“The cable operator does not share the rest 90 per cent with anybody else, and he does not pay taxes on that… The economics of the business has become so crippling that people are somehow just trying to stay afloat,” Shankar told PTI. Star India is one of India’s most profitable media companies though its flagship Hindi general entertainment channel doesn’t enjoy an unrivalled leadership position anymore.

Shankar linked the underdeclaration to poor quality content and lack of investment into distribution infrastructure.

P. Sainath, who has written on the paid news phenomena during elections in the past, examines the news coverage received by Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan during his campaign this year. The Hindu has gathered “47 full newspaper pages, many of them in colour, focused exclusively on Mr. Chavan, his leadership, his party and government”. Chavan declared that he spent Rs5,379 on newspaper advertisements.

Sainath says the news coverage is equivalent to “crores of rupees” worth advertising.