ITV

Tag: Government

  • Zee News Ltd Q3 ad rev strong, no big fall in carriage fee

    Zee News Ltd Q3 ad rev strong, no big fall in carriage fee

    MUMBAI: A double-digit ad revenue growth has helped Zee News Ltd (ZNL) put up a performance better than the market expectations in the festive quarter but a top executive of the company cautioned that a significant turnaround in spending by advertisers is yet to be visible.

     

    The carriage payout to cable networks has only marginally dropped in the digitised markets and subscription growth has been subdued.

     

    ZNL’s ad revenue rose 14.8 per cent to Rs 595.6 million in the fiscal-third quarter from Rs 518.8 million a year earlier, despite a ‘significant opportunity’ loss in terms of advertising revenues from the government.

     

    “There was a better utilisation of ad inventory during the festival season and we also offered branding and event-based solutions to advertisers. But this is not to say that the ad slowdown has lifted and there is a big turnaround. We will outperform the market which is growing in single digit,” ZNL chief executive officer Alok Agrawal told Indiantelevision.com.

     

    ZNL’s ad revenue growth for the full-fiscal will be in single digit. TV news broadcasters have been fighting the government on ad rates and are not accepting DAVP (Directorate of Audio Visual Publication) advertising. “The standoff continues and NBA (News Broadcasters Association) members are not carrying DAVP ads,” said Agrawal.

     

    ZNL posted a 14.2 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 185.5 million in the third quarter ended 31 December from Rs 162.5 million a year earlier.Its operating profit (Ebidta) in the third quarter stood at Rs 196.7 million against Rs 189.7 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

     

    The news broadcaster, which has seven channels in its portfolio, reported consolidated revenues of Rs 858.4 million in the third quarter, an increase of 10.1 per cent from Rs 779.7 million a year ago.

     

    Subscription revenue stood at Rs 222 million, down 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter, and up 15.2 per cent from the earlier-year period.

     

    Operating expenditure jumped 12.2 per cent to Rs 661.7 million due to increase in employee costs and other expenses.

     

    Carriage fee has only fallen marginally in the digitised markets. “There has been no significant reduction in carriage fee in the completely digitised markets of Delhi and Mumbai. It has not definitely gone as per the plans of the news broadcasters,” said Agrawal.

  • Government’s humps and bumps in 2010

    Government’s humps and bumps in 2010

    The year 2010 ended on a more positive note – at least as far as the private television channels were concerned.

    The commencement of the year 2011 also marked a new start from the television audience evaluation point of view with the Government accepting a report on TRP which itself gave the much-awaited approval to the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) launched by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation.
     
    And for radio – which had drawn a blank in 2009 – the start of 2011 came with the Government approving the e-auction for the long awaited Phase III of private FM Radio.

    The year 2009 had ended on a somewhat damp note with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry refusing to accept any more applications for the burgeoning television industry in the country and asking the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to study the issue with regard to availability of spectrum and related issues.

    But soon after the year began, I&B Minister Ambika Soni decided to accept new applications and not wait for the Trai report, which came later and decided against any cap on the number of channels in the country – which are already over 500.

    In its report in July 2010, Trai said there should not be any cap on total number of satellite based TV channels meant for downlinking and uplinking from India, but the eligibility criteria for registration of a TV channel should be revised to include experience in media sector.

    It also said the period of permission for uplinking/downlinking permission should be made uniform for 10 years. The permission fee should be revised and charged annually.

    The networth requirements should be revised for news and non-news TV channels and teleports and India should be developed as a teleport hub, it further said.

    The Ministry had requested Trai on 8 October 2009 to furnish its recommendations on review of policy on uplinking and downlinking of TV channels in India in view of the growing number of channels and in view of the fact that the Ministry had given permission to around 550 TV channels and a number of applications were pending consideration.

    The Authority recommended that the applications seeking permission for uplinking/downlinking of TV channels should be processed quickly and the decision on the application should be finalised within three months from the date of submission of fully compliant and eligible application. For this purpose, the I&B Ministry should explore the feasibility of setting up a single-window clearance mechanism. The Authority also gave recommendations relating to the fee structure.

    A total of around 260 applications for new television channels were still pending with the Ministry by the end of 2010.

