The prevailing (2020) pattern of Media Ownership in South Asian Countries and Media Pluralism

1. Pattern of Media
Ownership in South Asia
Course-Media and Communication
Presented By
Farhat Jahan

2. Contents
• Introduction
• What is Media Ownership?
• How pattern of media ownership matters?
• Types of Media ownership
• Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
• What is Media Pluralism?
• Conclusion

3. What is Media Ownership?
• Media ownership is sometimes seen as a simple reflection of political
conditions: dictatorships or authoritarian regimes control the media
directly. Media ownership is generally something very close to the
complete state control over information in direct or indirect ways.
• Example-In the United States medias are almost exclusively in private
hands, organizes direct access by political parties to the media by means
of paid advertising. Countries like Britain and Denmark, with a stronger
tradition of public ownership of the media, do not allow paid political
advertising at all.

4. How pattern of media ownership matters?
• Mass media ownership influence Independence and pluralism in media, public
opinion and views— criticism of people in power.
• Monitors and ensures the independence of media.
• It affects the way the media industry manages its resources.
• It shapes the economic strength and efficiency of the media sector.
• It shapes works of journalists.

5. Types of Media ownership
• 1. Public Media
• 2. State Media
• 3. Print Media
• 4. Community Media
• 5. Private Media
• 6. Party Media

6. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia

7. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Pakistan)
1. Pakistan: Currently there are a total of 88 TV channels ,209 radio stations and 707 newspapers.
• Ownership: Pakistani news media has four major types of owners:
• 1. State -owned Media : Pakistan Television, Radio Pakistan and FM 101
• 2. Legacy media houses: The oldest and largest --media outlets in the country are owned by legacy
publishers/owners of business group such as Dawn Media Group, Jang Group and Nawa-i-Waqt
Group, Express Media Group and ARY.
• 3. Media houses set up by former journalists – daily Khabrain and Daily Pakistan Coming out of
Lahore are examples of media houses set up by former journalists turned to publishers .
• 4. Media Houses Run by social and political activists- The owners comprises individuals or
organizations use their media outlets to propagate that ideological worldview to an audience that also
shares it. These include daily Jasarat and daily Ummat, both coming out of Karachi and both catering
to an extreme rightwing and Islamist audience.

8. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Nepal)
2. Nepal: Currently Nepal has more than 16 TV channels, 100+ Radio channels running as a national and
regional. In 2003 Nepal had 3,741 registered newspapers of which 251 were dailies.
• Ownership:
1. State -owned Media : Nepal Television , Gorkhapatra (Gorkha Journal), Radio Nepal
2. Private -owned Media : Since 1983 Nepal Television made a position only one channel in across the Nepal
for 15 to 16 year.
After reformation of information act in 2001, private television channel ownership started . Private
broadcasters Nepal One, Shangri-La, and Space Time Network. There are privately owned Regional
radio stations.
• All private broadcasters have experienced financial losses and content restrictions. Vernacular news media are
regarded as having little credibility as a result of affiliations with political parties.

9. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Bhutan)
3. Bhutan: Currently Bhutan has 12 newspapers, 3TV and 7 radio stations.
• Ownership:
• State Owned : Bhutanese newspaper, called Kuensel and Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) Radio
and TV channels .
• Private Ownership : Until 2006, Bhutan were limited to the state-owned media. By the time political
parties were formed and elections called, Bhutanese media included 3 new independent radio stations
and 3 new independent newspapers.

10. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Bangladesh)
4. Bangladesh: Currently 26 television channels, 25 FM Radio stations. 14 Community radio stations, till 2018 there are 1,175
registered weeklies, 3,025 registered print media in Bangladesh and 1,191 of them are daily newspapers.
Ownership:1. State -owned Media : BTV (Terrestrial), BTV World (Satellite) and Shongshod Bangladesh Television. Bangladesh
Betar are State-run media .
2. Media owned by different Business group: East West Media Group Limited: KalerKantha and Bangladesh Protidin (both Bengali
dailies), Daily Sun (English), Banglanews24.com (news portal) and News24 (TV station), Mediastar Limited: ProthomAlo (leading Bengali
national daily) and ABC Radio Mediaworld Limited: The Daily Star (leading English national daily), Beximco Media Limited: The
Independent (English daily) and Independent Television (24-hour news Tv ) Jamuna Group Limited: Jugantor (Bengali daily) and Jamuna
TV Times Media Limited:, Ittefaq Group of Publications Limited ,Media scene Limited.
• The concentration of such stations and ownership patterns are also linked to higher dependence on those close to the ruling
governments under different regimes. Thus, most private TV broadcasting stations are generally limited to a cluster of loyalists,
political or economically strong.

11. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Afghanistan)
5. Afghanistan: Currently there are a total of 175 newspapers including 25 dailies, 96 TV channels and 170 FM
stations are national & regional.
Ownership: 1. State–owned Media: Afghanistan National Television, Radio Afghanistan Television, Hewad
(Homeland), Anis (Companion) are Govt. Sponsored Daily.
2. Private Ownership : Afghanistan National Television started broadcasting in 1978. Ban- After the end of the
Taliban regime, Afghanistan experienced the birth of private TV stations.
3. Independent Ownership : The first one was Aiina, a North-based TV station that belonged to a local power but
not to the government. Hast –E –Sabh (Daily,8 am) Private and Secular Daily.
• Running a TV station is difficult in Afghanistan because of the extreme costs & government control. Running Tv
is the target of the terrorist groups-Tolo Tv,& Samshad Tv attacks.

12. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Sri Lanka)
6.. Sri Lanka: Currently, over 75 daily and weekly print publications, 20 television stations and 50 radio stations are active.
Ownership:
1.State -owned Media : The state runs 2 TV channels and Radio through Sri Lanka Broadcasting Companies.
2. Media run by business groups: Ownership of at least 44 media outlets back to 23 families and individuals In the print
media, the top four owners (the Wijewardene Family, the Government, the Welgama Family, and the Alles Family) have a
combined readership share of 75 %.
The top four owners in Sri Lanka’s television market (the Rajamahendran Family, Dilith Jayaweera & Varuni Fernando, Rayynor
Silva and the Govt) together account for 77 % the viewership share.
Four owners (Rayynor Silva the Rajamahendran Family, Dilith Jayaweera & Varuni Fernando, & Nihal Seneviratne Epa) account
for 74 % of the listenership share. Three of the top four owners in TV are also among the top four owners in Radio.
• Many owners of media outlets in Sri Lanka are affiliated with political power whether individuals holding political office or
their family members can be found in the shareholder structures of media companies.

13. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(Maldives)
7. Maldives: According to July 2005 Information Ministry of Maldives figures,
6 daily newspapers and 11 other publications are active.
o Ownership:
According to 2010 report, the Voice of Maldives operates two radio channels one on
the AM and the other on the FM band, Television Maldives all broadcast medias are
government owned . There are two daily newspapers with web sites, Haveeru and
Miadu.

14. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(India)
8. India: 2018, over 118,239 publications registered with the Registered Newspapers, including over 36,000 weekly magazines.
550 FM radio stations , over 880 satellite TV channels, including over 380 tv channels broadcasting “news and current affairs”.
1. State Owned Media : DD National., All India Radio
2. Media owned by business families: State and Nation wide
• Times of India, India today group, The Indian Express all of these largest medias owned by some family business group. -
Kothari Family, Goenka Family, Ambani family , The Jain Family (India Today Group )the Birla Family’s shares in the
required meticulous calculation involving going through the shareholding structures of more than two dozen companies,
which stand out with their heavy crossholding among each other. A similar pattern can be detected in Essel Group and Zee
Media Corporation, owned by Dr. Subhash Chandra whose shares are veiled behind several interconnected companies.
• In addition, media companies in India are mostly private limited companies
 Regional language media markets are highly concentrated. Most of the leading media companies are owned by large
conglomerates that are still controlled by the founding families and that invest in a vast array of industries other than media.
They are Politically affiliated.

15. Media Ownership Pattern in South Asia
(India)

16. What is Media Pluralism?
Media pluralism defines the state of having an internal
pluralism(a plurality of voices, opinions and analyses on media
system) or an external pluralism ( the coexistence of different
and diverse types of medias and media support).

17. Conclusion
• Democracies allow pluralism of media ownership and safeguards transparency and
accountability.
• The Safeguards of a healthy democracy depends on Media ownership pattern.
• According to 2020 Media Freedom Index, Ranks of South Asian Countries.