Total appearances: 2
Analyst debut: 2013
At No. 2 on this lineup is IIFL analyst Bijal Shah, who advances from third place. Digitization continues to be the hot topic for India’s media companies. Shah notes that the benefits of the process, which will provide consumers with more and better channel choices, will not be fully evident “until we see an improvement in tariffs — and that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.” Given this backdrop, the researcher is bearish on cable television operators, such as New Delhi–based DEN Networks; as well as direct-to-home service providers, including Noida’s Dish TV India and Hathway Cable & Datacom of Mumbai. He does, however, favor Zee Entertainment Enterprises, the Mumbai-based owner and operator of domestic and international cable and satellite TV channels whose flagship, Zee TV, was India’s first Hindi-language cable channel. Improving sentiment and a likely acceleration in real gross domestic product growth will boost advertising revenue growth, he believes, and Zee is well positioned to reap the attendant rewards, thanks to its ongoing investments in new and existing channels. These changes should translate into market share gains, with Zee delivering strong earnings growth as a result, Shah predicts.