    The Ministry introduced a ‘Satellite TV Channels Application Tracking System’ (STATS) to bring complete transparency in the entire system of approvals for new channels. This first-ever initiative allows applicants to get updates on the status of their applications online. Software developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) will enable companies to log on to an especially designed programme to know the status of their applications.

    Meanwhile, the first major step towards nation-wide audience research was taken with the Indian Broadcasting Foundation getting the BARC registered under Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956, and a high-level TRP Committee in its report approving this body.

    The BARC was set up as a joint venture between the IBF and the Indian Society of Advertisers on a 60:40 ratio and initial investment of Rs 300 million.
    Subsequently, every channel which wants to receive the ratings would have to subscribe to the BARC, the format of which would be decided by an eight-member Technical Committee headed by the ISA and having an equal representation from both the IBF and the ISA.

    BARC will not conduct audience measurement directly and instead will commission independent specialist research vendors.

    Almost two years after the news television channels came up with their own code, the general entertainment channels through the IBF also agreed on a “Self Regulatory Guidelines and Complaints Redressal Mechanism” for all non-news channels.

    With the introduction of these norms, and its adherence by all members of the IBF, the vast majority of all channels licensed by the Government will comply. This will include general entertainment, children and special interest channels.

    The redressal mechanism will be a three tier process: to first complain at the Broadcaster/Channel level; a seven-member Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (“BCCC”) at the industry (IBF) level; and finally a Content Appellate Board (“CAB”) of three distinguished members chaired by a jurist including a retired judge of the Supreme Court or High Courts.

    However, it waits to be seen whether the Government will accept this process in full, as indications say the Ministry wants a Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India manned by civil society representatives and experts in various fields, and headed by a retired judge.

    The IBF recommended that the Self-regulatory Content Guidelines be notified immediately for all Non-News channels under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995, replacing the present Programme Code which had been drawn up for Prasar Bharati and then extended to other channels.

    Soni reiterated in September 2010 that the government was committed to self-regulation of broadcasting content, but there was need to find a mechanism to make this functional. She said a task force headed by I&B Secretary Raghu Menon was finalising a report in this connection and action would be taken thereon once the recommendations are available. It had held discussions with all stakeholders before working to finalise its report.

    Towards the end of the year, however, the urgency for bringing a Content Code into effect was highlighted when the government clamped down on two controversial reality shows, Bigg Boss and Rakhi Ka Insaaf, pushing them from peak primetime viewing hours to an ‘adult‘ time zone that could have an adverse impact on their ratings and revenues. The former on Colors managed to go to Court and get an injunction, while the latter followed the directive.

    Pulled up for their raunchy content, the government allowed these shows to run only between 11 pm and 5 am. Big Boss 4 was then airing daily at 9 pm on Colors and Rakhi Ka Insaaf at 10 pm (Friday-Saturday) on Imagine TV, time slots that are popular among TV viewers and advertisers.

    A ban was also put on repeat on any other time band for these two shows, and even news channels were barred from carrying content from these shows before 11 pm.

    The government also banned SS Music, a multi-lingual music channel, for seven days for allegedly showing nudity, following a recommendation by the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) comprising representatives of the ministries of Information and Broadcasting, and various child rights and women’s rights organisations.

    Twenty-four out of the total 118 warnings and show cause notices issued to various private television channels for programmes or advertisemets related to indecent representation of or denigrating women.

    According to official figures, the matter is pending in only three of the 24 cases, in which the final order is being issued shortly in two cases (TV 5 and Jai Hind TV) and the reply is being examined in the third (SS Music). These three are among the five cases of 2010, the other two being those of UTV Bindass and MTV.

    There were eight notices each in 2007 and 2008, and three in 2009 relating to depiction of women. While the matter was closed after receiving replies in some of the cases, the concerned advertisement/programme was modified in others, and warnings issued in some others.

    Interestingly, the news channels got a major relief from the Delhi High Court during 2010 which said sting operations are not unethical and ‘citizens can act as agent provocateurs to bring out and expose and uproot corruption’.

    “I consider that it is built-in fundamental duties that every citizen must strive for a corruption-free society and must expose the corruption whenever it comes to his or her knowledge and try to remove corruption at all levels more so at higher levels of management of the State,” it added.

