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.jpg) Entertainment sector seeks freedom from multiple taxes
Representatives from the media and entertainment industry today met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and suggested multiple taxation should not be levied on the sector to promote growth. The delegation, in association with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and led by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, met Mukherjee as part of Pre-Budget consultations. After meeting Mukherjee, FICCI said it had demanded that entertainment taxes in case of multiplexes be included in the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. However, “Multiplex operators should be exempted from payment of duties on import of cinema equipment, till GST is introduced,” it added. The delegates also recommended that necessary equipment and hardware for film production be allowed to be imported without the additional burden of the Customs duty. FICCI, in a report to the finance minister, said digitization was vital for the growth of the industry. “There is a need for clear and well-defined roadmap for the transition from analog to the digital mode across the country. Digitization should be supported through fiscal incentives,” it said. Industry stakeholders recommended that Customs duty on set-top boxes be minimized to bridge the demand-supply gap in the industry
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.jpg) Rural marketing could get a ‘haat’ push
Much before the Wal-Marts of the world got hot on retail, India had its own grassroots retail network, known as ‘haats’, selling as mind boggling a variety of products as a Wal-Mart store. Though traditional, these Indian avatars of hypermarkets promise to drive marketing plans of companies as they eye the emerging rural market, accounting for over two-thirds of India’s population, 56% of income, 64% of expenditure and 33% of savings.The report ‘Haats as marketing hubs’, by Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI), available exclusively with FE, says India’s 43,000-odd haats can offer immense thrust to rural marketing with their readymade distribution network.Though the Rs 50,000-crore sales that these weekly rural bazaars collectively generate every year may just be a fraction (under 3%) of all rural private consumption expenditure (Rs 20 lakh crore), their importance in rural life goes beyond sales.
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Marketing campaign complies with ICC guidelines, says Sony
In the wake of allegations of ambush marketing by Sony in its use of Mahendra Singh Dhoni for its latest marketing campaign, the company has come out with a clarification that its campaign is compliant with ICC guidelines. The company also says it has not received any communication from ICC on this issue, and is willing to clarify on queries the cricket council may have. The statement continues that in December, the company had received a general advisory from ICC. The issue pertains to the use of Dhoni in ‘blue' clothes in an ad campaign for Sony Bravia TV. According to the ICC guidelines, non-sponsors cannot use players in the national colours of teams participating in the World Cup (the exception being IPL outfits). According to a person working closely with the ICC on IP rights, the BCCI has now taken up the matter.
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.jpg) Advertisers bank on India winning World Cup
Indian cricket fans are not the only cheerleaders for the country at the Cricket World Cup — advertisers, sponsors and broadcasters are counting on a home triumph to maximize their investment in the tournament. The fate of India, one of the favorites for the tournament which kicked off in Dhaka on Thursday, will determine the value of tens of millions of dollars that have been pumped in as advertising for the Feb 19-April 2 event. Analysts say ESPN Star, which won broadcasting rights, will reserve at least 20% of its ad inventory for last minute sales, hoping to raise rates if India go through.
The 10th edition of the World Cup has so far attracted more than $150 million in advertising revenue, 50% more than the 2007 World Cup, which saw both India and Pakistan making a first stage exit. A repeat of that performance on home ground would mean that any last-minute inventory of slots and tickets would suffer, as would viewership numbers. The International Cricket Council (ICC) said it would help the tournament if top teams like India stay in the competition. While sponsors say they would love it if India go through to the finals and win the World Cup, they also want to make sure they leverage their value, regardless of the home team's fate.
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Uniform FDI not possible in media sector: Raghu Menon
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Raghu Menon today announced that the Government wanted the Central Board for Film Certification to truly be a certification and not a censorship body. In the proposals finalized by the Ministry, he said the aim was that the CBFC should only be certifying films according to suitability of age groups and not spending time in removing scenes or insisting on cuts. Noting that the government may finalize its views on foreign direct investment in the media over the next month, Menon said it was clear that it could not be uniform across all sectors of the media as recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Addressing a session on ‘Regulatory Challenges and the New Media’ at the CII meet on Content, he said while digitization had changed the whole media, globalization threatened existing cultures. Unregulated and inappro priate content was therefore a major challenge that needed to be tackled. This subject has been on the public platform since 1997 and various Bills like one on convergence have lapsed because of disagreement among stakeholders. The self-regulations models adopted by the NBA and the ASCI had worked well, but the largest complaints that the government received were related to general entertainment channels. He therefore hoped that the proposal put forward by the IBF and accepted by the Government can be approved and put into operation soon.
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.jpg) Big F&B brands enter the Indian wedding venue
If there’s an event not to be missed, it’s the big fat Indian wedding. Elaborate and lavish to the last detail, a typical Indian wedding not only promises a good time to guests, but great business for all the ancillary industries that are part of the wedding market. The latest arrivals at the marriage venue are popular F&B brands, which are pitching their tent (kiosks in this case) firmly to cash in on the Rs 80,000-crore Indian wedding market. After all, weddings are a perfect platform for F&B players to reach out to a new set of customers at a minimal cost. So when you walk into a wedding this season, expect to find coffee from Costa Coffee or Café Cofee Day, pizza from Dominos and desserts from CocoBerry, Italian ice-cream brand Gelato Vittorio or Baskin Robbins.
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Punjab to set up film city
After the Chandigarh administration scrapped the much-publicised Rs 191-crore multimedia-cum-film city project, the Punjab government has decided to open its doors for the same. The Parsvnath Group had tied up with noted filmmaker Satish Kaushik in 2006 to set up the Chandigarh Film City on a 99-year lease. The project, which was to come up on a 30-acre site at Sarangpur, Chandigarh, intended to provide one-stop destination for film production and post-production activities. However, it was shelved amidst allegations that the “land for the project had been given away at an abysmally low price” and Parsvnath demanding termination of ties accusing Chandigarh administration of not providing them an ‘encumbrance free’ possession of the land. Sources said that the Punjab government gave the green signal for the project at a meeting called by the Deputy Chief Minister last week.
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.jpg) Bollywood plays safe with budget releases
This year Bollywood is taking its chances with cricket. With the long season of cricket, first the World Cup taking off on February 19, and then IPL 4 that goes right through May, the film industry is not refraining from releasing films but is going to try out diverse content, many small budget films, to draw the audiences into the theatres. So on February 18, on the eve of the first World Cup match, UTV Motion Pictures released Vishal Bhardwaj’s 7 Khoon Maaf. With the promotions and the music already creating a buzz around the film, the industry hopes the film works at the box-office. “We are releasing some films during the World Cup and IPL, because the season is three months long and films have to release,” says Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures.
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