ITV

Tag: Prasad

  • Former I&B minister Prasad shot at, attacker lynched

    NEW DELHI: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former information and broadcasting minister Ravishanker Prasad was wounded in an attack by a lone gunman at an election meeting at Nokha in Bihar’s Rohtas district today.

    The attack, which took place while Prasad was addressing an election meeting in the state, wounded him in the arm and the incensed crowd immediately turned on the as-yet unknown assailant, injuring him seriously. According to doctors, the attacker is presently in an unconscious state.

    Prasad collapsed on the dais after the shooting, Press Trust of India, quoting official sources, said. The injured Prasad was immediately flown in a helicopter to Bihar’s state capital of Patna where he was admitted to a private nursing home.

    The BJP, battling to regain some power in the near-lawless state of Bihar, could make this a plank during the forthcoming elections, scheduled to take place next month.

  • Services sector accounts for half of India’s GDP: Prasad

    MUMBAI: In the session dedicated to the services sector at the AAAI Diamond Jubilee seminar, TV Today chief executive officer G Krishnan said that the two things on everyone’s mind today were jobs and the Sensex.

    He said that 2004 had been a great year for jobs in India in the IT, BPO, telecom, retail and financial services sector. On the other hand, a query that most seem to have is – Now that the Sensex has crossed the 7000 mark, when will touch 8000?

     

     
    “The services sector accounts for half of India’s GDP, which can be touted as a watershed in the Indian economy. This sector is growing at a fast pace. Be it in the tangible or intangible form, the services sector has transgressed all forms,” Krishnan said.

    The speakers for this session were Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co. CEO S V Prasad and Airtel chief marketing officer Atul Bindal.

     
     
    Prasad said that since today there was easy availability of finance, there is a rising affordability among consumers. There is a rise in the per capita income and change in lifestyle of most Indians. “Outsourcing has seen a rampant growth and India’s talent pool is driving the global economy. Also, the Indian equity in the market is getting better. This is what is driving the growth in the Indian services sector,” he said.
     
     
    Bindal said that the growth in the telecom sector has happened in the last two years. “As of June 2005, India has 47.7 million fixed line subscribers, 56.9 wireless subscribers and 104.6 telecom subscribers,” he said.

    Airtel has mono brand architecture across India. Bindal listed out the key shifts and trends in the market that will ascertain the future of brand Airtel. They are:

    Moving from brand = image to brand = experience
    Less rivalry among the players
    Challenge of scooping the next 100 million subscribers
    Changing the buying behaviour of customers from handset, plan, and service provider (in that order) to service provider, plan and handset.
    Non-voice will be the differentiator
    Strategic partnerships for content (Bollywood), and
    Technology led media planning and delivery.

  • Maa TV in revenue share deal with 12 Telugu producers

    Maa TV in revenue share deal with 12 Telugu producers

    MUMBAI: In a major strategic shift Telugu channel Maa TV has entered into a revenue sharing arrangement with Telugu film producers to telecast the latest blockbusters. This is in a market where acquiring a blockbuster costs over Rs 10 million per film.

    The channel, which is placed in the fourth position in Andhra Pradesh, is adopting a strategy where it plans to hit rival networks with a Thursday premiere movie. Market leaders Gemini and ETV telecast popular soaps during that prime time slot.

    Maa TV has so far remained underdogs in the market with a weak mix of programming; primarily musical, chat and news, and current affairs shows. The channel has stayed away from soaps as a strategy.

    “In Telugu, Gemini serials are very strong. To break this daily serial sequence, we wanted something different. We are relying on blockbusters and latest movies to give others a fight,” says Maa TV executive director Rajendra Prasad.

    Prasad says Maa TV has signed a minimum guarantee agreement with 12 Telugu film producers. The agreement is valid for a period of two to five years and the channel pays the producer Rs 2 to Rs 6 million, depending on the movie and the time period.

    “Once the agreement expires, the producer can either renew the contract or go out of it. But if they decide to sell the movie rights, we have the first right of refusal,” says Prasad, adding that the channel has also acquired perpetual rights to some movies.

    According to Telugu film market sources, approximately 150 movies get released every year. The cost of TV acquisition rights to a blockbuster movie ranges from Rs.10 million to Rs 15 million. For an above average box office performer, the cost varies from Rs 4 million to Rs 7 million and a normal movie costs in the range of Rs 2.5 million to Rs 3.5 million.

