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January 2023

Entertainment and Media Sector

By Sunil Gabhawalla | Rishabh Singhvi | Parth Shah
Chartered Accountants
Reading Time 29 mins
INTRODUCTION Entertainment and Media, though generally referred to as one sector, actually represents two diverse sectors. While entertainment deals with content (films, television, etc.) creation and its’ exploitation, the media sector primarily deals with the delivery of the content. The advent of technology, especially social media, has further reduced the lines of demarcation between the two. In this article, we have attempted to discuss the specific issues faced by this sector. To do so, let us first understand the business model under which the sectors operate. THE ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR This sector has various sub-sectors, such as films, television, theatre, etc. The entire sector depends upon content for its survival, i.e., a film, television or play is successful only when the audience well receives the content. Therefore, the key activity in this sector is twofold, one being content creation and the second being content exploitation. Content creation, an elaborate process, involves various activities, such as:
  • Identifying the idea/script based on which the content is to be created.
  • Pre-production activities (finalizing the cast, crew, location, etc., before the shooting occurs).
  • Production activities (actual shooting takes place).
  • Post-production activities (editing, dubbing, marketing and promotion, etc.).
The above activities result