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Tag: I&B ministry

  • I&B Ministry took action on 91 complaints against TV channels since 2012

    I&B Ministry took action on 91 complaints against TV channels since 2012

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry took action on 91 complaints between 2012 and August 2015 against various private television channels, the Parliament was told today.

     

    This included warnings, advisories, apology scrolls, and prohibiting transmissions of channels for a fixed period, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said.

     

    A budget of Rs 22.41 crore has been set aside in the budget estimates for the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC), which is mandated to look at all private satellite television channels uplinked from and downlinked into India.

     

    The fund allocation for the same in 2014-15 was Rs 27.46 crore, while in 2013-14 was Rs 20.54 crore.

     

    The Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) set up to look into the violations suo-motu or whenever violation of the Programme and Advertising Codes took action on 91 complaints against various TV channels since 2012.

     

    The IMC has representatives from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Defence, External Affairs, Law, Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare, Consumer Affairs and a representative from the industry in Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI). IMC meets periodically and recommends action in respect of violations. 

  • Number of MSOs for DAS areas touches 429 with 200 provisional licensees

    Number of MSOs for DAS areas touches 429 with 200 provisional licensees

    NEW DELHI: Even as two months remain for digital addressable system (DAS) Phase III deadline of 31 December, 2015, a total of 429 multi system operators (MSOs) had obtained licences for DAS as on 21 October.

     

    Of these, 226 MSOs have 10-year licences, whereas 203 have obtained provisional licences since the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has still not received any formal communication of the Home Ministry’s decision to do away with security clearances for MSOs.

     

    According to the last list issued on 30 September, the Ministry had registered a total of 400 MSOs including 173, which were provisional.

     

    Thus while there has been no increase in the number of permanent (10-year) licence holders, the number of provisional MSOs has gone up to 203.

     

    According to the list put on the I&B Ministry’s website, Kal Cables and Digi Cable Network Pvt Ltd of Mumbai remain on the cancellation list.

     

    Thirteen MSOs, which had earlier been granted permanent licences were permitted to change their areas of operation. 

     

    The only new entrant in the permanent licence holder is Nilgiri Cable TV Private Ltd for the third and fourth phase of DAS in Tamil Nadu.

  • Sangeet Marathi gets license from I&B ministry; goes on air

    Sangeet Marathi gets license from I&B ministry; goes on air

    MUMBAI: The new Marathi music channel from Media Worldwide Limited finally began beaming on Indian television on 18 September at 9.50 pm after receiving its license from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry.

     

    Called Sangeet Marathi, the channel will cater to music lovers in Maharashtra with regional and Marathi film songs. After Sangeet Bangla and Sangeeth Bhojpuri, this is Media Worldwide’s third offering to the regional music channels space.

     

    Sangeet Marathi has brought in Fair & Lovely from Hindustan Unilever as its exclusive launch partner and a series of activities are in store in the upcoming weeks surrounding the launch.

     

    “We all very excited about finally launching Sangeeth Marathi tonight. We will soon arrange press conferences across Maharashtra to bring the channel closer to people. Starting this Sunday, we have will also ensue large scale OOH promotions including billboards. We are also using our other channels in the network to spread the word out about Sangeet Marathi,” Media Worldwide Limited CEO Prashant Chothani told Indiantelevision.com, shortly after getting their license approved from the I&B ministry for the channel launch.

     

    “One can also expect some below the line activities across the state, where we plan to engage our viewers and get them familiar with Sangeet Marathi,” Chothani added.

  • FM radio Phase III frequency allocation to bidders completed in three rounds

    FM radio Phase III frequency allocation to bidders completed in three rounds

    NEW DELHI: The frequency allocation of successful bidders in the FM radio Phase III was completed in three rounds of half-hour each today, following the closure of the channel allocation stage yesterday (8 September) after 125 rounds of bidding spread over 32 days.

     

    There was no time gap between two consecutive rounds. The e-auction commenced on 27 July and was completed today (9 September) with the frequency allocation stage.

     

    During the frequency allocation stage, provisional winning bidders were allowed to select FM frequency for the winning channels from the frequencies already identified in the respective city and as mentioned in the Notice Inviting Applications of 2 March read with subsequent amendments.

