Cowboys and India : Asian Markets Threatened by Influence of American Film and TV

For Pakistani actor and filmmaker Zia Mohyeddin, a defining moment of professional despair occurred during a recent trip to northern India when he stumbled upon 16 scrawny, poorly dressed villagers crowded around a television set.

They were watching Pamela Anderson Lee scamper across the hot sand in her trademark red bathing suit. She was speaking Hindi, India’s official language.

The realization that such American TV programs as “Baywatch,” “The Bold and the Beautiful” and “Dallas” were the forces shaping these poor Indians’ aspirations was not just an acknowledgment of Hollywood’s powerful pull but of his own industry’s failure, according to the Asian entertainment executive.

“I haven’t entirely given up,” said Mohyeddin, an award-winning documentary producer. “But right now television is not a profession worth going into” in India.

Mohyeddin is far from alone in his fear that the global spread of Hollywood blockbusters and MTV represents a powerful threat to the survival of local filmmakers, culture and traditional values in Asia’s rapidly developing economies.

And, emboldened by the knowledge that they control the world’s fastest-growing markets, Asian government officials and entertainment executives are fighting back, looking for ways to protect their interests while still responding to the desires of their people to watch CNN and “Jurassic Park.”

For example, in India, where TV ad revenues are predicted to rise to $844 million by 2000, the government is considering foreign ownership and content restrictions in the broadcast industry.

Yet such protectionist moves are fiercely debated even within these countries, which are simultaneously opening up their borders in hopes of becoming full participants in the world economy and eradicating the poverty that still plagues them.

This dilemma dominated the agenda at a daylong Asian entertainment conference Thursday in Burbank that brought together leading figures from both sides of the Pacific Ocean. The conference was sponsored by the Asia Society and Walt Disney Co.

Some of the strongest words came from Malaysian Information Minister Mohamed bin Rahmat, who said Asia’s increasingly sophisticated consumers deserve entertainment sensitive to their culture rather than Hollywood reruns or news programs with a Western perspective.

“Asia wants programs that put Asia first,” he said bluntly, while conceding that Asia’s fledgling industry needs the technology and creative input of Hollywood.

“In Malaysia, we are preparing the ground to grow our own indigenous programs and content, customized for an Asian market,” he said. “We realize we cannot do this alone.”

In India, this debate could have profound implications. India is home for the world’s largest film industry, churning out twice as many films per year as Hollywood. It also is one of the world’s largest television markets, with an estimated 50 million TV households.

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Until the early 1990s, government-backed broadcaster Doordarshan India was the only game in town. But that quickly changed when the Indian government opened up the field and big foreign broadcasters flooded in, led by CNN and Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV.

By 1993, the cable channels had captured a quarter of India’s TV market and were eating away at the government’s precious advertising revenues, according to Rashivant Basu, who was the director general of Doordarshan at the time.

Doordarshan was able to woo back some viewers by expanding its offerings, including a dozen satellite channels in regional dialects. But it still found itself in a much more competitive arena, facing 30 to 35 satellite channels being beamed in from around the world.

Star TV India, which is now headed up by Basu, was one of the most aggressive players, capturing 45% to 50% of the cable market. Star’s hottest offerings include Channel V, an Asian version of MTV with Indian deejays and pop music, and Star Sports, which was the first channel to regularly broadcast cricket matches, according to Basu.

Star also boosted its ratings last year by adding two hours of daily Hindi news, talk shows and entertainment.

But although Star and others have been able to erode the government’s market share, profitability still eludes most of them. In India, as in many other developing countries, cable broadcasters have not had much success collecting from individual households.

Analysts estimate Star TV has lost at least $50 million in India. Basu would not discuss whether his operation is profitable, saying only that it makes enough money to cover Star TV’s local costs but still must pay hefty fees to its parent company.

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The key to long-term success in these diverse Asian markets is providing quality products with a local flavor, according to Basu and others. This is particularly true in India, where decades of colonial rule left a legacy of suspicion and resentment of Western imperialism.

“A Western company has to come into India with an Indian face,” Basu said.

Ashok Amritraj, a partner in Amritraj-Solomon Communications, one of India’s fastest-growing independent film producers, said trying to erect walls to keep Western companies out of India is fruitless.

But he believes the Indian government should take some steps to protect Indians, particularly young people, from an overdose of Western entertainment glitz and glitter.

Not that Amritraj--the producer of more than 50 motion pictures that include “Double Impact,” which stars Jean Claude Van Damme--is against Hollywood values. But he believes room must be made in Asia’s diverse markets for other offerings too.

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In the end, of course, these Asian executives aren’t about to ignore the power of the market, whether it is in Bombay, Los Angeles or London.

“It’s probably not right to consider Hollywood the villain,” said V. Shankar, the Hong Kong-based managing director of Bank of America. “There’s no central force in Asia forcing consumers to watch ‘Baywatch.’ ”

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Keeping Hollywood at Bay

Hollywood’s desire to carve out a larger share of the Asian market is meeting resistance from Asian governments fearful that the popularity of U.S. television programs such as “Baywatch” and “The Bold and the Beautiful” pose a threat to traditional values and their own domestic film industries. The issue is of particular importance in India, where the government is debating restrictions on foreign ownership in the broadcasting industry.

Opportunity in the Orient

As technology invades the Asian market, potential revenues climb for the U.S. entertainment industry.

Film Distribution

In millions of dollars

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Industry Latin Asia- sector Europe America Pacific Other Theatrical $1,235 $200 $880 $195 Video 1,060 180 655 200 Pay TV 735 80 280 160 Free TV 1,585 165 430 250

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Asian Box Office Statistics

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Estimated Estimated People Average Country box office screens per screen ticket price Japan $1,732 1,776 70,495 $13.63 India 763 8,982 104,260 0.10 China n.a. 100,000 11,000 0.60-3.60

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Sources: American Film Marketing Assn.; Screen Digest International

Focus on the Far East

The Asia-Pacific region holds promise for media companies, as spreading technology improves access to a large population.

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United Western Asia- Latin States Europe Pacific America Population, in millions 267 381 2,786 360 Homes, in millions 97 160 587 96 Homes with TVs, in millions 95 142 390 83 Gross domestic $27,857 $23,336 $3,078 $4,041 product, per capita Major media advertising $101,148 $78,852 $76,618 $21,304 in millions* Major media advertising $379 $207 $27 $59 per capita*

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Note: Major media advertising expenditures include television, print, radio, movies and outdoor.

Source: Zenith Media, TBI Yearbook/KPMG, Paul Kagan Associates