    Sun Network acquires a majority of movies released in Telugu every year to telecast in its two channels Gemini and Teja, followed by ETV.

    Maa TV claims that its experiment to telecast new movies in the Thursday prime time slot (7 pm to 11 pm), which it launched on 13 January, has already met with success. The channel says its telecast of the blockbuster movie Satya on 27 January got top ratings during that time slot, ahead even of Gemini.

    Maa TV is expected to telecast 20 new movies including blockbusters in the coming weeks. Some of the big movies the channel has lined up include Dhanu51, Radha Gopalam, Yevadi Gola Vadide, Manasu Maata Vinadu and Anand. Among these, Radha Gopalam and Manasu Maata Vinadu are slated for release this month.

    To improve its position in the market, Maa TV is also betting on events. The channel is conducting the 2005 edition of its mega star event Tollywood cricket trophy on 13 February. The channel has roped in Lifebuoy as main sponsor and Head & Shoulders, IOC and Andhra Bank are co-sponsors. It expects to rake in Rs 15 million as profit from the event on an expenditure of Rs 35 million. The channel has also lined up a Ms Andhra Contest for the third week of March. On 10 April, Maa TV is celebrating its third anniversary with a star night event.

  • STBs should also be offered on rent: Centre

    NEW DELHI: The central government today came into play to resolve the conditional access imbroglio in South Delhi area by issuing a notification that makes it mandatory for cable operators to offer consumers an option of taking set-top boxes (STBs) on rent. 
    The government also made it clear that the outcome of CAS in South Delhi would decide whether it would be rolled out in other parts of the city as well. This was conveyed even as Delhi CM Sheila Dixit met information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today to assess the Delhi situation.
    Talking to reporters after the meeting, Prasad also hinted that it is only in deference to court’s directive that CAS was being sought to be rolled out in South Delhi.
    Dixit, on her part, said that her government is still new in office, though it is trying its best to see CAS remains consumer friendly. She also said that sub-divisional magistrates would monitor CAS rollout in the absence of a regulatory body.
    Both the Centre and the Delhi government have agreed to also set up a dedicated consumer court to settle cable-related disputes.
    However, Dixit evaded questions pertaining to the state government’s laxity in dealing with CAS.
    The notification issued by the I&B ministry states: “Every consumer must be given a choice of either purchasing a STB outright or acquiring it through rental scheme which will entitle him to a refund, should he not wish to use the STB for any reason”.
    Prasad also reiterated what he had stated in the Parliament yesterday. He said, “We would expect all stakeholders to settle any corporate rivalry… Failure to address these issues adequately would certainly jeopardise the implementation of CAS in other areas.”
    However, both Prasad and Dixit have ruled out rolling back CAS implementation for the time being.
    Meanwhile, additional secretary (broadcasting) in the I&B ministry Vijay Singh held a review meeting with the Delhi MSOs and expressed the government’s apprehension on lack of adequate education to South Delhi consumers.
    The MSO assured the government that though the education process is on, “more concerted efforts would be made till 1 January”.
    Pointing out that about 20,000 boxes have already been seeded in the market, Jawahar Goel, head of Siti Cable, said the cable industry is doing everything in its powers to educate the consumers. He said, if cases of forcible selling of boxes had been reported, then they may have been exceptions.
    Hathway Datacom’s president (operations) for the North Indian region, S N Sharma, said that with the signing of an agreement with Zee Turner, Hathway CAS subscribers in Delhi would also get the Zee and Turner channels.