     

    Frequency selection preference was based upon the rank of the bidders – that is, Rank 1 bidder had the first preference to choose from the frequencies already identified.

     

    At the closure of the e-auction, 97 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1156.9 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore. Thus, the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price by Rs 697.05 crore or 151.58 per cent.

     

    The overall cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 606.72 crore or 110.27 per cent.

     

    The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry will announce the names of successful bidders at a later stage. According to the ministry, the current auction is indicative of the future growth of the private FM radio sector.

     

    This is the first time that private FM channels have been offered through Simultaneous Multiple Round Ascending (SMRA) e-auction. This auction design has enabled bidders to take informed decisions while placing bids and consider alternatives dynamically.

     

    Out of 15 channels in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states, 12 channels got provisional winners with the city of Guwahati getting provisional winning price more than ten times its reserve price. 

     

    The first batch of private FM Radio Phase III channels comprised 135 channels in 69 cities that had already got FM in Phase II. However, there were no bidders for 13 cities namely Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The entire process of FM Phase-III roll out including the e-auctions was overseen by an Independent External Monitor in consultation with the Central Vigilance Commission.

  • JS Mathur promoted as special secretary in I&B Ministry

    JS Mathur promoted as special secretary in I&B Ministry

    NEW DELHI: Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Jitendra Shankar Mathur has been promoted as Special Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

    Mathur was until now serving as additional secretary in the same Ministry and was also heading the Task Force for the Digital Addressable System (DAS) for the final two phases. He was also overseeing the auction of the first stage of FM Phase III.

     

    An officer from Madhya Pradesh cadre in the 1982 batch, Mathur now joins the Selection Grade.

     

    His tenure on deputation to the Centre ends on 30 October this year.

     

    The post of special secretary is often referred to as officer-in-waiting for appointment as secretary in the Union Government.

  • FM Phase III 1st stage comes to a close with bids for 97 channels in 56 cities

    FM Phase III 1st stage comes to a close with bids for 97 channels in 56 cities

    NEW DELHI: Clocking just one round as compared to four daily rounds on the 33rd day, the first stage of the FM Phase III channel allocation stage has been closed with 97 channels in 56 cities became provisional winning channels with cumulative provisional winning price of about Rs 1156.9 crore against their aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore.

     

    While there were no bids for FM channels in 13 cities, there was no activity even the smaller 31 cities that have so far got bids of Rs 1 – 9 crore.

     

    However, the government, which had said the e-auction would continue as long as there was even one bidder – claimed that over 71 per cent channels of the first batch were provisionally won by bidders.

     

    Thus, the summation of provisional winning prices surpassed the cumulative reserve price of the corresponding 97 channels by Rs 697.05 crore or 151.58 per cent.

     

    Overall, cumulative provisional winning price exceeded the total reserve price of the first batch – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 606.72 crore or 110.27 per cent. 

     

    At the top are three cities namely Delhi at Rs 169.16 crore for one channel, Mumbai at Rs 122.81 crore for two channels and Bengaluru at Rs 109.25 crore for one channel.

     

    The position is the same for other cities having got bids of more than Rs 10 crore with Chennai at Rs 53.38 crore, Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore, Pune at Rs 42.03 crore, Jaipur at Rs 28.34 crore, Chandigarh at Rs 19.04 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore, Patna at Rs 17.89 crore, Varanasi at Rs 17.49 crore, Cochin at Rs 15.04 crore, Nasik at Rs 14.66 crore, Lucknow at Rs 14 crore and Jodhpur at Rs 11.44 crore. Kolhapur was not very far behind with a bid above Rs 9 crore at Rs 9.44 crore.

     

    Cities like Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar and Jodhpur witnessed robust bidding activity with provisionally won price being as high as 800 per cent over the reserve price for their channels. Overall, 18 cities got provisionally won bidders for their channels at prices more than double the respective reserve prices. The winning price rose by more than 100 per cent above their respective reserve prices in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolhapur, Nasik, Patna, Pune, Rourkela and Varanasi, all of which got provisional winning bidders at prices more than double the respective reserve prices.

