Cinema nearing its death in India!

New Delhi: Is cinema nearing its death in India?

In spite of all the hype and hoopla surrounding the film industry, cinema is on a sharp decline in India. This phenomenon, which started some five years back in Pakistan, is finally here.

The National Readership Survey (NRS) 2006 says the cine-goers community is fast getting smaller and smaller and it is only the urban audience, which watches movies in multiplexes, that is holding the fort for the industry. In the hinterland, especially the Northeast, cinema is already a dead media with hundreds of halls closed and the remaining ones facing the same fate.

According to NRS, cinema has seen a sharp decline from 51 million regular movie-goers (monthly) to 39 million during 2005-06.

On the positive side, the survey says the number of urban movie-goers has increased: from 23 million last year to 25 million in 2006. "As a proportion, this means a marginal increase from 9.6 per cent to 10.0 per cent," the survey says.

One reason for cinema's decline could be the invasion of satellite television in the hinterland. The NRS says satellite TV has grown considerably in reach during the past one year: from 207 million viewers in a week in 2005 to as many as 230 million individuals in 2006.

In fact, television now reaches 112 million homes, reflecting a growth of 3.2 per cent over last year. Homes with access to cable and satellite television have increased by 12 per cent from 61 million to 68 million this year. Cable and satellite reach has now penetrated 61 per cent of all TV homes, up from 56 per cent last year.

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh dominate the markets with TV reach touching 76.2 per cent, 76.2 per cent and 78 per cent respectively. These states also have high penetration of cable and satellite television at 60 per cent, 53 per cent and 59 per cent respectively.

Interestingly, the NRS estimates a considerable resurgence for radio. Thanks to the expansion of the FM network, radio today reaches 27 per cent of the population from 23 per cent last year. This is almost close to the number of newspaper readers in India. FM radio, in particular, has seen a 55 per cent growth. About 119 million individuals listen to FM radio in an average week in 2006, up from 76 million in 2005.