  • Govt committed to encourage b’casters for self-reg: Prasad

    NEW DELHI: The issue of censorship on television cropped up in a different way today when members of a parliamentary panel expressed their concern at the growing vulgarity on television.
    However, while sharing the parliamentarians’ concern, information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated that the government was committed to encourage the broadcasters to “exercise self-regulation” in airing content on television.
    The participating members at the meeting expressed concern at the growing vulgarity in the music videos (the usual suspect!), film promos and surrogate advertisements on television. Some of the parliamentarians were of the opinion that many television programmes were not fit for family viewing.
    The contrary view was also expressed insisting that the government should still strive only for self-regulation.
    The attempt made by a Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, journalist-turned-film entrepreneur Pritish Nandy, to question the government’s role in deciding what Indians should see or not see could not hold its ground as the I&B minister and others made a strong case for some decency on the small-screen.
    Still slightly taken aback by the public and media outcry on a government proposal that only `U’ certifiable content should be shown on television channels beaming into India, Prasad today morning told members of the Consultative Committee attached to his ministry that the government has no intention to “police” the contents of the broadcasting sector.
    Prasad was of the view that the television medium on its part has to be more cautious while adhering to self-regulation and pointed out that desirable levels were not being maintained.
    He said the ministry has received a number of complaints from various non-governmental organisations and the National Women’s Commission regarding indecent portrayal of women, violence and surrogate advertisements being telecast on various channels.
    The minister said that in order to frame and enforce regulating guidelines from time to time for the content on TV and radio, the government is considering setting up of a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority, comprising experts from different walks of life.
    Some of the members pointed that with over 100 television channels showing programmes in India and more than 40 million cable TV homes in the country, the government should strengthen its monitoring network to keep an eye on what all was being shown to the people at large.
    Concern was also expressed on the pitiable portrayal of women in the entertainment programmes, which was creating an impression that efforts were not being made to empower women.
    (The government is so taken up with the so-called vulgarity on the small screen that it has not even thought of the regressive portrayal of women in many of the soaps.)
    Meanwhile, Prasad also mentioned the popularity of Doordarshan’s newly relaunched 24-hour news channel, which, he said, was a testimony to the fact that Indian viewers were interested in serious content and efforts have to be made by all concerned to cater to this need of the viewers.
    Those who attended the Consultative Committee meeting today included Hannan Mollah, Ajay Maroo, A.A..Shaheen, Pritish Nandy, E.M.Sudarsana Natchiappan and Balkavi Bairagi.

  • Broadcasting needs regulator: Prasad

    NEW DELHI: Minister for information and broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that there is a definite need for a separate regulatory body for electronic media.

    Speaking on the occasion of the National Press Day celebrations here yesterday (Sunday), the minister indicated that the Press Council of India’s recommendations, on the need to have a mechanism aimed at regulating the fast growing television network, was under active consideration.

    He said the content and advertisement on televisions need to be codified and he proposes to put the issue to national debate before arriving at an applicable conclusion.

    According to Prasad, empowerment of the Press Council was desirable but not at the cost of impinging on the freedom of press.

    The minister said the media has a vital role to play in strengthening the democracy and, thus, acquires a natural right to inform without fear. A free press can exist in a vibrant democracy therefore it is imperative on the part of press to strengthen democracy. It needs to keep in mind the grass-root realities and report without any biases. The right to inform has to be the integral role of media it should also shun pessimism and notice positive developments of the society, he added.

    Prasad said that the media in India is undergoing a “total metamorphosis” and its institutional role was being threatened by corporate commerce. The traditional role of media has come under question because of immense competition and cross-media ownership, he pointed out.

    Pointing out that the institutional role of media needs prominence and the government on its part has no intention to intervene, Prasad said that the same time media also needs to be careful and a responsible pillar of society.

