Page 154 - From Bombay to Bollywoord The Making of a Global Media Industri

Dot-Coms and the Making of an Overseas Territory >> 141

are also shaped in important ways by “trajectories of creative migration.” 59
Using Hollywood as an example, Curtin observes that remaining competitive
and maintaining its position as a media capital “requires maintaining access
to reservoirs of specialized labor that replenish themselves on a regular basis,
60
which is why media companies tend to cluster in particular cities.” These
two concepts—clustering/agglomeration and trajectories of creative migra-
tion—prove particularly useful for understanding how dot-com companies
like indiafm.com, indiatimes.com, and rediff.com leveraged their physical
presence in Bombay to broker a sense of proximity between Bollywood and
overseas audiences.
In explaining the success of Bombay-based companies such as indiafm.
com, indiatimes.com, and rediff.com compared to websites like wahindia.
com and bollyvista.com that operate outside India, we have to begin by
acknowledging their advantage in terms of economies of scale and reach.
Being larger companies with deep financial pockets meant that the Bombay-
based dot-com companies were in a position to offer public relations agents,
marketing executives, filmmakers, and stars in Bollywood a more compre-
hensive transmedia package. For instance, in addition to designing a movie
website and managing the online promotions for a film, a tie-in with indi-
afm.com would typically be part of a larger deal that brings in hungama.
com’s expertise in creating innovative contests and games for the mobile
phone platform that is accessible worldwide. Similarly, from a public rela-
tions agent’s perspective, movies.indiatimes.com offered not only a large dia-
sporic user base, but also the opportunity to publicize the film and its stars
across other properties owned by the Times group, including a nationwide
network of FM radio stations (Radio Mirchi), an entertainment and lifestyle
television channel (Zoom), and a number of print publications, including
Bombay Times, Times of India, and Bombay Mirror. Further, large por-
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tals like indiatimes.com and rediff.com were also in a position to leverage
their advantage as horizontal portals that cover every major news category,
including business, sports, and politics worldwide. As Raja Sen, who creates
a range of content for rediff.com’s “movies” section, explained, “Stars and
PROs know that we have a certain credibility. A star thinks, if I’m doing an
interview with rediff, the lead story might be about George Bush and my
story will be second or third. So even if an NRI is coming to rediff for politics
or cricket news, he or she will see the Bollywood story right there. Bolly-
wood is just a click away.” The homepages of rediff.com and indiatimes.com
carry a small “movies” box, prominently displayed in the center of the page,
which includes a picture of a Bollywood star and four catchy headlines that
lead to the movies section of the websites.