Cable communications in Mumbai: Integrating corporate interests with local and media networks

Abstract

As elsewhere, economic reforms in India went hand in hand with important changes in the media sector. Besides forcing a review of India media law, the introduction of new media technologies like cable and satellite television has redefined existing communicative, economic and political networks, both at the macro and local levels. Starting as an urban cottage industry, within less than a decade the new media networks in India show strong signs of consolidation. As a starting point, this article briefly examines how current changes in Indian media law have substantially recast debates on media autonomy. It then analyses recent shifts in the distribution sector with respect to Mumbai, examining how the entry of transnational/'indigenous' media firms has significantly affected both the pace of developments within the industry, as well as the ground-level equations between big enterprise, political bosses, local networks and the underworld. With revenues directly tied to the reach of the cable networks, increasingly the right to control 'distribution territories' has emerged as a key issue. The extensive volatility within the industry is thus an outcome of an ideological climate where media deregulation in India has sought to reinforce belief in the efficacy of the market and the elimination of competition.