The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has once again sought to bring the entertainment sector on par with the IT sector.

As part of a pre-Budget meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj urged Finance Minister Jaswant Singh to ensure there is no discrimination against the entertainment sector and said it should have the same duty structure as for equipment related to communication and information technology.

After the meeting, Swaraj said the duty on the industry—particularly where equipment was not available within the country—should be Modvatable. She also said that a two-year tax holiday for cable addressable systems should be given as these are not currently available in the country and the imported set top boxes were quite expensive. This exemption could be reviewed after two years.

She clarified that duty exemptions had only been sought for items that were not locally available and had to be imported. There should also be reduction in the tax on colour TV sets. Describing the response of the Finance Minister as "very positive and encouraging," Swaraj said duty exemption had been sought for black and white TV sets and analogue radio receivers, which were now the poor man’s media.

Consolidation of its primary market, the southern States, is the immediate focus of the 125-year-old institution. While there already exist 10 South India-based editions, there may be chances of two more being added in the near future.

While the print industry is going all out to retain its readership base in the face of emergent media that are eating into its base, The Hindu group is quietly gearing up to re-position itself on the basis of traditional strengths.

Paucity of time has caused gradual changes in people’s reading habits and also interests. The need to draw back attention towards print has been addressed variedly by different players. According to sources, though The Hindu’s traditional approach towards journalism has been considered erudite and while it has been considered the thinking man’s paper, the image of rigorous authenticity needs addressing in order to increase mass appeal. With these perceptions, a re-worked focus on overall look and content is underway. While content will remain The Hindu’s cornerstone of strength, the edits, will become tighter. Analysis will continue, but one can expect to see increased coverage on local issues, human-interest areas and general development, according to N. Murali, JMD of The Hindu Group.

Youth, already represented through coverage of various age and preference sections, will feature as a prominent target group in The Hindu’s re-consolidation plans to become more reader-friendly. Murali states: "Some times The Hindu is seen as distant or impersonal. We have to get over that. The image of the grand old lady has changed but we need to get closer to the reader."

Addition of colour and image has already been growing in the supplements and the re-sizing has also been done to come to par with industry consensus to reduce.

The aim to give coverage to local issues has been steadily increasing, with four of the current 20 pages being devoted to local issues apart from the supplements, and the new editions may be a step in the same direction. Possible tie-ups with strong regional players may be a method in The Hindu’s consolidation plans. Though the Delhi edition is not being pushed as aggressively, the other regions may see tie-ups based on advertising packages. "Exploring options for tie-ups, however, would only be considered in a win-win situation," said Murali.