Certain officials on the Subcontinent are calling for a ban on foreign media. Claiming Western satellite programming is at odds with Indian traditions, legislators want to expel all foreign-funded broadcasting efforts.
At the forefront of the debate is Rupert Murdoch, whose plans to build production facilities in India have fueled the fire.
But while bureaucrats are moving to restrict non-Indian ownership, the number of households paying a US$2 monthly fee for cable TV continues to soar. Government efforts to turn back the tide are being hampered by aspiring entrepreneurs who continue to put up satellites and offer cable hookups. "You have to compromise with reality," admits Sudhir Joshi, second secretary of information at the Indian Consulate in Washington, DC.
Censored or not, Indians love their STAR TV: cable in India grew at a rate of 50 percent a year even when it was illegal.
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