His reputation as a street fighter precedes him. His style of functioning may be debatable. His spoken language is not as savvy as those who sit in corporate houses' air-conditioned rooms and travel in snazzy cars. But these things don't worry him. And why should it?
When media czar Subhash Chandra wanted to bring Zee Telefilms back on track last year, it was Jawahar he turned to, along with a few other chosen people. Because his street smartness and debatable style of functioning are what were needed to re-establish Zee as the numero uno in India's cutthroat world of media business, Chandra thought.
Jawahar Goel, one of Chandra's three brothers, knows all this, but is not ready to take his place under the sun. For him, he is a small fry in a big business and is only there to protect his family's business interests. Goel also doesn't believe in publicity, if occasional quotes in the media are discounted. Entrusted with SitiCable, the cable arm of India's largest vertically integrated media company Zee Telefilms, Goel has slowly, but surely, managed to consolidate its position and embark on new projects with least fuss.
There is a tale that a former chief executive of Star India has to tell about Goel that bears testimony to the man's skills. During the days when the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star and Zee were business partners in the biggest cable and television market in Asia, India (China had not opened up by then), at a board meeting Jawahar Goel (then also heading SitiCable, before he was shunted out to other businesses of Chandra) had the 'goras' (white men) totally stumped because of his language and stridency.
But recount this to Goel and he'll smile. He is most likely to shoot back that such tales were a figment of media's imagination as none of the media guys were present during such meetings.
In this rare interview with indiantelevision.com's Anjan Mitra, Jawahar Goel discusses various aspects of the controversial implementation of conditional access that may redraw the rules of the cable industry, which is estimated to be anywhere between Rs 50 billion to over Rs 100 billion. While dwelling on CAS, Goel also does some competition baiting with gay abandon.
Excerpts:
How will you describe the present CAS scenario? |
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Do you really feel that the task force would be able to effectively monitor the implementation of CAS? |
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Going by the division in the task force, do you feel that the 14 July deadline for CAS rollout would be met? |
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There have been serious voices of dissent on the price of basic tier of cable service, for example. Isn't that proof enough of division? |
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"A section of the industry is not ready to accept the changes and is trying to wriggle out of everything or get the implementation of CAS delayed. Such people must accept the changes that are happening." | ||
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How optimistic are you of meeting the deadline? |
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One hears that lack of ready availability of boxes was discussed in a task force meeting. How far is this correct? |
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The cable operators especially are upset with the pricing of the basic tier and have threatened to go on a dharna. What happens then to the CAS rollout? |
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You are trying to evade the question as to how come a major constituent of the industry, the cable ops, are feeling low because of the low price of the basic tier? Isn't their agitation justified? |
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"The pricing was arrived at based on certain parameters. I would agree that the parameters were not very clear, but you cannot do such things and also keep everybody happy." | ||
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You are speaking like a true representative of a broadcasting company. A broadcaster would like the basic tier to be low, so that pay channels can be accommodated within the budget of an average consumer. |
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How ready is SitiCable for implementing CAS? |
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Though SitiCable may be ready, but are your franchisees or joint venture partners in the cable business ready for CAS? |
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Has SitiCable placed the orders for the STBs? |
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How many boxes have you ordered for, considering in the four metros there are about 6 million cable subscribers? |
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Can you be more specific on the number and what would be the cost of the box? |
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Do you really feel that a consumer would invest in a box? |
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Has SitiCable placed the orders for the STBs? |
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But don't you feel that the average consumer needs to educated on CAS? |
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You feel some people in the industry are misleading the consumers on CAS? |
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"SitiCable would have access to about 500,000 boxes and that's the target only for the first four months. A digital STB being brought in by us would cost $ 45" | ||
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Why don't you cite some examples of this 'misguidance'? |
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Is that why SitiCable or its parent company Zee not participating in the education process? |
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Will your company undertake some exercise in educating the consumer? But what I cannot understand is the reason for sowing doubts in the minds of consumers. The government has approved the whole process. Before Parliament okayed CAS, the industry's viewpoint had been taken. After that a task force has been formed that has representation from all segments, including consumer activists. I don't understand why should anybody complain now? |
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So, you mean some broadcasters are misleading the consumers? Can you name them? |
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So, why don't you agree there is division in the industry, which does not have an united front? |
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There seems to be some confusion regarding the pricing of the channels in a post CAS regime that I thought was all about doing away with bouquet system. Now people are suggesting newer bouquets and tiering of the cable service. What are your comments? |
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Why does a consumer have to buy various tiers to get sports channels? Can't he choose and buy? |
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But the government said CAS is all about a la carte offering of channels. This way the consumer would feel cheated, contrary to what had been promised by the government? |
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But isn't this taking the consumer for a ride. Especially since CAS was brought about in the name of bringing choice to the consumer at affordable prices? |
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How much is SitiCable investing in the implementation of CAS and HITS ? |
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Lastly, if the implementation of CAS gets delayed, who would stand to gain - the broadcasters, the cable ops, MSOs or the consumers? |