The major event or non-event in 1998 was the government's hemming and hawing on regulation relating to the media. The broadcasting bill was to be introduced in parliament before the end of the year, and then it wasn't. The government simply held back on allowing further foreign investment in either television, or software production, or advertising agencies. One faction within government was all for allowing freedom, while the other opposed it thus putting the entire matter in limbo.

One cannot totally blame the BJP-led government as it lacks the full support of all its partners. Sushma Swaraj definitely deserves a pat on her back for pushing through uplinking permission for private satellite television channels. Thanks to her, broadcasters now have an option to uplink from Indian shores. That option is likely to become a rule for even those preferring to uplink from foreignshores, if one goes by the policy she has drawn up.

She, however, deserves a scolding for the public fracas she had with the then Prasar Bharati CEO SS Gill and his consequent sacking. She and Naqvi also deserve a talking down to for precipitating the chaos relating to total control of advertising agencies by foreigners thus preventing tired agency promoters from cashing in on their hard labour.

The year also highlighted the sorry state of affairs plaguing the advertising business. Not only was growth slow (about 8 per cent to 9 per cent, forget the 17 per cent being estimated by magazines) for the whole business, but it also saw some layoffs and the continuing closing down of ad shops. Clients continued to delay payments to agencies, which in turn delayed payments to media.

Net result: everyone is spending time chasing money, which is due to them anyway. What was worse was the flagrant violation of all norms by ad agencies, which made fraudulent claims about their client's products. Despite norms beingdrawn up, both liquor and tobacco marketers are not following them. In fact so disgusted by the turn of events was Dorab Sopariwala of Asci that he withdrew the tobacco code he had so painstakingly drawn up.

The rot has really set in in the ad business and it needs to examine its conscience. The exposure of market leader Hindustan Lever's mischief in Wheel Lemon's case is a case in point. Let some committed organisation spend time scanning all of Levers and a handful of other multinationals' products and they will surely discover that they are of inferior quality and the claims made about their effectiveness are untrue.

The Indian consumer is an ignoramus at present and hence corporations are making merry selling him lemons when they should be selling him good products, which deliver what they promise and offer value for money. Very few multinational products made in India will find custom in foreign markets. Nor will they be able to make fraudulent claims in ads overseas like they are doing so in Indiaat present.

The year also witnessed the continuing movement of ad spends towards television, a medium which boomed for a select few, but not as much as 1997. The year ended with market leader Zee TV in the cable and satellite television business being chased by a nippy Sony Entertainment Television. Sony claimed that it had beaten Zee during prime time during one week. Zee TV's response to it was that the viewership measurement system in India is all humbug and needs drastic changes.

The Zee Network also contributed to the biggest non-event of the year: the on-off merger with STAR TV. The net beneficiary of it all was the Zee Telefilms share which spurted to Rs 748 from below Rs 100. Subhash Chandra and associates (is Rupert Murdoch one of them?) must be rubbing their hands in glee as they are richer more than seven times in a matter of six months.

Zee TV is going to have a very tough time in 1999 with Sony on the one hand chipping away at its market shares and Sahara TV also hungry for a piece. Alsothrowing in a challenge will be STAR Plus which is a premium (in terms of the way it is packaged and promoted) Hinglish entertainment channel. Zee will have to run that much harder in 1999 just to retain its place. 1998 was the year when DD fought back on the sports telecast rights front with a private consortium led by the Siddarth Ray promoted Stracon giving ESPN-STAR Sport something to think about. DD, of course, by virtue of its reach will continue to corner a major, but much reduced, chunk of revenues. However, it will have to be given some direction by a stable chief if doesn't want to lose its way. Political pressures on the chief will have to be kept at a minimum.

It was in 1998 that cable operators understood that television is not free, and they have to pay to relay channels on their networks. The STAR TV group encrypted and started digital television transmission charging operators for the bouquet. National Geographic, AXN, CNBC Asia Business News are some of the new services that cable ops arebeing forced to pay for. Many more are likely to come in 1999, further accelerating the movement towards the setting up of addressable systems in cable headends. And of course a substantial hike in the fees that cable TV subscribers are going to pay.

Niche channels such as Discovery, and Cartoon Network continued to gradually increase their viewership and definitely have a future if they keep up with the needs of viewers.

The government made a major boo-boo in 1998 by trying to ensure that Pakistan Television is banned on cable networks, bringing it further into the limelight. Six months after minister of state for information and broadcasting MA Naqvi made a big noise about PTV, cable TV operators continue to openly carry the channel.

The print media continued to dodder around with newspapers and magazines becoming slimmer by the day as the ad rupee dwindled. What saved the day was telecom, consumer durables (the big thing in 1998 was the disaster laden exchange offers), automobiles, toothpaste, andcomputers. There was also the proliferation of special advertising driven supplements in newspapers as print media managements struggled to keep the revenues coming in. To be sure, when they close their accounts for 1998, several print media groups will find their bottomlines battered out of shape.

1998 also saw the demise of private FM radio with the radio-casters getting greedy and getting into a row with the then Prasar Bharati CEO SS Gill. Hopefully, the medium will make a comeback in 1999. The outdoor medium continues to be in a tizzy despite the innovations making their appearance. State government after state government is trying to place a ban on it. It looks unlikely that it will see any gee-whiz growths in the short term.

The writer can be reached at wanvari@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in or television@hotmail.com