    However earlier in the year, the Central Bureau of Investigation had told the Supreme Court that journalists can be prosecuted on corruption charges for conducting sting operations to expose corruption in public life. A party to a sting operation, allegedly undertaken to expose corruption by public servants, can be liable for prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, if he/she does not inform the law enforcing agency before or immediately after the sting, it said.
     

  • News Channels: Sensation-fatigue, government’s attitude and regional channels will decide future content

    So, as one captain of the industry says, if the advertisers stay with the credible, then some channels will die out and TAM would have to ask itself serious questions, or “there will be no place for it in the Indian TV news market”.

    Lastly, come to the Content Code. If anyone feels that the government will wait and wait and not act till the news channels give in their draft, slated for this month end (but one never knows), then it would be foolishness.

    This is a precarious position for the ruling UPA and with Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh going the BJP way, it will be even more circumspect in dealing with the media. And yet, it is after all not the parties in power but the bureaucrats who bring out the pending issues in front of successive new ministers and make them do the things they want.

    Many bureaucrats –not necessarily just the ones in Shastri Bhavan – have suffered due to stings and for many of them, controlling content is important. So electoral concerns may have made Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh ask I&B minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi to soft pedal for the moment, but the government will ultimately set up the regulator and the code will be in place. At least, that is what Shastri Bhavan insiders have given us to understand.

    In the year to come, content will be shaped by a few things, of which the first will be the government’s attitude to it and that will largely be patterned on how the news channels behave vis-?-vis the government. They can do some serious work on their own Code and the chances are that the government will accept it, just as it had adopted the ASCI code for advertisement. However, if the attitude of the NBA is to play footsie with the government, they could well kill their own chances of governing themselves, which is the best thing one can wish for.

    The second deciding factor would be what some see as fatigue setting in on sensationalism, which even Naqvi has warned about. The channels themselves are running out of sensational ideas that are new and more importantly, that would last, for all the experiments have at last died, and the pace of mortality of newer ideas is increasing.

    The third will be the government’s position on TAM, and it has warned TAM when the CEO failed to turn up for a Parliamentary Committee meeting in Mumbai at the end of this year. If the government – and in all probability it will, because that is a way of controlling content without talking of the much hated Code imposes certain modes of operation and measures TAM must take for rating channels, it will have a direct impact on content.

    Last but not least, and though it will take some time, is the massive oncoming growth of regional channels and their own niche content that would drive the mainstream channels to do a hard rethink.

    For the moment, the proponents of serious journalism are assured, with IBN 7 seeking relief in the fact that they did touch 14 per cent and are doing better business than rival India TV; NDTV seeing market assurance from the fact of its grossing the second tallest figures, and CNN-IBN as well as NDTV going into the diversification drive emphasising that the serious guys are not about to fall by the wayside.

  • ‘Any attempt to gag freedom of media in garb of regulation has to be resisted’

    ‘Any attempt to gag freedom of media in garb of regulation has to be resisted’

    But, television viewer has only one option, to change the channel, if he/she doesn’t find the content interesting. Because TV viewers don’t have the option of skipping the news report and watching something else, as they might do with a newspaper. Therefore, at any given time television will have to put the best possible visuals on air. And it has been observed that if the viewer finds the story interesting, he stays on – else he shifts to another channel. So to stay in the rating game a TV channel has to give such content that makes the viewers stick with it.

    Therefore, the point to be noted is that the content on TV is not being controlled by the content maker, i.e, the journalist, but someone else who has the remote control in his hand. Basically the channel surfers, today decides the content and not an avid news watcher.

    Another observation is that news channels behaved like typical Bollywood producers in 2007. That is, if a certain formula was a hit, it was copied and you had a wave of that formula. Likewise in TV news, first came a wave of family drama, matrimonial discord, violence, divorce… People lapped it up. Once the novelty factor was gone, the audience got bored.

    Then came, ghost stories. So one after another channels started showing horror stories. While this content was very short lived, it was also alleged that some of the news reports were concocted. There might be some truth in these allegations, too. Just as it was proved in the Uma Khurana case (where a school teacher from Delhi was made a victim of a fake sting operation). Stories such as these do dent the credibility of the media, but the damage is limited.

