s businesses go, Indian media has been hard to categorise. It has never quite fit the traditional mould of a consumer-oriented business. For a long time, the creative or content end of it was reserved for those misfits who could find nothing better to do. And the business end? Well, that was managed by family (as in print) or a coterie of people who had stumbled on media because of their love for it. Few hard-nosed professional managers would consider a career in media.

Why not? The media and entertainment business is not small: in 2006, the combined turnover of all its components will be over Rs 40,000 crore, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The business has been fragmented, though: only a couple of media companies top the Rs 1,000 crore mark in turnover. And in even the Rs 500-1,000 crore range, there is only a handful of firms. In most other industries, firms that size would be considered small. Certainly not tempting enough for a top-class manager.... more