     

    The cumulative winning price is exclusive of the migration fee, which will take the total revenue even higher, sources in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry said.

     

    The government said e-auction of the first batch consists of two stages – channel allocation stage, and frequency allocation stage. After the channel allocation stage, the frequency allocation stage will commence tomorrow.

     

    During this stage, the provisional winning bidders will be allowed to select FM frequency for the winning channel from the frequencies already identified in the respective city and as mentioned in the notice inviting applications of 2 March, 2015 read with its subsequent amendments.

     

    Frequency selection preference would be based upon the rank of the bidders: that is, Rank 1 bidder would have the first preference to choose from the frequencies already identified. It may be noted that all the identified frequencies were made available for selection and included in the NIA.

     

    After the e-Auction process is over, the government will notify the list of successful bidders.

     

    The Auction Activity Requirement rose to 100 per cent after the 59th round on 14 August, after being 90 per cent after the 37th round on 7 August.

     

    The 13 cities that eluded bidders are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in the 124th round in Hyderabad.

  • Ad cap case to be heard on 23 September, news channels seek clarity on MIB stand

    Ad cap case to be heard on 23 September, news channels seek clarity on MIB stand

    NEW DELHI: The challenge to the advertising cap of 12 minutes per hour by the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) and others in the Delhi High Court will be heard on 23 September.

    The NBA sought adjournment on the ground that it wanted to discuss the issue with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to seek certain clarifications.

    According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, this comes in the wake of a statement made by I&B Minister Arun Jaitley in January this year that there should be no ad cap in the print or electronic media.

    The order that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will not take action against any channel pending the petition will continue. In an earlier hearing, the Court had, at the regulator’s instance, directed that all channels keep a record of the advertisements run by them.

    The NBA had challenged the ad cap rule, contending that TRAI does not have jurisdiction to regulate commercial airtime on television channels.

    Apart from the NBA, the petition has also been filed by Sarthak Entertainment, Pioneer Channel Factory, E24 Glamoru, Sun TV Network, TV Vision, B4U Broadband, 9X Media, Kalaignar, Celebrities Management, Eanadu Television and Raj Television.

    The news and regional broadcasters fear that the capping of commercial airtime will curtail their ad revenues. They also argue that the ad cap must be brought only after the benefits of cable TV digitisation start showing. 

    Meanwhile, TRAI recently released results of their records, which show that around 36 news channels apart from 105 General Entertainment Channels (GECs) have violated the ad cap by telecasting ads for more than 12 minutes an hour.

  • Day 31: All top winning cities show bids lower than clock round price in FM Phase III

    Day 31: All top winning cities show bids lower than clock round price in FM Phase III

    NEW DELHI: There was virtually no activity on the 31st day in the FM Phase III e-auctions with the cumulatve winning price at the end of the 124th round rising by just Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1156.9 crore.

     

    The smaller 31 cities that have so far got bids of Rs 1 – Rs 9 crore will call the shots as there appear to be no bidders for the larger cities.

     

    The overall cumulative provisional winning price has risen over the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 606.72 crore or 110.27 per cent.  

     

    However, apart from the fact that 13 cities have not got a single bidder despite a month having passed, it is interesting that all the cities whose prices have remained static for a long period have in fact got bids lower than the clock round price (given in brackets in each case): Delhi – Rs 169.16 crore (Rs 170.86 crore) for one channel; Mumbai – Rs 122.81 crore (Rs 124.04 crore) for two channels; and Bengaluru – Rs 109.25 crore (Rs 110.34 crore). 

     

    The same also stands true for other cities having got bids of more than Rs 10 crore namely: Chennai at Rs 53.38 crore (Rs 53.92 crore), Ahmedabad at Rs 42.68 crore (Rs 43.11 crore), Pune at Rs 42.03 crore (Rs 42.45 crore), Jaipur at Rs 28.34 crore (Rs 28.63 crore), Chandigarh at Rs 19.04 crore (Rs 19.23 crore), Hyderabad at Rs 18 crore (Rs 18.18 crore), Patna at Rs 17.89 crore (Rs 18.07 crore), Varanasi at Rs 17.49 crore (Rs 17.66 crore), Cochin at Rs 15.04 crore (Rs 15.80 crore), Nasik at Rs 14.66 crore (Rs 14.80 crore), Lucknow at Rs 14 crore (Rs 14.14 crore) and Jodhpur at Rs 11.44 crore (Rs 11.55 crore). 

