http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/rupert-murdoch-denies-eyeing-newspaper-bizindia/21/15/350603
Rupert Murdoch denies eyeing newspaper biz in India Published on Tue, Aug 05 at 21:07 , Updated at Tue, Aug 05 at 21:51 Source : CNBC-TV18 News Corp Founder CEO & Chairman, Rupert Murdoch spent five days in India giving rise to speculation that the media baron was scouting around for the most feasible entry into the newspaper business. But in Mumbai, Murdoch quashed those rumours saying categorically that unless the FDI limit was raised from the 26% it is at currently, he saw no point in getting in. But he did use his time here to meet with the government and existing as well as potential business partners, including the Pune-based Sakal Group. He also put his weight behind the launch of the Dow Jones India Titans, a 30-stock index that tracks the stock market performance of prominent Indian companies, and that is going to be licensed to financial institutions. Murdoch said, "The growing importance of India, to the world and to Dow Jones and News Corporation, is obvious to all of us I think. What the world needs is a trusted means of measuring this country's development, an index that can be used by investors around the world to track the progress of Indian companies and the Indian economy." Robert Thomson, Editor-in-Chief, Dow Jones says, "Indian companies and Indian media companies are competing vigourously and successfully. There is no doubt that Indian media companies will compete vigourously and successfully at home. I think personally that the Indian government should have faith in the strength of its media companies and relax the controls so that companies such as Dow Jones, and papers such as the Wall Street Journal can compete in India and can contribute through India." Dow Jones plans to increase its investment and resources in India and take its journalist count up to about 70 from the 25 it is at currently within the next 6 months. News Corp acquired Dow Jones and its flagship newspaper the Wall Street Journal for about USD 5.6 billion late last year. In what was his first ever press conference in India, Murdoch also said that Star was looking at starting at least six regional channels within the next 12 months and he would be making an investment of about USD 100 million for this. When CNBC-TV18's Ramya Ramamurthy asked Murdoch why Twentieth Century Fox had not taken a big plunge into the Indian film industry while other American studios had, he said, "The result of what is going on at the moment that everyone has suddenly discovered in Bollywood is that costs of production have shot through the roof. It is a question of what is economic. We will be prudent in what we do." New Corp's fourth quarter results for fiscal 2008 will be announced in New York on August 5, which is Tuesday evening. Rupert Murdoch was cautious about making any statements that may have seemed forward looking. But in an exclusive with CNBC-TV18's Anuradha SenGupta, he spoke on a wide range of issues including Star India's fortunes, the Indian Premier League, Barack Obama, the US economy and the future of media. Excerpts from the exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18: Q: Where Wall Street Journal is concerned we already have an association with Hindustan Times and the Mint; do we see going forward any move to have the Wall Street Journal in India as the Wall Street Journal? A: There is not much point there now since we are not allowed to have more than 25%. We do not really believe in having our name out there responsible for things which we cannot do anything about. So, while the law is where it is, we would not do that, or invest in any other print. Q: You had several meetings in the four-five days that you have been here including one with the government - with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, with the Chairperson of the ruling coalition Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Did amongst other things in that discussion, did the FDI in print and the limits come up for discussion? A: No, I didn't go around politicians asking for favours. But we know that the issue is on the table. We expect to see reform there. And we are certainly willing to wait. Q: You are essentially a newspaper person, everybody knows about how your legendary career and enterprise started out. Doesn't it bother you that you don't have a newspaper presence in India? A: No. I'd like it, of course. But because there are so many papers here, it is very competitive. With the growth of literacy now, this is one country in the world where circulation is expanding very fast. So, there is certainly an opportunity for print here. Q: There was another meeting that you had with the Pune, Maharashtra-based newspaper group, Sakal. Is there anything interesting that you can share with us there? A: Not really. They are just friends. It was a nice Sunday lunch. Q: But I would like for you to take stock with us of the India business so far. In 2007, we saw Star TV, which is really the driving force of your interests here go through a lot of management changes; you have a new CEO over the past year and a half. Do you think that the media landscape has changed dramatically since the time Star got into India and 2008? A: I think it has developed tremendously. It is quite true that we did have some hitches at Star of our own making. We are very lucky to get Mr. Uday Shankar come and join us and run it and pull all the new team together, and reaffirm and build on our dominance in ratings on cable television. So, we are very pleased with our business here. Q: Star Plus and Star India is still pretty much at the top of the ratings as you said. How do you react to the kind of new media companies that are getting in very aggressively and spending a big deal? It is unusual because News Corp and Fox is known as the challenger really especially in the US if you look at your history, and here in India you are the pioneer and established player who is now having to fend off the challengers? How does that feel? A: We came here believing in India 15 years ago when no one else was thinking about it at all. We are reaping the benefits of that now. We like competition and we create competition. People create competition against us and that is to be expected. It keeps us on our toes. We are getting better and better. We expect that maybe we will start some new channels; maybe we will start some channels in local languages. There is a long way to go for the development of Star. Q: You mentioned that in the newspaper business with the fact that you are not allowed more than 25-26% you wouldn't be interested in getting into the newspaper business when the laws are like that. But in the television space, you have got into the news space via joint ventures. So, why would this be different? A: We felt it was important to have a news channel there to make it part of our bouquet of channels. But we don't really have any control over that channel at all. I believe it is very good. But we have a lot of other channels that we are proud of, which also have sometimes partnership put in, in which we have a majority like the National Geographic Channel or partnership with Disney and Star Sports and ESPN. We have a lot of channels and a lot of business going on out there. Q: Talking about the partnership with ESPN. It must have been a great relief to everybody that ESPN-Star Sports got the ICC cricket rights from 2007 to 2015. A: Yes. But we miscalculated in not getting the new Indian Premier League (IPL). But there are other sports, and other things will emerge. We are very proud of our skills in sports coverage. We think we do a good job and the picture looks great. All things are going to develop. In time, when high definition comes to India in a big way, it will transform the experience of watching sport. Q: In 1998 you made a bid for Manchester United. Why did we not see Star actually go out and bid for an IPL team? A: I'll be honest with you, we never thought about it. Manchester United was a bit of a lesson for us. I wasn't all that keen and we didn't bid very high for it. But we ran into what was like 'local tribalism'. They didn't want a big company from London owning their football team in Manchester. I understand that and we respect that. Q: Would I be right in saying that nobody anticipated the kind of success that it seems to have seen in its first innings? A: I think that is true. We thought it would take longer.