    After ghost stories, came the Baba wave. Followed by amazing videos. This was a completely new phenomenon. In these videos, channels showed people doing crazy things. But finally this too seems to be nearing its end.

    Hence I believe that classical news will perhaps never die. Because, it is truly “new”, everyday. It’s unique and touches society. So amazing videos, Baba syndrome, ghost stories are fading in comparison to real news.

    This realisation is both internally generated and induced. Induced, as the government is considering a Broadcast Bill. Yet the handling of the bill raises many questions.

    I have stated earlier – freedom of press comes with some responsibilities. This freedom is critical for nation building. But freedom does not mean anarchy. It is necessary to give deep thought to what impact certain news will have on society. Then why are we opposing the Broadcast Bill? Because when the draft bill was brought out, it became very clear that the government wanted to bring in such a mechanism which can gag the media.

    Amazing videos, Baba syndrome, ghost stories are fading in comparison to real news
    _____****_____

    I strongly feel that self regulation is the need of the hour and to achieve this, we need a truly independent and free media body, with a transparent method of electing its members, which is funded by the media, runs its own independent office, and has some powers to deal with channels that flout guidelines. Currently this responsibility has been undertaken by the News Broadcasters Association, which has brought together editors of all news networks to work on the industry’s content code.

    But one thing is clear. Government can’t gag the media and any ‘regulation mechanism’ which is in the hands of bureaucrats or any such body which is directly or indirectly controlled by the government in any way is not acceptable to us.

    Coming to the issue of the media concentrating on the urban scenario and not doing ‘real’ stories – the rural stories… I do not think this will change vastly. Media will naturally give content that is relevant to the market it addresses. And it is that market which will assess its success or failure. Similarly, the channels will also modify their content as per the market’s needs and response, for instance, it would have been noticed that business content has vanished from most general news channels. While stock market has been hitting the roof, audiences prefer to watch business news channels for this news rather than general news channels. Hence most Hindi news networks did away with their business news bulletins.

    The changed economic reality has tremendously impacted the middle class psyche. Therefore the middle class does not relate to issues that they used to be concerned with a few years ago. So the content mix today cannot be the same as it was a decade ago. The viewer today is different. Plus, we have more than 50 per cent of our population below the age group of 25. Needless to say their taste and psyche is different and this changed reality today dictates the media’s content mix. We found this change quite apparent when Headlines Today showed the wedding of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. Though it may be termed routine coverage, during these two or three hours, Headlines Today reigned supreme, all other English news channels paled in comparison.

    This changed content mix has dominated Hindi news for a while and we should accept the fact that it is here to stay. Similar will be the scene among English language news channels also, with the growth in audience base. So now we have to cast a new dye for moulding this new content. In today’s world, both technology and market are driving content – just as mobile phones have changed telephony, and sms has changed English.

    As for our channels, it is extremely satisfying that we have retained the number one position despite a virtual dogfight in the TV news market. We are proud to present balanced news content. Though this is a remarkable achievement for Aaj Tak, we are aware of the challenges ahead. A number of new channels coming in the fray and with a growing audience base, it will be our effort to retain our number one position – both in terms of content perfection and market share.

  • Government not forcing regulator on broadcast media: Swarup

        
    NEW DELHI: Ministry for information and broadcasting secretary Asha Swarup today reiterated the fact that the government had no intention of forcing checks on broadcasters in the country and that the aim of the Broadcast Regulatory Authority Bill (BRAI) was only to set up an independent regulator.

    She also denied reports that there was any proposal under the proposed Bill or Content Code to bar television channels from conducting sting operations. However, the aim was to ensure that there was no violation of the right of privacy of any individual, as had been seen in some sting operations.

    Swarup was delivering the keynote address at the Indian News Television Summit organised by Indiantelevision.com in the capital. The day-long meet culminating with the NT (News Television) Awards in the evening has been endorsed by the ministry.

    The secretary expressed optimism that the Broadcast Bill would be introduced in Parliament during the monsoon session. She said incorrect reports about the Bill in the media only resulted in more delays in finalizing the draft of the legislation.

    She said in reply to a question that the public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati would also be brought under the ambit of the Bill.