  • Prasad underscores programme code implementation

    NEW DELHI: India’s information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said there would be strict implementation of the programming code for TV channels.
    In reply to a question by Shyama Singh and Subodh Ray in Lok Sabha (Lower House of parliament) today, Prasad said that the Programme Code provides that care should be taken to ensure that programmes meant for children do not contain any bad language or explicit scenes of violence. The Act also provides that programmes unsuitable for children must not be carried in the cable service at times when the largest numbers of children are viewing.
    He said that any programming on TV channels transmitted or retransmitted through the cable television network is required to adhere to the Programme Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and Rules framed there under.
    The Programme Code, inter alia, provides that no programmes should be carried in the cable service, which is likely to encourage or incite violence or contains anything against maintenance of law and order or which promote anti-national attitudes, contravenes the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and is not suitable for unrestricted public exhibition.
    As far as pubcaster Doordarshan is concerned, Prasar Bharati, which is overseeing the functioning of DD and All India Radio, has informed that all serials scheduled for telecast are subjected to preview to ensure conformity with the broadcast code of Doordarshan and suitability for family viewing.
    The Act provides that any authorized officer, that is district magistrate or commissioner of police or any other officer notified in the official gazette by the Central Government or the State Government may by order prohibit any transmission re-transmission of any programme or channel if it is not in conformity with the prescribed Programme Code.
    The Central Government has also constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee under Section 20 of the Cable Act to look into the violations of the Programme Code, either suo-moto or on receipt of a specific complaint. The government is vigilant in this regard and is committed to dealing expeditiously and effectively with any breach of the Programme Code, Prasad said.
    As regards public exhibition of films, the same are released after certification from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) under the provisions of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the guidelines framed there under. The guidelines under the Act, inter alia, provide that the scenes depicting anti-social activities, such as violent modus operandi of criminals, scenes tending to encourage, justify or glamourise drug addiction, glorifying drinking etc., are not depicted and these are being strictly adhered to.
    Funds for Doordarshan 
    An amount of Rs. 10430 million has been provided for in the tenth Five-Year Plan for modernization of DD stations and replacement of old equipment.
    Replying to a question by Nivedita Mane and Sadashivrao Dadoba Mandlik in Lok Sabha today, Prasad said that augmentation of facilities at Doordarshan Kendras and replacement of equipment is a continuous process and schemes in this regard are implemented from time to time, depending upon the availability of resources.
    Newspaper circulation shrinks
    The total circulation of newspapers has come down from over 130 million in 1999 to around 115 million in 2001 as per the claims of newspapers, Lok Sabha was informed today.
    The number of newspapers from whom annual statements were received by the Registrar of Newspapers had also come down from 6,032 in 1999 to 4,780 in 2001, Prasad said during Question Hour. Their number in 2000 stood at 5,915.
    He said the Economic Times Entertainment had cited the World Advertising Trends 2000 to report that the amount spent on advertisement in print media in 1998 was about Rs 38,200 million.
    Asked as to what percentage of ad revenue was being spent for journalists welfare, Prasad said that while the managements of newspapers were primarily responsible for the welfare of their employees including journalists, the expenditure made by them on welfare measures was not reported to the I&B Ministry.
    The government, he said, had set up a Journalists Welfare Fund to provide immediate relief to family of journalists who lose their life or suffer permanent disability.
    However, the minister did not dwell on the fact whether the drop in newspapers’ circulation has resulted in increased television viewing or if there is some link between the trend in the print medium and the electronic medium.
    Part-time correspondents
    The government has proposed to engage 278 more part-time correspondents, raising their strength to 524. This will entail additional annual expenditure by approximately Rs. 89 lakhs. The Press Trust of India (PTI) and the United News of India (UNI), India’s two domestic wire services, are being paid annual fee at the rate of Rs 71.016 million and 
    Rs 57.678 millions respectively. The government is not doing away with the services of PTI and UNI. This was stated by Prasad while replying to a question by Suresh Ramrao Jadhav in Lok Sabha today.

  • Interoperability of STBs discussed in Upper House; standards prescribed by BIS, says Prasad

    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Communications and IT has raised the issue of interoperability of set-top boxes (STBs) to be used in the implementation of conditional access system (CAS), Rajya Sabha was informed today.
    “While interoperability is not being insisted upon, it has been provided in the standards prescribed by the Bureau Of Indian Standards (BIS) that manufacturers and service providers shall declare to the subscriber the capability of STB and its interoperability on various networks in the instruction manual to be supplied with the STB,” information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply. “The ministry of I&B is seized of the issue,” he added.
    The minister said, on 31 July, 107,882 STBs had been imported by various multi-system operators (MSOs) and orders have been placed for more such boxes, adding the cost of these ranges between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000.
    However, the government is not importing STBs, he clarified. In reply to another question, Prasad said government is examining the matter of regulating advertisements on pay channels.
    Dwelling on direct-to-home (DTH) television services in the country, the minister said that as of now no company has been given a licence to operate such a service.
    Pointing out that there is no time frame for the start of a DTH service in India, Prasad said as far as pubcaster Doordarshan’s DTH project is concerned, the scheme of ‘Ku-band’ transmission is yet to be approved by the competent authority, Department of Space, which has informed Doordarshan that it would be able to provide the required number of Ku-band transponders for this service.
    FDI in print medium
    If foreign investment in the electronic medium is taking up lot of government’s time, a group of ministers on foreign direct investment (FDI) has recommended that the proposal to allow 100 per cent FDI in scientific magazines and journals be placed before the Cabinet, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
    “GoM on FDI has recommended the proposal for placing the publication of scientific and technical magazines, periodicals and journals for 100 per cent FDI through the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) route for consideration of the Cabinet,” minister of state for commerce and industry Vidyasagar Rao said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
    The GoM has recommended raising FDI caps in telecom, civil aviation and oil and natural gas for the Cabinet’s consideration, the minister added.

