The Pandora's Box or will it be a Cola Fizz!?!?
The current changes in the Tamil visual media and its political implications (or vice versa)...a monopoly situation in any business is always bad, but, most successful with a co-operative political set-up. But, the situation today in Tamilnadu only proves that a monopoly business cannot survive (even if it is a blood relationship) with a feudal political set-up.
The political set-up's superiority and priority cannot be threatened by the monopoly and the resource control firmly rests with the political set-up, the business house at the most can only control external help, build external pressure...Sun TV perhaps over estimated their strength!? There are already blogs appearing discrediting the Maran brothers, there will be more out of the Pandora's Box if this family feud continues. Or maybe the family will reunite in one grand coming together and make all that happened like a Cola fizz, temporary and show, but, no great change!?!?
Wait and watch.
But, no one can deny that the current move has weakened everyone concerned, DMK as well as the Sun Network.
Karunanidhi (particularly the way his controversial son turned up in the gala meeting despite the controversy and now his daughter being pushed into the Rajya Sabha) comes out as someone who is no different from the Devi Lal, Deva Gowda class of local politician, with both the legendary kazhagam rational thinking and his own well sketched repute of an astute politician being shaken by such brazen feudal moves. It shows DMK in poor light, the party is a silent spectator and follower of the first family, no different from the Congress of 60 years, which is really unfortunate considering it was the opposition to the Congress ways that resulted in the formation of the kazhagam parties in the first place. Both need to work quite a bit to re-build their image, if it can be done at all.
It shows also that the complete domination held by the Maran brothers has hurt the overall media situation in the state and how the entire visual media industry has been suffering silently. A erstwhile serial making company owner old me that he preferred to sit out and not produce serials for television rather than concede to the pressure tactics of the Sun TV network. Now that the flood gates have been opened, more about the mis-deeds of the brothers will be written in the tamil media in the coming days. This morning someone told me how the entire issue goes back to the selling off of the shares of Sun TV held by the first family some time back!
I don't want to go into the specifics of this feud, suffice to say, wait and watch. But, two things are clear:
1. Feudal (the Indian version perhaps equating to Zamindari?) politics is here to stay and any business house wanting to become a monopoly under such a government patronage alone, better learn some lessons from this episode.
2. Monopoly Business and Feudal political set-up can get into trouble with each other when they don't have a common strong enemy. Even if it means an enemy one of them helps to create just to sustain their own relationship, perhaps Sun TV instead of running Karunanidhi family successor issues as opinion poll had kept them focussed on Jayalalitha's peons and ministers, there would be no such problems now. Maran brothers will learn much from the Americans and Saudis and how one of them keeps creating enemies to sustain their relationship.
The political set-up's superiority and priority cannot be threatened by the monopoly and the resource control firmly rests with the political set-up, the business house at the most can only control external help, build external pressure...Sun TV perhaps over estimated their strength!? There are already blogs appearing discrediting the Maran brothers, there will be more out of the Pandora's Box if this family feud continues. Or maybe the family will reunite in one grand coming together and make all that happened like a Cola fizz, temporary and show, but, no great change!?!?
Wait and watch.
But, no one can deny that the current move has weakened everyone concerned, DMK as well as the Sun Network.
Karunanidhi (particularly the way his controversial son turned up in the gala meeting despite the controversy and now his daughter being pushed into the Rajya Sabha) comes out as someone who is no different from the Devi Lal, Deva Gowda class of local politician, with both the legendary kazhagam rational thinking and his own well sketched repute of an astute politician being shaken by such brazen feudal moves. It shows DMK in poor light, the party is a silent spectator and follower of the first family, no different from the Congress of 60 years, which is really unfortunate considering it was the opposition to the Congress ways that resulted in the formation of the kazhagam parties in the first place. Both need to work quite a bit to re-build their image, if it can be done at all.
It shows also that the complete domination held by the Maran brothers has hurt the overall media situation in the state and how the entire visual media industry has been suffering silently. A erstwhile serial making company owner old me that he preferred to sit out and not produce serials for television rather than concede to the pressure tactics of the Sun TV network. Now that the flood gates have been opened, more about the mis-deeds of the brothers will be written in the tamil media in the coming days. This morning someone told me how the entire issue goes back to the selling off of the shares of Sun TV held by the first family some time back!
I don't want to go into the specifics of this feud, suffice to say, wait and watch. But, two things are clear:
1. Feudal (the Indian version perhaps equating to Zamindari?) politics is here to stay and any business house wanting to become a monopoly under such a government patronage alone, better learn some lessons from this episode.
2. Monopoly Business and Feudal political set-up can get into trouble with each other when they don't have a common strong enemy. Even if it means an enemy one of them helps to create just to sustain their own relationship, perhaps Sun TV instead of running Karunanidhi family successor issues as opinion poll had kept them focussed on Jayalalitha's peons and ministers, there would be no such problems now. Maran brothers will learn much from the Americans and Saudis and how one of them keeps creating enemies to sustain their relationship.
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