Business News
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January 2012
JAIN SPIRITUAL CHANNEL LAUNCHED
A new spiritual channel, Jinvani, has been launched by Sea TV Network Ltd, to cater to the Digambar sect of the Jain religion. The channel, launched under the umbrella of Jain Telemedia Services Ltd, will attempt to present the principles of Jainism in their simplest form, for the youth.
"The channel is directed at bringing to the people the perennial philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence) propagated by Bhagwan Mahaveer, and providing to the whole world a deep insight into the true way of living," Neeraj Jain, chairman and managing director of Sea TV Network Ltd, said in a press statement.
The channel promises to provide 3D movies and serials on Jain epics and Jain historical and religious events. More than 8 hours of fresh content will be aired every day.
NEW UPLINK & DOWNLINK NORMS NOTIFIED
On December 5, the government issued its official notification formalising the new Uplink & Downlink guidelines.
CABINET APPROVAL
On October 7, 2011, in a meeting of the cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the proposal of the information and broadcasting ministry to recast the existing "Policy Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of TV channels". These changes have been done in "order to ensure that only serious and credible operators are permitted to operate such channels and the electronic media landscape is not unnecessarily crowded by non-serious players," said a statement after the cabinet meeting.
The new norms have substantially hiked the minimum network required for broadcasters to launch a new channel. Full details of these revisions were carried in the November 2011 issue of this magazine.
The final notification however, provides a pleasant surprise to existing broadcasters of more than 729 already approved channels, who are exempted from the enhanced network criteria.
The I&B Ministry has not issued new licenses for more than 4 months. With these new guidelines now formally notified, all new applicants will have to resubmit their applications within 90 days. Press estimates indicate between 400 to 600 new channels waiting for downlink licenses. 2012 promises to bring with it a flood of new TV channels.
4 SUN TV CHANNELS IN HD
On December 11, Sun TV Network launched 4 High Definition (HD) channels in Tamil and Telugu languages.
Sun TV, KTV & Sun Music Tamil channels are now available in HD & Gemini TV HD in Telugu.
These channels, the first of their kind in Tamil and Telugu, are offered on the DTH & Digital cable TV platforms in India. Plans are also on to make them available in global markets.
While Sun TV HD, KTV HD and Gemini TV HD are to be priced at Rs 40 a month, Sun Music HD will be priced at Rs 25 a month. The 4 HD channels are also offered bundled as a bouquet, priced at Rs 100 a month.
The number of HD channels is rising rapidly, as it is the only premium service for which Indian viewers are willing to pay extra. Currently, several HD channels are available in India across general entertainment, sports, news and movie genres.
22 CHANNELS SENT NOTICES
The I&B ministry has issued 22 show cause notices to various TV channels this year, as complaints of content violation. An additional 11 were still under consideration of an inter-ministerial committee. This was disclosed by Minister of State in the I&B ministry CM Jatua in response to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
Replying to a question by T Subbarami Reddy who sought details about mechanism to regulate objectionable contents on channels, Jatua informed "The ministry has set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to consider the cases of violation and recommend appropriate course of action as per the said Act," he said referring to the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act-1995.
When asked about the PCI, Jatua said that Press Council of India (PCI) chairperson Markandey Katju had suggested that the council be vested with more powers. "PCI, subsequently in its meeting held on 17.11. 2001 has decided to hold further debate on the proposal of the Chairman, PCI," Jatua said.
IPL-5 IN April
IPL-5, The fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will commence in Chennai on 4 April 2012.
The season will revert to the 'home and away' format, with each of the 9 franchises playing 16 matches. There will be 4 Play-off matches in Bangalore and Chennai, with the final to be played in Chennai on Sunday, 27 May 2012. IPL-5 will host a total of 76 cricket matches.
