ITV

Tag: Prakash Javadekar

  • Prakash Javadekar says UPA government suppressed media

    Prakash Javadekar says UPA government suppressed media

    MUMBAI: “There are 16 crore TV homes in the country, but only 8000 to 9000 peoplemters are being utilised to measure TRPs,” said Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar during his Mumbai visit on 21 June.

     

    The ever smiling Javadekar, did not fail from raising a few relevant issues even during his packed schedule. The Minister addressed the press on two occasions during the day. While he was the chief guest at the ‘Narad Gaurav Puraskar’ award ceremony organised by the Vishava Sanvad Kendra, he also was present at the Foundation Day celebration of the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh.

     

    Javadekar also stressed on how every channel was fighting to gain the maximum eye balls. “In this quest, every channel claims to be numero uno, but how is that possible and especially with only 8000-9000 peoplemeters measuring TRPs?” he questioned.  

     

    Every form of media, according to the I&B Minister, must evolve their own mechanisms which are independent to behave in a responsible manner. “Since India’s own freedom struggle, the freedom of the press has not come free. Great leaders have sacrificed and therefore the freedom of the press must be preserved,” he emphasised.

     

    The newly appointed Minister also dropped a word of caution. He said, “The UPA government had followed a draconian emergency mindset.”  He added that he has come some files pertaining  to a channel called Janam where the previous government had shown tremendous reluctance in providing the necessary licenses as one of its promoters was allegedly a RSS sarsanghchalak. “This should not be the case as the same principles should be followed for all channels,” he expressed.

     

    The channels promoters told a newspaper that they had been given the run around for a couple of years but a licence was issued with the explaination being that one of the channel’s promoters is associated with the RSS. They additionally informed the newspaper that those backing Janam  were NRIs and one of the promoters’ father was a RSS member.

     

    Javadekar has apparently written about this case to home minister Rajnath Singh, and it’s quite possible that its licence will be processed and cleared soon, says the newspaper.

     

    Commenting on the current media scenario, Javadekar concluded by saying that sensationalism is not journalism.

  • Government keen on promoting children’s films: Prakash Javadekar

    Government keen on promoting children’s films: Prakash Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that the government is keen on promoting children’s’ films by facilitating expansion of their reach as this would help in the all-round development of the young.  

     

    The Minister was speaking at a review meeting with the Children’s Film Society India (CFSI), in Mumbai on 21 June. He also held review meetings of media units like the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), the Films Division and the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

     

    The Minister said the films produced by the CFSI needs to be promoted and marketed well. “If the films are made and we are not able to release them, then the end result will be nil,” he observed.   

     

    Agreeing with a suggestion, Javadekar said the budget for promotion and marketing should be a built-in component of CFSI films’ overall budget. The minister observed that though CFSI films win national and international awards, they fail to reach wider audience due to weak distribution “We need to explore all options, including outsourcing of distribution to make our films  reach far and wide,” he added.

     

    The Minister complimented CFSI for organising the biennial Golden Elephant International Children’s Film Festival in Hyderabad, but said that there was a need to take the children’s film festival culture to many other cities and states. He said his Ministry would lend support to organising such film festivals in all the states of the country.

     

    Besides promoting films through conventional distribution channels, Javadekar also stressed on distributing them through informal rural communication channels with the help of Directorate of Field Publicity, supported by the Song and Drama Division. He said for this purpose, various religious and community fairs, jatras etc could be targeted to reach out to maximum audience.

     

    The Minister also held a meeting with a group of film producers and television industry leaders. Those participating in the meeting briefed the minister about various challenges being faced by the film industry and drew his attention to action required from his Ministry. Additional secretary (Films) Raghavendra Singh was also present in the meeting coordinated by Shaina N C and attended by Dalip Tahil, Durga Jasraj, Manish Goswami, and Raveen Kohli among others.

  • MIB gives ‘in principle’ clearance to recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati

    MIB gives ‘in principle’ clearance to recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati

    NEW DELHI: Even as Information and Broadcasting Minister (I&B) Prakash Javadekar has given his clearance ‘in principle’ to setting up recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati, it is learnt that a total of 1154 technical posts have been cleared by the relevant selection committees.

     

    These include programme executives, transmission executives, technicians, engineering assistants and duty officers, sources in Prasar Bharati told indiantelevision.com.

