The SatCab Symposium 2021, an initiative of the Aavishkar Media Group, is back after a break to spread some cheer in the TV and video content industry with a fab lineup of speakers, representing a cross-section of the media spectrum, though the shadow of the pandemic continues to loom large.

Agreed that the economic slowdown and the pandemic took a heavy toll of the Rs.1.73 trillion Indian media and entertainment industry in 2021 — and continues to impact the bottomlines of almost all companies as we look forward to 2022 — but the hybrid event on December 22 is also a testimony of the industry’s resilience.

According to an E&Y report, the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) sector stood at Rs. 1.38 trillion in 2020 and is estimated at Rs. 1.73 trillion in 2021. But the growth of this industry depends a lot on the regulatory regime. While TRAI is the country’s broadcast and cable sector’s economic regulator, the policies are made mainly by MIB and for certain segments Meity, DoT and DoS too play crucial roles.

So, the day-long conference, which will be a combination of on-ground event in New Delhi and live online participation by speakers from various parts of the country, has some interesting sessions with themes ranging from regulation to tariffs to evolving technology, distribution landscape and consumer rights.

Senior policy-makers and regulators from MIB, DoT and TRAI are expected to articulate their views in keynote addresses, while allaying many concerns of the industry. At the same time, the stakeholders will air their stand on the changing landscape of M&E industry — from cable TV to technology to streaming to news.

The speaker line-up includes SK Singhal, DDG, DoT; George Kuruvilla, CMD, BECIL, Saurabh Sancheti, Group CFO, JIO Platforms & Director-Reliance’s Cable Businesses, who would deliver the Industry Keynote; Amitabh Kumar, Advisor Technology, Dish TV; Anil Malhotra, CEO, SITI Networks; N.K.Rouse, COO, NXTDIGITAL; SP Singh, VP& Business Head, OneBroadband; Pankaj Krishna, Founder & CEO, Chrome Data Analytics and Media; Anuradha Prasad, Chairperson & MD, News24; Anindya Khare, Marketing Head, Zee Media;R. Jai Krishna, Secretary-General, News Broadcasters Federation; Vikas Khanchandani, Group CEO, Republic Media Network; Kaushik Moitra, Partner, Bharucha & Partners; Dr. A.K. Rastogi, President, All India Aavishkar Dish Antenna Sangh; Subhashish Mazumdar, Media Consultant & Advisor; Rabindra Narayan, MD & President, PTC Network; Yatin Gupta, SVP, GTPL; Ravi Shankar Rai, CEO, Savitri Telecom Services; Nagesh Chhabria, Promoter & MD, Metro Cast Network India; Amitabh Srivastava, Director, I Media International; Kanak Singh Rana, Director, GTPL; Hemlata Sharma HOD-Distribution & Market Research, ZMCL.