     

    The number of channels remained the same – 97 channels in 56 cities, and the bids showed a minor rise in the cumulative reserve price by Rs 697.05 crore or 151.58 per cent against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore. The Percentage Price Increment applicable for the Next Clock Round remained nil in all cities. 

     

    Cities expected to enter the Rs 10 crore club in the next few days appear to be Jodhpur, Kanpur, Rajkot, Amritsar, Madurai, and Aurangabad which have all got above Rs 6 crore each.

     

    The 13 cities eluding bidders are Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in the 124th round in Hyderabad.

     

    The winning price has risen by more than 100 per cent above their respective reserve prices in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneshwar, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nasik, Patna, Pune, Rourkela and Varanasi, all of which got provisional winning bidders at prices more than double the respective reserve prices.

  • Day 30: 120 bidding rounds completed in FM Phase III e-auction

    Day 30: 120 bidding rounds completed in FM Phase III e-auction

    NEW DELHI: Activity was seen in just one small city – Bareilly – and there was virtually no bidding on the 30th day in the FM Phase III e-auctions with the cumulative winning price at the end of the 120th round rising by just Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1156.8 crore.

     

    Clearly the bids for all the big cities appear to be over and it is now the smaller 31 cities that have so far got bids of Rs 1 – 9 crore that will call the shots.

     

    The number of channels remained the same as yesterday – 97 channels in 56 cities, but the bids took the cumulative reserve price up to by Rs 696.8 crore or 151.5 per cent against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore. 

     

    The cumulative provisional winning price has thus risen over the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 606.6 crore or 110.2 per cent.

     

    Cities expected to enter the Rs 10 crore club in the next few days appear to be Jodhpur, Kanpur, Rajkot, Amritsar, Madurai, and Aurangabad, which have all got above Rs 6 crore each.

     

    Even after 30 days of bidding, 13 cities elude bidder. The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in the 120thround in Hyderabad.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to five in Bareilly, which had a bid of Rs 47,23,425. It remained nil in the other cities. 

     

    The e-auction will now re-commence on Monday, 7 September.

  • Day 29: One month on, focus stays on smaller cities in FM Phase III bidding

    Day 29: One month on, focus stays on smaller cities in FM Phase III bidding

    NEW DELHI: With virtually no bidding on the 29th day in the FM Phase III e-auctions with the cumulative winning price at the end of the 116th round to rising by just Rs 4 lakh from yesterday to Rs 1156.6 crore today, the focus now appears to be shifting to the 31 cities that have so far got bids between Rs 1 – 9 crore.

     

    Even this minuscule rise could be attributed to the fact that the number of channels went up by one to 97 channels in 56 cities, though the total bids remained the same as yesterday being above the cumulative reserve price by Rs 696.7 crore or 151.5 per cent against the aggregate reserve price of about Rs 459.8 crore.

     

    The cumulative provisional winning price has thus risen over the total reserve price of the first batch of 135 FM channels in 69 existing cities – Rs 550.18 crore – by Rs 606.4 crore or 110.2 per cent.  

     

    Cities in the corridors leading to the Rs 10 crore club appear to be Kanpur, Rajkot, Amritsar, Madurai, and Aurangabad, which have all got above Rs 6 crore each. 

     

    After almost one month of bidding, thirteen cities still continue to elude bidders. They are: Asansol, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry, Rajahmundry, Siliguri, Tiruchy, Tirunveli, Tirupati, Tuticorin, Vijaywada and Warangal.

     

    The demand in most cities fell by up to three per cent and by four per cent below the excess demand at the price in the 116th round in Hyderabad.

     

    The Percentage Price Increment applicable for the Next Clock Round rose to five in Bareilly but was one in Jalgaon. There was no change in other cities.