VOA标准英语2008年-India's Expanding Media, Entertainment Industry

In India, the fast-growing media and entertainment industry is expanding into the heart of the country by making new investments in regional languages. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi.

In the coming week, Star India will launch a new TV entertainment channel in Bengali - a language spoken in the east of the country. Star also plans to start TV channels in five other regional languages in the coming months.

Star India is owned by media giant, News Corp, and was the first foreign broadcaster to enter India. So far, its main focus in India has been on English and Hindi speaking audiences.

But like other media groups, Star wants to expand into a largely untapped market for entertainment and news in local languages. It plans to invest $100 million in the regional language TV channels.

India has as many as 20 official regional languages. And in recent years, an expanding economy has raised both incomes and literacy in small towns and rural areas. Millions of people, who mainly speak the local language, now have access to television. Others are turning to regional newspapers for the latest headlines.

As a result, regional audiences have been steadily¹ growing in size.

Atul Phadnis, chief executive of consultancy group mediaE2E, says the boom is being sustained by a massive increase in advertising² revenues generated by regional markets. He says television channels in particular are grabbing a larger slice of advertising money.

"Earlier what would typically happen that the regional market would typically garner³ close to 30 percent of the viewership share, but would only get 15 percent of the revenue share," said Phadnis. "So there was clearly an imbalance. Today that situation has improved considerably⁴. Regional language channels get upwards⁵ of 25 percent of overall market share of ad [advertising] revenues."

Television channels beaming in local languages initially⁶ offered greater entertainment content. But of late, several media groups have launched news channels in regional languages.

However, it may not be an easy run for all media groups. Star television, for example, faces tough competition from local companies like Zee Entertainment and Sun, which have made huge inroads into regional markets.

A recent report by consultants⁷ PricewaterhouseCoopers says India's media and entertainment industry is the fastest growing in Asia, and is attracting many global collaborations. It estimates the industry will grow to $32 billion by 2012.

1 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 garner   

v.收藏；取得

参考例句：

• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals.他的提议得到了广泛的支持。
• Squirrels garner nuts for the winter.松鼠为过冬储存松果。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。