Viewpoint: Reality Check

There were protests in the streets of Mumbai in late September—and Bollywood was front and center. Fans of the country’s biggest movie star, Shahrukh Khan, were up in arms over his alleged mistreatment while visiting the U.S.

The actor was entering the country to promote his new film, My Name Is Khan, about a Muslim living in the U.S., struggling with racism after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Newark, New Jersey, immigration authorities, unaware that India’s own Tom Cruise was in their midst, detained Khan for more than an hour. In India, protesters cried racism, and Bollywood’s biggest names were quick to chime in. Director Karan Johar wrote in his blog that the incident was “as absurd as Brad Pitt coming to India, being strip-searched, investigated and interrogated.” Immigration officials maintained that the questioning of Khan was routine. And he was soon accused of drumming up the controversy as a publicity stunt for his new film. He countered with: “I don’t want to sound pompous, but Shahrukh Khan doesn’t need any publicity.” For the actor, named by Newsweek last year as the world’s biggest movie star, Newark airport was a reality check—you can’t be King Khan everywhere.

It seems everyone is getting a bit of a reality check these days, as tough times have forced media executives worldwide to reassess their priorities. News Corporation did that with the shakeup of its Asian arm, STAR. The huge Hong Kong-based pan-regional has been stripped down, with the priority markets of India and Greater China carved out into independent entities, reporting directly up to James Murdoch, News Corp.’s chairman and CEO for Europe and Asia. And in a move that had many wondering, What took you so long?, the English-language networks Star World, Star Movies and Channel [V] International are being grouped with the Fox International Channels bouquet.

“When you have a restructuring as STAR has undergone, you see some of the resources moving to the core markets and some consolidation of the players,” observes Simon Twiston Davies, the CEO of the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).

The reorganization is expected to see a leaner, more focused Asian operation for News Corp., one that can best take advantage of the opportunities ahead—and the pundits say there are plenty, particularly in pay TV.

Profits at Asia’s leading media companies are expected to return to double-digit growth after next year, led by online services and pay-TV platforms and channels, according to the research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).

Malaysia’s Astro is looking to ride that wave of multichannel growth. The DTH platform’s expansion plans include targeting semi-urban and rural areas of the country and delivering interactive services like DVRs and on-demand content. The race to offer more advanced services in India is heating up with a slate of platforms fighting it out in the satellite-TV space. Equally competitive in India is the general-entertainment market, where the biggest story in the last year has been Colors. Within 12 months the Viacom18 joint venture ascended to the top of the table, taking on stalwarts Star Plus, Zee and SET. It is now embarking on international expansion, targeting Indian audiences across the globe. 

The platforms and channels attending CASBAA this week will all be talking about “Extending Your Reach,” the theme of the Hong Kong-based convention this year. It’s not that the region has been unfazed by the downturn—it’s just that many Asian TV executives have been here before. The 1997 Asian economic crisis crippled companies across the region, and forced many international players to retreat. “Asia is much more robust than it was in ’97,” notes Twiston Davies. “We are much more prepared than we were. That was a very important lesson learned.” And the rewards, if the projections are right, could be huge.