    Both the legislation and the Code were being drawn up keeping in view the sensitivities of the Indian viewer, she said. It was therefore in the interest of the industry that there should be a Bill and a Regulator who is independent and impartial.

    She urged private news channels to share the duty of the public service broadcaster by showing some public service programming. There was need for more positive stories which could motivate people. 

    She noted that there were almost 90 to 100 news channels in the country if one counted all regional channels and those that have news bulletins. There had been an annual growth of 18 per cent in the television industry. But all this gave rise to the basic question – what kind of news do Indians deserve?

    She also said that while there was need for news channels to show care and sensitivity while presenting news, she said accuracy and impartiality should also not be given a go-by. She said that there was also need to help in the maintenance of public order. Repetitive telecasts of old clips of violence only sent out wrong messages. 

    Answering a question after her presentation, she said that the Content Code was being shown to representatives of associations of various stakeholders on 20 July and would then be finalised for being put on the ministry site mib.nic.in for eliciting the views of people.

    Earlier, Indiantelevision.com CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari said that the future of the television industry was very bright with more entrepreneurs getting into the industry, both in India and overseas. He announced that indiantelevision.com would be organizing a Digital Summit in October.

    Indiantelevision.com editorial director Thomas Abraham said in a presentation that news channels had earned Rs 9.8 billion as revenue from advertisements during 2006-07. He said that this was expected to go up to Rs 12.5 billion this year. India today had 116 million television homes of which 75 million were connected to cable and satellite.

    Asking if the news broadcasters were being able to reach out to specific genres and segments, he observed that news has to be more interactive and has to find ways to reach out to all communities.

    In a presentation giving the Citizen’s Voice, ICICI Bank executive director V Vaidyanathan said that a total of 51.9 million mobiles were being added every year and one in every Indian today owned a personal computer. And now people were taking to web phones. Growth was no longer an option, it just had to happen. He said that communication methodologies were changing both for the urban and the rural Indian.

  • Government concerned over content in TV news channels

    NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi today wondered why news channels tended to sensationalise entertainment news, and said he would meet editors of the news channels next month in this connection.

    The minister expressed his concern on two occasions, first while addressing a seminar on gender parity in the media on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, and then in his reply in the Lok Sabha to the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2007 making it mandatory for all cable operators to show Lok Sabha TV and two terrestrial channels of Doordarshan.

    He said 60 per cent of the time on news channels was taken by entertainment news, and very
    little time was given to serious news. There was also a tendency to sensationalise, and gave the example of the ’28 seconds of Shilpa Shetty kissing’ which was shown by channels throughout the day. Noting that the ‘poor woman’ (Shilpa Shetty) was suffering, the minister said ’28
    seconds of Shilpa Shetty kissing was shown 28 times, 48 times, 88 times, even 100 times. Is it for commercial purposes, TRP purposes? In a country of 1 billion people, I don’t know how this becomes breaking news.”

    Dasmunsi was referring to the kissing incident between Hollywood actor Richard Gere and filmstar Shilpa Shetty at a function here to raise AIDS awareness among truckers last month, which had led to a case in Rajasthan and demands for Gere’s arrest for “violating Indian culture”.

    He also said while Indian media barons and employers were enjoying ‘freedom of press’, they did not allow ‘freedom of journalists’. “In India we have freedom of press – yes; but freedom of journalists – not yet. Sometimes journalists work in most pitiable conditions,” commented the minister. He alleged, “75 per cent journalists in India are voucher paid (as against regular salaried employees). Does this reinforce the freedom of press?”

  • Government warns of stiff action against erring TV channels

    Government warns of stiff action against erring TV channels

    NEW DELHI: Even as the AXN channel has been allowed to resume telecasts in India following an apology, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has expressed its unhappiness at the fact that the channel should have ignored warnings about its content.

    Sources in the ministry tell Indiantelevision.com that the channel, which was banned on 17 January for two months (till 15 March), “did not even acknowledge the notices of the ministry in this regard, leave aside responding to them.” AXN had been banned for telecasting programmes like The World’s Sexiest Advertisements, which the ministry felt “were against good taste or decency and were likely to adversely affect public morality.”

