ITV

Tag: broadcasting and telecom

  • Industry to be consulted on content regulator, says Swaraj

    Industry to be consulted on content regulator, says Swaraj

    NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj said in the morning today that the government will consult the industry and other stake holders before forming the Broadcasting Regulatory Authority (BRA) to monitor content on TV.

    Early information gathered by indiantelevision.com shows that the proposed BRA will be responsible for formulation of programming and advertising codes for television broadcasting.

    According to government sources, the proposed regulator would be given powers to implement its guidelines and maybe powers to penalise defaulters. They also added that the BRA may function as a quasi-judicial organisation on the lines of the earlier version of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) which also had powers to settle disputes and penalise errant telecom companies.

    The sources added that the licensing powers would rest with the ministry of information and broadcasting, unlike as envisaged for the super-regulator for the IT, broadcasting and telecom sector in the Communications Convergence Bill 2001.

    According to senior government officials, BRA would also function and have powers on the lines of the proposed content bureau as envisaged in the Communications Convergence Bill.

    BRA is another step taken by Swaraj to get in place legislation relating to broadcasting in a piecemeal fashion and ahead of the Communications Convergence Bill that has got delayed because of a report of the Standing Committee on IT & telecom which has, amongst other things, questioned the very need for an omnibus convergence law at this moment.

    The broadcasting regulator would have powers to make appropriate recommendations to the government with regard to any programming and advertising codes.

    According to the sources, BRA would address concerns of public order and decency, preservation of cultural diversity, prevention of excessive depiction of sex and violence, national security, integrity and sovereignty and protection of children from undesirable programmes and advertisements — issues which have been irking members of parliament.

    The proposed regulator would also have powers to issue regulations, specific codes and standards to ensure fairness and impartiality in views expressed aired in programmes.

    According to sources, one of the options under consideration includes, giving quasi judicial powers to the regulator. This would give the regulatory authority adequate powers to penalise channels, which do not toe the BRA’s line.

    The ministry earlier had planned to set up a media council replacing the Press Council which would also have the broadcasting media under its ambit. However, with content regulation on TV falling under the purview of the proposed super-regulator Communication Commission of India, the plan was dropped.

  • I&B moots regulatory body for TV content

    I&B moots regulatory body for TV content

    NEW DELHI: The parliamentary consultative committee attached to India’s information and broadcasting ministry in a meeting earlier today came out in favour of forming a regulatory body to monitor unregulated content on television channels in the country.

    The issue is being seen as another step taken by I&B minister Sushma Swaraj in recent times to have in place a legislation to regulate the broadcasting and cable sectors in a piecemeal fashion ahead of an omnibus legislation being proposed to govern the three sectors of media, information technology and telecommunications.

    As per early information available with indiantelevision.com, based on feedback from government sources, the parliamentary panel, comprising of Members of the Indian Parliament, while voicing its concern over TV programmes which are not in consonance with Indian culture and have a negative effect on children, opined that the government must take steps to bring some order in this chaotic situation as current laws regarding programming lack teeth.

    Several MPs had told Swaraj, according to her own admission in Parliament, that programmes on the small screen are becoming increasingly regressive and reflecting an aspirational culture that is very un-Indian.

    During a debate on conditional access system in the Parliament’s Upper House earlier this month, one woman MP had even gone to the extent of saying that channels airing serials based on the ‘saas bahu’ theme should be banned. 

    During a debate on conditional access system in the Parliament’s Upper House earlier this month, one woman MP had even gone to the extent of saying that channels airing serials based on the ‘saas bahu’ theme should be banned. 

    During the same discussion on CAS, Swaraj, on being criticised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for getting legislations passed in a piecemeal fashion, had said that the government or her ministry cannot wait endlessly for the Communications Convergence Act to be put in place. The proposed Act is aimed at addressing immediate concerns involving the broadcasting and cable sectors.

    IT, telecom and parliamentary minister Pramod Mahajan had some time earlier told indiantelevision.com that he does not foresee the Communications Convergence Bill, envisaging a super-regulator for IT, broadcasting and telecom, being discussed by policy-makers in Parliament before May 2003.