     

    These sources said that Javadekar had already held some meetings with senior officials of the pubcaster including CEO Jawhar Sircar and work was on to ensure a smoother relationship between the autonomous public service broadcaster and the government.

     

    Prasar Bharati had received clearance early last year for immediately filling up 1150 posts out of the 3452 posts which had been identified as critical and approved by Group of Ministers in June 2009.  

     

    The pubcaster has not had any senior-level recruitment since it came into being in September 1997, and the sources said that those posts which could not be filled out of these were held up because there is no Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board.

     

    The source said steps are being taken to set up the Board at the earliest so that the pubcaster does not face such difficulties in future.

      

    Earlier in March last year, the pubcaster had in a notice in Employment News notified Combined Recruitment for the Post of Programme Executive and Transmission Executive Examination for 1166 posts to be filled after interviews by the Staff Selection Committee.

     

    As of early 2013, there were 1362 vacancies in Group A, 1,584 in Group B, 4863 in Group C and 2272 in group D in All India Radio. In Doordarshan, 724 posts are vacant in Group A, 1140 in Group B, 2871 in Group C, and 1451 in Group D.

     

    All India Radio and Doordarshan had total staff strength of 33,800 against a total sanctioned strength of 48,022, leaving a gap of 14222 posts.

     

    The most critically affected areas were the Programme Wing and the News Services Division (AIR)/DD News.

     

    The Committee for Information Technology in 2012 regretted that Prasar Bharati had failed to live up to the assurance given by then Prasar Bharati chief executive officer that the recruitment boards for Prasar Bharati would be set up by 31 March 2011.

     

    It is understood that the Union Public Service Commission and SSC had both refused to select for a non-Governmental organisation, thus creating a new problem for the Ministry/Prasar Bharati.

     

    The proposal for setting up a Prasar Bharati recruitment board was approved by Prasar Bharati Board on 21 July 2010 and discussed in the Ministry and a final proposal was referred to the Department of Personnel and Training on 15 February 2011. DOP&T concurred with the proposal in June 2011 and the comments of the Department of Expenditure (DOE) were also received on 28 September 2011.

     

    The DoE had requested that a separate proposal be formulated for creation of posts for the secretariat of Prasar Bharati recruitment board and also requested for drafting of agreement containing terms and conditions of the members of the board. This had been done and the proposal sent to DoE in February 2012 and then to Law Ministry.  

  • FICCI welcomes MIB’s assurance of stable policy regime

    FICCI welcomes MIB’s assurance of stable policy regime

    NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has applauded the statement of Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar that the new government would follow a stable policy regime and time-bound speedy mechanism with transparency.

    FICCI also expressed satisfaction on the assurance of the Minister that providing information, entertainment and knowledge to the citizens would be the priority of his Ministry.

     

    “Opening 1000 community radio stations is a good move. This will help in spreading knowledge and information among the common citizens of the country and also will help in generating employment,” FICCI said.

    FICCI had earlier met the Minister and shared with him FICCI’s ‘Policy Roadmap for the Media and Entertainment Sector in India,’ comprising key recommendations for the television, film, print, radio, AVGC and live events sectors.

     

    FICCI expressed confidence that the implementation of these recommendations will provide the much-needed boost to the media and entertainment sector, which has tremendous potential for dynamic growth and multiplier effect on employment generation without much spending from the public exchequer. 

     

  • Government committed to communicating with people across media platforms: Javadekar

    Government committed to communicating with people across media platforms: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar today promised a stable policy regime with transparency and time-bound mechanism and said efforts would be streamlined so as to make the process of clearances speedy and transparent.

    He said while addressing the “CEOs Roundtable on Media & Entertainment” by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) that the government has always promoted the Media & Entertainment fraternity as partners in growth and would remain a facilitator to encourage the growth of the industry and provide a roadmap in the interests of the people.

    Javadekar said the potential of the Indian M&E industry is untapped and endorsed the CII vision of taking the Indian M&E industry to $100 billion by the end of this decade. He said the government will be “partner in progress” with the growth of the M&E industry.

    Reacting to suggestions from stakeholders, Javadekar said the policies of this government would be people-centric and would aim at meeting the aspirations of the common citizens. He added that providing information, entertainment and knowledge to the citizens would be the priority of the Ministry. Innovative approaches would be encouraged so as to ensure quality information.

