ITV

Tag: Prasar Bharati

  • AIR to cover entire country through FM radio in phased manner

    AIR to cover entire country through FM radio in phased manner

    NEW DELHI: All India Radio (AIR) has decided to start FM Radio services throughout the country including rural and far-flanged areas in a phased manner, where FM service is presently not available.

     

    The criteria for choosing the locations include areas where there is no AIR FM service, strengthening FM coverage in the border areas especially in North East region as well as Jammu & Kashmir to counter cross border propaganda and consideration of several representations received by the people’s representatives of State and Central governments.

     

    At present, AIR FM Radio service is being provided from 373 cities/locations throughout the country.

     

    During the implementation of FM Phase III, AIR has selected 212 new cities/locations throughout the country. 

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar told Radioandmusic.com during an interview that he was conscious that digital radio mondiale (DRM) will ultimately take over, but this process may take some years and the attempt will be to reach out to the people through FM till affordable DRM sets are available.

     

    A total of 243 private FM radio channels are operational under existing Phase-II policy. Cities/towns with a population of 300,000 and above besides State Capitals were taken up for bidding during the first two Phases of FM radio broadcasting.

     

    Under the policy guidelines for expansion of FM Radio broadcasting services through private agencies (Phase-III), the government decided to e-auction 839 such channels in 294 cities/towns as per laid down guidelines. The e-auctions will be done in batches.

     

    Besides vacant channels of Phase-II cities/towns, Phase III will cover all other cities/towns with a population of above 100,000 according to the 2001 census are proposed to be covered at present, unless they are getting covered by adjacent cities/towns. In addition, 11 cities in border areas of Jammu& Kashmir and North Eastern States (with population of less than 100,000) are also included in the list.

  • Vividh Bharati now available on FM 102.8 MHz in Mumbai

    Vividh Bharati now available on FM 102.8 MHz in Mumbai

    NEW DELHI: The popular Vividh Bharati channel of All India Radio (AIR) in Mumbai is now available on FM mode on 102.8 MHz. 

    The FM Transmitter for this service was inaugurated by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore in Worli, Mumbai. 

     

    The channel, which was until now on Medium Wave, has been very popular over the past 50 years but saw a downfall in listenership with the coming in of the Frequency Modulation (FM), which is also available in car radios and mobile phones. 

     

    The inaugural function yesterday was attended by a galaxy of mediapersons, cultural luminaries, eminent personalities from Bollywood and broadcasting including actors Vikram Gokhale, Jackie Shroff,  Brijbushan and Vishwas Mehendale. Amin Sayani, who has been credited for the popularity of this channel with his vibrant voice and his knowledge about music, was also present. 

     

    VB Mumbai transmission begins at 05:55 AM and goes up to 11:30 PM. This service is in addition to the two existing FM services of AIR namely FM Gold and FM Rainbow. A dedicated 5 KW transmitter has been installed for the VB Service in Mumbai. 

     

    While Vividh Bharati services were available across most parts of the country on FM mode, it was transmitted only on Medium Wave in the four metros (with the highest population densities). 

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar sought to address this matter as he felt that this did not allow ‘people on the move’ in the four metros to enjoy Vividh Bharati’s superlative and varied content. 

     

    With the approval of the Prasar Bharati Board, the idea was presented to the current government when it took over, and the I&B Ministry supported the proposal as well. 

    Vividh Bharati is now available on FM mode in three metros of the country (Kolkata: 101.8 Mhz; Chennai: 100.5Mhz and Mumbai: 102.8Mhz) and will shortly also be available in Delhi on FM.

     

    Rathore said radio not only regales but also educates constantly. It is a companion and does not distract its listeners. “We have been listening to radio and simultaneously doing other mundane things,” he said.

     

    The 5 KW FM Transmitter will be upgraded to 20 KW FM in the near future and will cover a radius over 80 kilometres once installed and made operational.

  • No plans to launch a separate DD channel for documentaries: Jaitley

    No plans to launch a separate DD channel for documentaries: Jaitley

    NEW DELHI: The Government today said that Prasar Bharati has no plans to launch an exclusive Doordarshan (DD) channel for documentaries.

     

    It may be noted that earlier, the Films Division and the Indian Documentary Producers Association (IDPA), in separate proposals, had urged the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to launch a separate documentary channel.

     

    However, DD is soon launching a 24×7 channel exclusively for farmers and rural population of India, DD Kisan, which will be an educational-cum-entertainment channel encompassing all facets of life of a farmer.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said DD has also planned to launch an new additional 24×7 satellite channel for North East Region called Arunprabha.

     

    Meanwhile, consequent to the bifurcation of former Andhra Pradesh State into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, a new channel named Saptagiri from Vijayawada was inaugurated on 27 September last year to cater to the population of the state of Andhra Pradesh. 

