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THE
NATION: TV BROADCAST LEGISLATION
What
Exactly Is Objectionable?
There
are other bones of contention. Who, for instance, will define what's objectionable?
"Suo moto action will be taken against cable operators beaming obviously
objectionable fare," says Pradeep Srivastava, deputy commissioner
of police (crime), Delhi. In fear some cable operators had, pre-strike,
quietly dropped FTV. It is learned that I&B ministry officials are
now closely monitoring the fashion channel to see if it crosses what they
feel are borders of decency. "There is a large grey area," concedes
a senior official. Adds Arun Jaitley, I&B minister: "This is
politically and ethically the correct attitude to adopt. In any case we
are responding to what a majority of people in Parliament wanted."
But, says Roop Sharma, president of the Cable Operators' Federation of
India, "Police commissioners are going to delegate junior officers
who will have the power to raid and seal control rooms." Incidentally
Sharma's front called off the strike a day earlier lending credence to
the theory that cable operators themselves were not united. "Roop
Sharma does not represent anyone" scoffed Rakesh Datta, a member
of the rival cable TV operators united front.
The squabbling
aside, there are other contentious issues which deal with advertisements
by liquor and cigarette companies. Cigarette ads are banned all over the
world while liquor ads are prohibited in several countries. In India too,
liquor ads are banned in several states.
For some
broadcasters the ban is not an issue. Star and Sony are both committed
to drop the ads. "We have never carried cigarette ads," says
Rajesh Pant, Sony's chief operating officer. "The loss of revenue
from the ban on liquor ads is going to be marginal." But other channels
have yet to make their position clear.
The showdown
with the cable operators has been exacerbated by Doordarshan's decision
to go pay with its sports channel on the eve of the Olympics. Faced with
close to 20 pay channels, cable operators currently cough up nearly Rs
120 a month on subscriptions alone. Cable operators claim that subscription
rates have not gone up significantly since 1996 when channels first became
pay. However CMS found that in the Hindi belts at least the rates were
up by Rs 20 to Rs 50 a month and this is expected to go up by another
10 to 15 per cent by next year.
Independent
cable operators who are not franchisees of larger distributors like Siticable
(owned by Zee) and Hathway (26 per cent owned by Star) are feeling the
heat. According to Datta, who is also one of the 100-odd independent cable
operators left in Delhi, franchisees get their own channels at a highly
subsidised rate. In other words, he says, a Siticable franchisee would
get Zee pay channels for a song. "They are undercutting and keeping
the rates down. We cannot keep up with them," he says.
But cable
operators are also accused of under-declaring subscriber figures so that
they can get away with paying less to the channels. One way out would
be to install addressable systems by which viewers pay only for the channel
they watch. While addressable systems are still relatively new and have
been introduced in a very limited market, some independent operators want
the government to enforce it across the board. "It's a good concept
but the government cannot enforce it on viewers," says a ministry
official.
At the heart
of the matter lies the absurdity that the third largest market in the
world (with 28.5 million cable households) does not have a comprehensive
broadcasting legislation. "Till date, there is no regulatory authority
to monitor matters," says Manoj Motwani, senior vice- president,
Incablenet. However, say ministry sources, comprehensive convergence legislation
is on the cards.
Obviously
there isn't a moment to lose. According to a survey on Indian media by
HSBC Securities and Capital Markets, cable and satellite households have
grown by 26 per cent in the last five years and it is estimated that the
subscription market will be around Rs 2,600 crore by the end of the year.
Comprehensive legislation that will spell out cross ownership restrictions
and eliminate monopolies is needed. That at least is one area where cable
operators, channels and the Government are all in agreement.
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