    “This government is about communication and consensus. We will create a process in which decisions will be taken in four weeks which was taking four months earlier,” he said with reference to decisions pertaining to the broadcast sector.

    The Minister was categorical that the ongoing digitisation will not be abandoned, Radio phase III licensing will be processed faster, news allowed in FM radio, current DAVP rates will be relooked and self regulation advocated for print medium.

    The Minister also emphasised on the need for expanding the reach of Community Radio and aimed at opening up of 1000 Community Radio Stations in near future.

    Referring to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘Speed, Skill and Scale’, the Minister urged the media industry to strive to attain new heights.  

    Praising new-age technologies, he described how the social media platforms had changed the dimensions of news reporting.

    While recognising the importance of the Freedom of Speech and Expression he emphasised on the need for responsible journalism. Javadekar assured the stakeholders that their suggestions on various policy issues would be looked into in a time-bound manner.

    Earlier, I&B secretary Bimal Julka assured the media that the Ministry would work as a facilitator for the industry and would work towards single-window clearances ‘with no multiple grills’ for better transparency and accountability. He said the phase III FM Radio auctions will be completed by December 2014. Julka also made a request to the M&E industry to present budget proposals to his Ministry by 23 June to be presented to the Finance Ministry.  

    40 top CEOs of the M&E sector interacted with the Minister and were confident that pending decisions will not be further delayed by the new government. Issues related to broadcast, films, DTH, cable, radio, print, news broadcast were briefed by industry leaders at the CII roundtable.

     “We believe that the soft power of Indian M&E sector can bring innumerable benefits to the Indian economy. The M&E industry provides direct employment to around 10 million people and has the potential to double the number. This sector also is on the cusp of achieving the same global success that the Indian IT industry has achieved,” said CII president Ajay Shriram.

    CII Media and Entertainment Committee and group CEO, Viacom 18 Media, Sudhanshu Vats said accountability, clarity and foresight from M&E stakeholders will take the sector to new heights.

    In his opening address CII DG Chandrajit Banerjee said that an innovative push from the government in an enabling regulatory infrastructure and policy reforms will create a world class knowledge driven entertainment in India. 

     

  • FICCI proposes a road map for M&E to Prakash Javadekar

    FICCI proposes a road map for M&E to Prakash Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has called for constitution of a task force for improving screen density in India. This is also to ensure that entertainment tax is fully subsumed in the GST without creating a window for its levy at the local level.

     

    In a road map presented to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, FICCI expressed confidence that this would provide the much-needed boost to the Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector.

     

    A delegation led by FICCI president Sidharth Birla stated that the M&E sector had tremendous potential for dynamic growth and multiplier effect on employment generation without much spending from the public exchequer.

     

    The ‘Policy Roadmap for the Media and Entertainment Sector in India’ comprises key recommendations for the television, film, print, radio, Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comics (AVGC) and live events sectors.

     

    In a move that will cause a lot of consternation among working journalists, the industry body has called for abolition of the Wage Board Act for the print sector and for  urgent announcement of fiscal relief measures for newspapers.

     

    The roadmap calls for early enactment of the amended Cinematograph Bill so that the rights of all stakeholders can be protected.

     

    In the television broadcast sector, FICCI wants relaxation in FDI limits in news broadcasting and infrastructure status to the cable sector, apart from smooth and orderly implementation of digitisation.

     
    The body urged the government to ensure that the process of auctions under FM Radio Phase III rolls out smoothly without any further delays. The auctions should be completed by September or October this year and Phase II licenses which expire from April 2015 are extended well before the end-date.

     

    Referring to reduction in channel separation, the government must immediately accept Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendations so that an FM revolution can be brought about. A larger number of radio stations will also mean more job creation and a much wider programming variety for the people of each city. The chamber has also called for allowing news in an unrestrained manner and increasing FDI in FM radio to 49 per cent.

     

    For the AVGC Sector, it has recommended creation of an investment fund, incubation and market development fund, tax relief, skills and talent development, co-production treaties and focus on kids’ channel in terrestrial broadcasting space.

     

    FICCI expressed its gratitude to the Minister on his announcement regarding the launch of a dedicated channel for kids and animation content on the national broadcaster Doordarshan.

