The state, the military, and the market: Capture in the new Burmese media landscape obtain a license to broadcast inside the country until the broadcasting law becomes operational.32 DVB was one of five companies awarded a digital channel by the government in April 2017. With a view to lessening media capture, at first glance these new content provider contracts seem a solid step in the right direction. In reality, though, they are a multi-edged sword.33 The fact they are digital means potential audiences will be comparatively small (estimates range from 2 to 5 million).34 This stands in stark contrast to the government, military, and crony broadcasters whose monopoly over terrestrial (analog) broadcasting35 gives them privileged access to an estimated 20-40 million viewers.36 Given their small potential audience share, the new digital broadcasters will face a significant challenge attracting a piece of the crowded advertising market. Thiha Saw, veteran journalist and Myanmar Journalism Institute executive-director, says the government is “trying to appease noisy people by offering a small piece of the cake. The takers know it is not the real cake, but they cannot afford to stay away from the table.”37Another issue is that in two years the five companies awarded the contracts will have to reapply for permits, with no guarantee of success. As they will likely not begin to make returns on their investments during the first two years, this means that they will be making a substantial investment, along with taking a big risk. It is feared that they may suffer the same fate as Burma’s many short-lived print dailies. It is interesting that only two of the five contracts were awarded to independent news media (and that both were formerly exiled); the other three have gone to businesses with, in one case, banking and airline interests, and in another, historic links to the military.38 It is also significant that all of the companies are obliged to use state-owned infrastructure and networks; this means they will have control over their content, but the government will retain “the switch” to shut them down. Analysts estimate that between 70 and 90 percent of the available advertising market—said to be upward of US $200 million per year—goes to broadcasting. Forever Group is believed to control 75 percent; the other 25 percent is shared by the government and military, and to a lesser extent, by the aforementioned Sky Net, owned by Shwe Than Lwin Co.39 And television is not the only challenge. With the exception of tiny online initiatives, there are no independent media operating in the radio sector.40 Crony capitalism Burma’s media reforms have had a rough ride, says media business consultant and Burma expert Michelle Foster. The country has opened from an artificial economic environment under the former military junta to a nascent capitalism where many important resources are still held under opaque ownership. For independent news 69