  • I&B commissions new programmes for overhaul of North East channels

    NEW DELHI: An amount of Rs 80 million and Rs 105 million, respectively, was allocated to Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Guwahati and PPC (NE) Guwahati for commissioning of programmes in 2002-’03, information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said.
    As a reply to questions posed by BJP member Indramoni Bora in the Rajya Sabha, Prasad, said that 1,487 episodes were commissioned for DDK’s producers from the northeast and 1,379 episodes to PPC Guwahati.
    Replying to another question on the northeast, Prasad said that the 24-hours Northeast Satellite Channel was started on 27 December 2000, with a view to extend coverage to the population in the hilly terrain.
    According to Prasad, the required capital outlay of Rs 3,213.5 million, projected for the period 2001-’02 to 2004-’05, will be spent in four phases. A number of special programmes have been commissioned, which include those with development themes, cross border terrorism, militancy, magazine programme on events and achievements in the northeast and a fiction serial on an award-winning novel .
    Prasad said that the northeast channel is also available outside the region through satellite. About Rs 1,421 million has been approved mainly to upgrade the programme service for the 24-hours satellite channel.
    Meanwhile, the government has stated that a core group has been set up to consider amendments to the copyright act and different groups of the music industry have made their submissions with regard to retention/ deletion/ modification in Section 52 (1) (i) of the Copyright Act 1957.
    Replying to a question by N P Durga in Rajya Sabha, Prasad said that the nodal ministry for the Copyright Act, 1957, is the ministry of human resource development. He added that in 1999, the Copyright Division started the exercise of amending the Copyright Act, mainly to bring it in consonance with WIPO Copyright Treaty 1996, and WIPO Performance and Phonogram Treaty, 1996, and the TRIPS Agreement.
    Prasad said that there is no unanimous view of the entire music industry on Section 52 (1) of the Copyright Act.

  • Prasad escapes Parliament grilling on Star News

    NEW DELHI: India’s defence ministry came to the defence of another government outfit, the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry – in a manner of speaking.
    As the Parliament’s Lower House (Lok Sabha) was adjourned for an hour in the forenoon over a controversial parliamentary committee report on defence issues, washing away the question hour for the day, I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad must have heaved a sigh of relief.
    The Opposition had planned to target the government during the Question Hour on another contentious issue of Rupert Murdoch’s Star allegedly flouting various regulations related to the media.
    Pandemonium prevailed in the Lok Sabha as the Opposition and the treasury bench members raised slogans and counter-slogans over the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) issue, leading to the adjournment of the House till 12 noon.
    Had the Question Hour gone on schedule, Prasad would have had to face a barrage of questions from Opposition parliamentarians on the contentious Star and the conditional access (CAS) issues. Since the first question listed for the day on Star News was a starred one, Prasad would have had to give a verbal reply that could have made the whole thing tricky.
    Though Prasad had very ably defended the government’s stand on Star News, it’s alleged flouting of guidelines and implementation of CAS earlier in Rajya Sabha on 6 August, a direct assault on the government on Star in Lok Sabha could have evoked fireworks. More so, as a section of the media today reported — officially denied by parties concerned — that Star is tying up with Congress Party’s KK Birla-owned Hindustan Times Ltd. for Star News and also forays into the print medium.
    Meanwhile, as soon as the House assembled at 11 am, speaker Manohar Joshi allowed Congress chief whip Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi to speak on a notice seeking suspension of question hour as the dignity of the Lok Sabha had been lowered by a statement made in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) yesterday commenting upon the functioning of the PAC.
    “Only the Lok Sabha or its speaker had any right to comment upon the functioning of the PAC, whose chairman was appointed by the speaker,” Dasmunshi said. Further, the PAC had initially had members only from the Lower House and later on members from the Rajya Sabha were included only as associate members.
    As such, the PAC has remained and continued to be ”within the domain” of the Lok Sabha, he argued and demanded suspension of question hour to discuss the issue. The speaker was of the opinion that Dasmunshi had raised a pertinent point, but would not suspend question hour to discuss the issue, which could be raised during zero hour or some other occasion.
    Prasad may have got away lightly today, but the Opposition can still raise the issues related to his ministry.