Sunil Lulla: Measurement system needs change as per customers

Economic Freedom: Consumers wake up in 2011 and realise that it was a dream all along. The price they have been paying for their daily dose of entertainment and information is not real. The true price of their cable or DTH bill is much higher.

Broadcasters realise that creating demand for content, not its supply, is the key to economic freedom. Challenge the merciless diktat of commodity pricing for cable as though it will make the prices of other goods and services go up. The push and pull pressures become a resilient, growing, economic chain between broadcasters, MSOs and DTH operators as well as LCOs.

It's not so simple. But it's time we changed the clock, created value and enabled the TV industry to grow. Freedom has a price and it is not so cheap.

Choice is Absolute: Digitisation is not just a word. It has a defined date, geography and responsibility. It is given the scale of freedom to usher in investment to make consumer choices absolute. My choice is not determined by what my neighbour wants but what I want and wish to pay for. What's bundled is a natural bonus. Consumer choice determines what must be carried. Why do I have to see all the channels of the public broadcaster - is Big Brother still watching over me?

Real Measurement: Which service says pay me first then I will tell you how you fare? Why are we stuck in Baba Adam's zamana? We all know that the metro, urban, hyper metro, rural, emerging urban and conventional markets are all different. SEC A speaks Tamil but we measure English viewership therein. I'm glad the broadcasters are finally beginning to measure their act. It's time the current measurement systems realise there is a customer and there needs to be service. Let's change, create the change and be the change.

Beyond TV: There is value for everything we supply on a phone or a web service. It's certainly more than what is shared today. One can argue about the capital investment or content investment. Let there be meaningful dialogue between suppliers on both sides to create a fair share since the beneficiary is the consumer. Or else, we are killing off one more goose. Be it handheld, mouse-led or out of home - measure, create value, make the consumer pay and build a business like anywhere else.

Investigative Journalism: News is not news alone. All facets of life and its spectrum need to get covered. News is as much about stories as it is about the inquisitive nature that keeps a democracy ticking. Have we forgotten about it? Is the minority interest not an absolute interest? It's time to bring back news to when it was awaited and watched with passion and not 'remotely' flicked away by sameness.

And these are the five things I would not like to happen:

No change

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