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The growth in the digital media industry has been tremendous in the past few decades. Studies continue to predict a double digit growth to the tune of 15 % per annum. One of the major factors contributing to this immense growth is the sustained growth in India's GDP and increased purchasing power of the people over the last several years which had led to the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry being ruled by consumer choices of content and accessibility user experience being paramount. In India, however, unlike its global counterparts, traditional media has not been disrupted by technology although key issues including piracy continue to haunt this robust industry. Till date the Indian piracy laws are not stringent and fail to match pace with the technological advances leading to severe loss of revenue due to pirated products being readily available. For instance, recently one of the most awaited movies "Udta Punjab" was hosted over 700 websites just prior to its official release. Another recent incident was when tollywood latest trending videos showcased the pirated portion of "Bahubali" was leaked just a day before its release, despite all the precautions taken by the filmmakers. Based on available statistics, the losses due to piracy are estimated to the tune of USD 50 billion in 2016- 17. You can watch all such news on latest bollywood news and gossip masala videos published by many channels. This trend is indeed worrisome and unfortunately, the situation is not matched by corrective measures in the regulatory environment. Any avenues sought to address piracy in India are individually taken by the producers or makers of the films. Such an alarming situation coupled with the complete lack of an organised machinery to regulate this industry and the lack of a process on content regulation only makes one realise that this lucrative industry requires several issues to be addressed. In addition to foregoing the additional aspects of inadequate policy and guidelines on cross media ownership and the cumbersome tax structure are additional factors that hinder foreign investment in this industry.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) pegged the India's M&E sector at USD $18 billion (2015 estimates) and is expected to achieve the USD $100 billion mark by 2025. India is definitely on the right path. Each of the verticals of the M&E Industry has seen many major players investing and taking a chunk of the sector in their name. Newspapers are now looking at digitalisation, cinema viewing experience has also changed amazingly, and though there are states like Tamil Nadu that have a cap on the ticket prices, this has not stopped investors in setting up multiplexes with greater viewing pleasures. Leading international names including Inox, Village Roadshow have already entered or seeking to enter this space. However, what hinders the opportunities of growth in this sector is the fact that the Indian M&E industry is still fragmented with its various verticals being at different phases of development. The advent of DTH operators such as TataSky, Dishtv steered the market into a new era of customised television networks with every consumer being able to choose the number and category of channels to be viewed. The plethora of channels focus on different subjects from mere home entertainment to infotainment to music to news with focus on content based products. The television sets too have undergone drastic technological revolution bringing into being a new generation of home theatre systems with sound and picture systems like 3D to provide "real" experiences. The upcoming challenge to the television industry is in the form of online or web-based digital entertainment channels targeted mainly at the younger generation. In India, the music industry is inseparably tied to the film industry, the development and profits from these industries are dependent on the film industry. In the last five years, we have seen the separation of these two industries to some extent, due to increased internet usage. Rising stars, who are traditionally not been given a chance to showcase their talents in Bollywood have taken to the new route of internet based channels and YouTube and of course reality television to seek fame and fortune. The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of volume of films being produced and released. Indian films are being showcased in international film festivals like Cannes, thereby bringing in more revenue and widening the audience base. Indian stars are increasingly becoming popular in Hollywood which has made the world sit up and take notice of the Indian film industry. The past decade was perhaps the spell of doom for single screen theatres and rise of the multiplex culture. The price of tickets has risen and so has the viewer base.