distributed in many countries through cable and satellite or direct-to-home platforms. They have seen advertising revenues and even subscription fees soar in recent months.

For the Indian television industry, the news has never been better, as viewership continues to soar along with advertising revenues.