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We have an agreement with NDTV: James Murdoch

Anjan Mitra

He is a bit apprehensive as we descend on him for an interview in the room reserved for visitors, adjacent to the 5th floor office of I&B minister Sushma Swaraj in Shastri Bhawan in the capital. "I'd rather not," he says tentatively, when asked if we can speak to him on Star. Gently cajoled, the 28-year-old chairman and chief executive of the Hong Kong-based Star Group Ltd, younger son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch, gradually relaxes to answer some questions. Excerpts:

How do you view Star India's performance in the last one year?

The last year has been tremendous for us with a lot of activities and accomplishments, including the (re)launching of Star Plus channel and our partnership (with PK Mittal's Music Broadcast) in the radio business.

Where do you see Star India a year from now?

I think we'll continue to grow with our business in India. The effort will not only be to do our own business, but also to develop the overall media business in India.

How do you plan to go about that?

We have been demonstrating our capabilities to compete effectively in the broadcasting business in India and now we have to consolidate our position. The radio business is going to be very exciting and it looks robust. We'll have to constantly drive ourselves and the overall business, which will be beneficial for us.

Now that you want to drive the overall business, what kind of investments do you see Star making in India?

Right now, I don't think we have any significant investment plans. Our main aim is to focus on our existing businesses, specially the broadcasting one. Some of these require investments, which will be made. But for now, our strategic investments are complete.

Is Star looking at acquisitions in India?

There is nothing in the immediate future.

When will Star start the KU-band DTH TV service in India?

We are looking at the guidelines and working with the relevant regulatory authorities to understand the policy in detail. But it's far too early for me to comment on the likelihood of anyone going ahead with DTH at all.

Some of the clauses in the DTH guidelines, such as the 'open architecture set-top boxes', have been irking broadcasters. Is that an issue with Star too?

There are a number of issues in the guidelines. But it will be inappropriate for me to comment on any specific issue at this moment.

Have you started negotiations with an Indian partner for the proposed DTH venture?

The guidelines dictate significant Indian ownership. But it's too early to say anything and we have made no decision on the subject of DTH at all.

Till some time back, Star/News Corp had been very aggressive in investments in the Indian dotcom space. Of late, Star has frozen such investments. Any comments?

We are quite pleased with the developments and the growth of indya.com, which is our biggest investment in India. We have become less aggressive worldwide, and India is no exception.

Is Star planning its own news operations for Star News?

Currently, we do some current affairs-based programming. But we have a partnership with NDTV for providing news content for the (Star) news channel. That partnership is still intact.

There have been speculations that the relationship between Star and NDTV is not that hunky-dory any more...

I can't comment on media speculations, but we have an agreement with NDTV and that's a fact.

Does the agreement with NDTV run through till March 2003?

I cannot comment on the specifics of the agreement.

Will Star distribute NDTV's proposed infotainment channel?

We don't have any such plans.

Is Star bringing Fox News or Sky News to India and putting some local content there?

There are no immediate plans on Fox News.

Will India see some more channels from the News Corp stable?

We do have very robust pay channels (in the News Corp stable), but there are no immediate plans for India. However, we are always looking at opportunities.

How does the Indian market compare to South-East Asian markets?

For us, they are very different from each other. The South-East Asian markets are largely subscription-driven, while the Indian market is both subscription and advertisement-driven. Our Chinese business is advertisement-driven. So, for different markets, we have different strategies.

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