FINANCIAL AUTONOMY FOR PRASAR BHARATI
Doordarshan & All India Radio may finally get the power to approve their own purchases. A proposal within the I&B ministry will give the Prasar Bharti board the long-awaited financial autonomy for about half of its Rs. 5,000-crore annual budget. "I support the proposal for devolution of powers to the Board," Ambika Soni told the press. "I will approve it when it comes to me."
While Prasar Bharati has officially been an "autonomous" body for over a decade, its Board has financial powers equivalent to that of a Secretary of the Government. That means it can only approve purchases up to Rs. 20 Crore. The Directors-Generals of Doordarshan and AIR, as heads of government departments, have powers to approve purchase orders of just Rs. 1 Crore each.
Board members hope that the autonomy will extend beyond the proposed devolution of financial powers. "In name, it's an executive Board, but frankly, we meet once in two or three months. In between, the Ministry runs the whole show," said a member.
ZEE PAYS 37 CRORE FOR DON-2 SAT RIGHTS
Zee Entertainment Enterprises has reportedly paid Rs 37 Crore to Reliance Entertainment for the satellite broadcast rights for Shah Rukh Khan's Don 2-The Chase Continues. However, Jayantilal Gada, head of the film acquisition business at the Zee Group, did not confirm this reported price for the 7 year rights deal.
"Satellite is an important revenue stream for all presenters and producers, including us," said Reliance Entertainment chief strategy officer Priti Shahani.
Reliance Entertainment has acquired the film from producers Ritiesh Sidhwani, Farhan Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan for a reported Rs 80 to 85 Crore to acquire the film & has spent an additional R22 Crore for prints & marketing the film.
SOFTER STAND ON BARRING CHANNELS
On 5 Dec 2011, the I&B ministry formally declared its new "Policy Guidelines For Downlinking Of Television Channels." In the earlier draft released after Cabinet approval, the I&B ministry had proposed very strict restrictions that would reject any TV channel's license renewal, if it had violated the programme and advertisement code on five occasions or more, during its prior license period.
TV channels had strongly protested, alleging that it was a plot by the government to control the media.
The I&B ministry has softened its stand and the Clause 9.2 has been modified to include consultation with the self regulatory industry body. The new Clause 9.2 reads:
"Renewal of permission/ registration will be considered for a period of 10 years at a time, subject to the condition that the company/ channel should not have been found guilty of violating the terms and conditions of permission including violations of the programme and advertisement code on five occasions or more. What would constitute a violation would be determined in consultation with the established self-regulating mechanisms."
NBA, IBF DEMAND GOVT ACCEPTANCE
The broadcasting industry has made a strong plea to the government to notify the self-regulatory mechanisms of news broadcasters as well as the general entertainment TV channels - the News Broadcasters Standards Authority and the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council.
Star India CEO Uday Shankar said that notification will enable the 2 bodies to also exercise self-regulation with regard to channels which were not members of these two bodies. He pointed out that the Advertising Code drawn up by the Advertising Standards Council of India had been notified under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act and therefore it had official sanction.
He said the TV industry had never opposed regulation, but had always held the view that the regulator should be an independent body and not the government. "We wanted neutral qualified people and not controlled people from the government".
NO BROADCAST REGULATOR
The Government has reiterated that there is no proposal to set up a Broadcast Regulator in view of the self-regulatory mechanisms set up by the news and general entertainment channels.
I&B officials also said that the existing regulatory framework in the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 is adequate.
In fact, the Ministry has made it clear to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation that the Broadcast Content Complaints Council set up earlier this year and the IBF's Content Code and Certification Rules should follow the existing Codes under the Act.
Senior Ministry officials have also said there was no proposal at present to scrap the Broadcast Services Regulatory Authority Bill as the government would want to see how self-regulation works.
The Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) which suo-motu examines issues or hears complaints received from the viewers has recently been re-constituted with the addition of the Joint Secretary in the Consumer Affairs Ministry after the Prime Minister had asked that Ministry to check misleading advertisements. The IMC will also examine any complaints forwarded to it by the self-regulatory bodies of the news and general entertainment channels.
