TV now a respected medium: Raj Nayak

The times when the movie industry looked down upon television is over, leading advertising and marketing executive Raj Nayak said on Friday.

"(The attitude of) looking down on TV has changed," Nayak, CEO of Colors-Viacom18, said at an event at the Film Bazaar at the ongoing 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here.

One reason for this was that many actors were now making more money in television than cinema, he pointed out, responding to questions media specialist Vanita Khandekar.

"The barrier is breaking between TV and cinema," he said.

India is now home to some 570 channels and reaches 140 million homes, he said, describing the power of television.

Nayak said movies may not - yet - get released simultaneously in theaters and television, but the gap between the two was rapidly narrowing.

He added that video sharing website YouTube had emerged as a major challenge to television in India.