Abstract: These days there is much talk of commercialization of the media and transformation of news into a commodity. What is often ignored in the course of this lamentation is the rather puzzling fact that an overwhelming proportion of media enterprises lose money. The cash-burners include 400 odd news channels on Indian television of which less than 10 make a profit or even break even. How do we make sense of this scenario in which the media is indeed highly commercialized but no one is apparently making profits? I examine a similar problem thrown up by film stars in general and south Indian film stars in particular to draw attention to the a) the complex economics of film and other media industries and b) the intimate linkages between economics and politics in these industries. I conclude by suggesting that cultural commodities pose an interesting set of problems for researchers when we pay attention to the interplay of economic value and meanings that they simultaneously generate.