|
Ultimatum
issued to TV Channels downlinking in India
Pursuant
to the Guidelines for Downlinking of TV Channels dated November
11, 2005 ("Guideline") and the 180 days time line provided therein,
the Indian government has issued an ultimatum to all current TV
channel broadcasters that they have to become compliant with the
Guidelines by May10, 2006, failing which they will not be allowed
to continue downlinking their TV Channels in India. As per a statement
issued by the government on May 3, 2006 the minimum that is expected
of current broadcasters is that they should submit completed applications,
with processing fee on or before May 10, 2006 for continued permission
to downlink in India.
Any
future broadcaster who intends to downlink TV Channels in India
(uplinked from abroad) may do so only after obtaining the permission
of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and other
relevant Ministries, further to these Guidelines.
Indian Company required to downlink
A company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956 alone
can apply for this permission to downlink under the Guidelines.
The MIB has further clarified that there are no restrictions on
the foreign investment limits permissible in the Indian Company
applying for this downlink permission. However, such foreign investment
shall be subject to the prior permission of the Foreign Investment
Promotion Board (FIPB).
As
per the Guidelines, the Indian Company is also to be vested with
ownership of the TV Channel that is being downlinked or enjoy
for the territory of India exclusive marketing/distribution rights,
inclusive of the right to advertising and subscription revenues
and the right to conclude contracts on behalf of the broadcaster
for advertisements, subscription and programme content.
Channel
Registration
The Indian Company will also have to secure registration of the
TV Channel in India. This was introduced in the Guidelines so
as to facilitate the government's control over the content beamed
by the TV Channels.
Concerns
of broadcasters
Over
the past 6 months broadcasters have raised certain concerns with
respect to these Guidelines, especially with regard to the forceful
change of the business model required to downlink in India. This
however has not yielded any significant result. The government
has on the other hand reiterated its commitment to ensuring compliance
with the obligations laid down in the Guidelines, more specifically:
-
- Satisfaction
of Net Worth of the Indian Company at the time of application
for permission to downlink, which should be Rs.1.5 crore (approx.
USD 3,33,33) for the first channel, downlinked in India and
an additional Rs.1 crore (approx. USD 2,22,22) for each additional
channel downlinked in India. Thereafter, this Net Worth requirement
is to be continuously maintained by the Indian Company.
- Provision
of a facility (through MSO's or head end operators of the TV
Channel) by the Indian Company, whereby online monitoring of
content being beamed into India is possible.
- The aforesaid
facility is required to have capacity to store data for 90 days,
which should be available to the government at any point of
time in India and at a pre-designated place.
- Obligation
for sharing of feed of "events of national importance" with
Prasar Bharti by sports channels/sports rights management companies
having TV broadcasting rights in national and international
sporting events.
This
approach of the government is evidence enough of the fact that
the introduction of these guidelines is aimed at securing more
control over content and ease of enforcement over errant broadcasters.
|
|
|
You
can direct your queries or comments to the authors
|
Source:
From the website of Indiatelevision.com dated May 4, 2006
|