     

    Given the vast and intensive reach of Doordarshan across the country, this initiative will – by popularising kids and animation content – create a demand for original intellectual properties in the sector provide an enormous boost to its growth. Indian kids’ and animation content has long been battling the challenge of outpacing global competitors – and a dedicated forum for distribution such as an exclusive channel from the national public broadcaster will act as a boon for the sector.

     

    FICCI expressed the hope that appropriate steps will be taken soon by Prasar Bharati and Doordarshan to make the vision of a kids and animation channel in the public broadcasting space a reality in the very near future.

     

    It has been asking for creation of a dedicated kids and animation channel from Doordarshan for several years, and has been lobbying this initiative at various levels in the Ministry, as well as with Prasar Bharati and Doordarshan. FICCI had even taken a delegation of industry stakeholders to the Prasar Bharati CEO, a couple of years earlier and made a presentation for a dedicated kids channel by Doordarshan.

    The benefits of a ‘DD Kids’ Channel’ would be manifold: not only would it be instrumental in catalysing original IP creation for animation and kids’ content in the country but also serve as a medium for the dissemination of content that is uniquely Indian in its cultural ethos.

     

    While Indian myths and tales continue to be of interest to children in India today, broadcast content for children and animated shows continue to be largely dominated by foreign-made IPs.

     

    Thus, the launch of a kids and animation channel by the national public broadcaster would ensure greater exposure for Indian-made content, which would in turn give a new lease of life to diverse value-based indigenous stories and allow for their packaging in attractive formats that appeal to today’s children.

     

    The initiative will serve as a reinvigoration of our country’s rich cultural heritage and help inculcate quintessentially Indian mores and ethics in the young minds of India – compensating in some measure for the lost art of storytelling in today’s nuclear-family-dominant society. 

  • NBA seeks remedy from new I&B Minister

    NBA seeks remedy from new I&B Minister

    MUMBAI: With the new Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Prakash Javadekar taking charge of changing the way the Ministry works in the country, the entire media fraternity is keen to meet him and make him aware of the issues concerning them.

     

    The latest in the queue to meet the Minister is the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), a body that represents various national and regional news channels of the country. The group included NBA president and NDTV executive vice chairperson KVL Narayan Rao, vice president and MCCS CEO Ashok Venkatramani, India TV chairman Rajat Sharma, Zee Media group CEO Bhaskar Das and India Today group CEO Ashish Bagga.

     

    The main issues that were put forth were regarding carriage fees and the ad cap. “These are huge problem areas that need to be addressed because all news broadcasters are adversely affected. The minister has said that he would do whatever he can about our problems,” says a source.

     

    The NBA had challenged the ad cap regulation by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in TDSAT which was then taken to the Delhi High Court where it is currently pending trial. News broadcasters say that they have been severely affected due to carriage fees.

  • Legislation soon to accord ‘Institute of Eminence’ status to FTII, SRFTI: MIB

    Legislation soon to accord ‘Institute of Eminence’ status to FTII, SRFTI: MIB

    NEW DELHI: A separate legislation may be brought in Parliament to give both, the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute in Kolkata, status of ‘Institute of National Importance,’ Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said.

     

    His predecessors have been promising status of ‘Institution of National Importance’ not only to FTII and SRTFI but also the Indian Institute of Mass Communications for more than a decade, but this is the first time there has been talks of a separate legislation for the purpose.

     

    During his first visit to Pune, the Minister made it clear to its director and staff that he would ensure that funds availability would not be a problem for this premier institute. Javadekar held a discussion with director DJ Narain and the staff members, faculty and students.
     

    Addressing a press conference, he said FTII would be revamped with state of the art technology and there would not be any paucity of budget for the same. He said the Centre would give highest priority to accord FTII and the SRFTI.

     

    Interacting with students and faculty members of the FTII, he said the government would hold discussions with all stakeholders before finalising the draft of new Cinematograph Act.

     

    Narain informed media that according such a status would result in the recognition to FTII degrees in the field of academics and trained professionals from the institute would be able to pursue higher education abroad.

     

    Meanwhile, the Minister said while harnessing the potential of thousands of exotic locations all over the country for film shootings, the stumbling block is of payment gateway. For this, he added, that a single window system for clearance should also include a payment gateway.