    I&B Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi had said recently that the government was concerned about the content being aired on electronic media and has warned of suitable action in case of violations of the Cable Television Network (Regulation) Act 1995.

    He had noted that some of the programmes being telecast on TV on different channels had poor quality content and women were depicted in a degrading fashion in advertisements etc. “We have to be very tough in this regard,” he had noted. Though he did not name any channels, it is learnt that they included FTV and Zee Café, apart from AXN.

    The ban order under Section 20(2) of the Act was lifted in view of the assurance by AXN that it would put in place a more effective self regulatory mechanism to ensure that the programmes and the advertisements telecast on the channel are in compliance with the Act.

  • Government lifts ban on AXN after apology

    Government lifts ban on AXN after apology

    MUMBAI: The government has cleared the decks for the return tomorrow of Sony’s action channel AXN, which had been banned on 17 January charged with showing “obscene programmes”.

    The information and broadcasting ministry declared today that effective 1 March, it was lifting the ban order it had issued against AXN. The decision follows an apology tendered by the channel as well as a commitment to put in place a significantly improved and more effective system of self-regulation in order to ensure that programmes and advertisements telecast on it “do not create further problems in the future.”

    It was on 17 january that the government slapped a two-month ban on the channel for telecasting programmes such as ‘World’s Sexiest Advertisements’ that according to the ministry “were against good taste or decency and were likely to adversely affect public morality.”

  • Government committed to bridging digital divide: President

    Government committed to bridging digital divide: President

    NEW DELHI: Appreciating the need for empowering the citizen with modern information technology, President APJ Abdul Kalam today announced that the year 2007 will be the ‘Year of Broadband’ as the government was committed to bridging the digital divide by providing broadband coverage throughout the country.

    In his address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on the opening day of the Budget session, Dr Kalam said, “Our Information Technology sector continues to develop and remain globally competitive,” adding that, “My government will take forward the National Identity Card Project under the National e-Governance Plan for nationwide roll-out in a phased manner so as to ensure better delivery of services to our citizens.”

    He said the government was encouraging the growth of the electronic hardware industry and the semiconductor industry.

    He also said the Right to Information Act was one means of empowering citizens, adding that it had often been said that eternal vigilance is the price of democracy.

    The President said a Vision for the development of an empowered S&T base by 2015 had been prepared. Steps will be taken to attract talent, rejuvenate university research, enable women scientists to re-enter careers in science, strengthen technology business incubation processes, promote excellence in research, engage private sector in R&D and create greater science awareness and a scientific temper among the people. The financial allocation for science and technology will be increased from less than 1% of GDP to 2% of GDP.

    He said that to sustain the efforts in the advanced fields of modern science and technology, there was need to increase the number of scientists and improve the quality of Indian science. The Government was deeply concerned about the inadequate enrolment of students in basic sciences and said Indian science is lagging behind other newly industrializing economies. India needs a new thrust in the field of science and technology.

    The National Knowledge Commission had submitted its first report placing emphasis on the need to invest in education at all levels of the knowledge pyramid. Several new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Information Technology were proposed to be set up in various parts of the country.
     

  • Dasmunsi urges diaspora role to reflect changing India

    Dasmunsi urges diaspora role to reflect changing India

    MUMBAI: Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs, PR Dasmunsi while addressing the session on ‘Media and Indian Diaspora’ at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divasstated that the Indian diaspora should act as a medium to reflect the changing scene in India.

    The Minister said that the spate of development in India is carrying along with it the democratic values, freedom of the Press and other pillars of Indian democratic system and is not just growth from the economic point of view.

    This perspective, he said, needs to be conveyed to the world at large for showing a true picture of emerging India. The Minister appreciated the role of Indian diaspora in providing a window to us all for a better understanding of the systems and values operational worldwide.

    Delineating recent changes brought in the regulatory and facilitative framework for the print as well as electronic media in the country, Dasmunsi said that Indian Press enjoys enormous freedom. The interaction between the Government and the Media is on democratic and friendly lines.

    He lauded the support and cooperation of the media to the Government in hours of crises to keep in check the designs of divisive forces. The Minister felt that the Indian media based abroad can exploit the ongoing boom in the electronic media in news as well as programme based channels in the country.