  • Autonomy of the pubcaster would be protected: Javadekar

    Autonomy of the pubcaster would be protected: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Addressing a press meet at the Doordarshan Kendra in Worli, Mumbai, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government is committed to making Doordarshan the first choice of viewers across the country and a special provision will be made in the Union Budget for a total revamp of DD.

     

    Javadekar, who was in the western metropolis to make a full appraisal of the Mumbai Kendra of Doordarshan, held discussion with officials about future plans, said: “The blue print for revamp of national and regional channels of DD is being drawn and this will involve going for staff and artist recruitment on a large scale. I&B ministry is planning to change the look and feel of the national and regional channels of DD.”  
     

    The minister was however categorical that the automomy of the pubcaster would be protected.

     

    Apart from this, the government will shortly take a decision on permitting private channels to broadcast news of All India Radio. It may also consider permitting news of Press Trust of India or United News of India.

     

    Noting that the government gives huge half page or full page advertisements but they say very little, the minister said, “We are changing the operations completely. We will change all the designs to send across the maximum information that we can and also make it creative. We will crowd-source most of the advertisements where thousands of creative people or organisations will be asked to give their ideas about how to create advertisements. Then the best will be chosen and the top ten ideas will be awarded. This process will continue while designing most of the advertising campaigns.” 

    On a question relating to paid news, he agreed it was a ‘menace’, particularly during the run-up to the elections, but he would not comment as the matter was in the Court.

     

    “Stalwarts like Lokmanya Tilak had fought for the freedom of the press and their sacrifice should not be allowed to go waste,” he added.

  • DD’s competitive game plan

    DD’s competitive game plan

    MUMBAI: “It is my dream to make Doordarshan a success story,” said Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar at the recently concluded GoaFest.

     

    Indeed, what was once the only television channel and earned nearly 100 per cent revenue because of its monopoly has over the years become an ‘also-ran’, thanks to the satellite and cable TV explosion.

     

    DD recently undertook several new initiatives in a bid to reclaim its place under the sun. Just last month, the government-owned channel launched a dedicated slot for afternoon shows called ‘DD Dopahar… Aapke Ghar’ where between 12pm and 3pm, serials produced and directed by biggies from the television and film fraternity including Harry Baweja, Karan Razdan, Paintal, Sudhir Pandey and Maninee Dey are aired.

     

    Earlier this month, DD revamped its prime time evening viewing with five new shows namely Nadiyaan Gaati Hain, Bharat Ki Shaan: Let’s Dance, Earth Matters, Gaon Connection and Yatra. What’s more, in the coming months, the channel plans to re-brand itself with a view to better connect with its audiences. “Yes, we will re-brand DD National soon. It is on the cards and we are expecting it to happen by the end of the year,” confirmed Doordarshan directorate general CK Jain.

     

    The channel which holds the seventh position after general entertainment channel Sab, clocked 131 million GVTs in the week 23 of TAM TV ratings.

     

    According to Jain, it’s the right time for such a move, considering advertisers’ response has also been good. “For DD National, the advertisers’ response has been reasonably good, considering the fact that we still have the largest reach across the country. Our strength was towards terrestrial earlier. Our reach has been shrinking over a period of time. We are aware of that and we are trying our best to ensure that the viewership increases in C&S markets also. We are trying to enhance our viewership in these markets by upgrading the content,” he said. “We are trying to upgrade our prime time now with fresh content, but of course, we can’t compare ourselves with the big players.”

     

    An industry source opined that unlike GECs like Star Plus and Zee which are able to pump in huge monies on content, DD cannot afford to do so. “This is slightly a disadvantage of being a government body, where you have to follow certain procedures to acquire content,” the source said, stressing that DD would not spend more than Rs 300 to Rs 400 crore on new content.

     

    “The major part of expenditure goes towards infrastructure which takes away more than half their budget. If you really talk of today, terrestrial is very costly. This worries the management as they are unable to invest more money on content which is required. The management is trying to find solutions for it.”

     

    Meanwhile, a media planner expressed the view that while re-branding would definitely help DD get more viewers on-board, it would not help the channel compete with the big players. “If they are re-branding, the channel must have good reasons to do so. It will do well for the channel, but if they wish to compete with big players in the market like Star or Zee, they should be willing to spend some money on the content to reach that level,” he concluded.