  • Prasar Bharati makes 55 essential appointments for AIR & DD

    Prasar Bharati makes 55 essential appointments for AIR & DD

    NEW DELHI: In what it terms as a victory, Prasar Bharati has managed to appoint around 55 people in one stroke in All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD).

     

    The pubcaster has been permitted such a large number of appointments in one go after 21 years. These appointments, said to be the first batch, have come after the pubcaster struggled for three years to get clearances.

     

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar said in a tweet that the pubcaster had more than 2000 units to man and there were over 17,000 vacancies.

     

    The government had told Parliament last week that 3067 of the 3452 identified as essential category posts in AIR and DD, to be filled through direct recruitment, have already been revived.

     

    Another 38 middle/senior level programme posts have already been revived through deputations, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said.  

     

    The Minister admitted that there are 16,764 vacancies in AIR and DD as against a sanctioned strength of 46,756.  

     

    He said the Sam Pitroda Committee had recommended a complete manpower audit of the pubcaster and also draw up a re-deployment scheme. The Ministry had already asked Prasar Bharati to prepare an action plan in this connection, the Minister said.  

     

    Earlier in June last year, the then I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar had given his clearance in principle to setting up Recruitment Boards for Prasar Bharati, and Indiantelevision.com had learnt that a total of 1154 technical posts had been cleared by the relevant selection committees.

     

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

     

    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.

     

    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.

     

    AIR and DD 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 CEO 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 organization, thus creating a new problem for the Ministry as well as 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. 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 the Law Ministry.  

  • MIB mulls amendments permitting live coverage of counter-terrorism measures by security forces

    MIB mulls amendments permitting live coverage of counter-terrorism measures by security forces

    NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) is considering a proposal to prohibit live media coverage of counter terrorism operations by security forces. 

     

    Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore told Parliament that the Home Ministry wants amendments in the existing laws in this regard.

     

    The issue of coverage by television channels is presently part of the self-regulation guidelines drawn up by the News Broadcasting Standards Authority of the News Broadcasters Association. The Press Council of India had issued similar guidelines with regard to print media. 

     

    These guidelines were drawn up after the 26 November, 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Following a controversy that live telecasts of the counter-terrorism operations were in all likelihood been seen by the masterminds in Pakistan who had planned the attacks.

     

    As far as Prasar Bharati is concerned, it is governed by the Programme and Advertising Code which is also part of the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 and therefore equally applicable to private television channels.

     

    The Inter-Ministerial Committee examines complaints under the Act and the Rules drawn up a year earlier in 1994.

  • Soft launch of Kisan TV on 23 March; Prasar Bharati working on north-east TV channel: Jaitley

    Soft launch of Kisan TV on 23 March; Prasar Bharati working on north-east TV channel: Jaitley

    NEW DELHI: Kisan TV, which is slated for formal launch on Baisakhi Day 14 April as a 24-hour channel devoted to farmers and rural India, will have its soft launch on 23 March.

     

    In a report on action taken on promises made in the budget presented by him in July, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) had given its “in-principle” approval on 5 November. (This is the first time that a Finance Minister has appended an action-taken report on his last budget while presenting the budget for the new fiscal year.)

     

    Jaitley, who holds the Information and Broadcasting portfolio as well, said Prasar Bharati is also actively working on a 24×7 television channel for the north-east, for which the clearance of the SFC had been forwarded to the pubcaster on 24 September. The channel is expected to provide a strong platform to rich cultural and linguistic identity of the region.

     

    Referring to his announcements relating to Digital India, Jaitley said that a draft cabinet note on e-Kranti has been finalized, an Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) note on National Information Infrastructure had been circulated, an EFC note on Common Services Centre was under finalization, and the first meeting of the Apex Committee on Digital India was held on 26 November.

     

    The Kisan TV channel was to have been launched on Makar Sankranti Day (14 January) but Jaitley had now been assured that all arrangements would be completed by mid-April.

     

    In a meeting held in January, Jaitley sought full details of the work done on the channel, for which he had set aside Rs 100 crore in the Budget in his capacity as Finance Minister.

     

    However, the budget for I&B Ministry showed an allocation of Rs 90 crore for this in the year 2014-15 and the budget for 2015-16 shows an allocation of Rs 45 crore grants-in-aid. Of the Rs 90 crore allocated, only Rs 21.68 crore had been utilised as per the revised estimates for 2014-2015. 

     

    DD sources told Indiantelevision.com that the Minister had been assured that all preparations would be completed by mid-April. It was also stated that 14 April is a very important day for farmers as it marks the start of the sowing season.

     

    Noting that the proposed Doordarshan Kisan is a dedicated channel for the farmers to give them information targeted to address the wholesome edutainment needs of a farmer to adopt and adapt to modern scenario, the national broadcaster had in early December invited proposals for programmes under the Self Financing Commissioned (SFC) Scheme.

     

    DD sources said the content expected for DD Kisan will primarily address the developmental needs of the farmer addressing ‘Core Agriculture’, ‘Critical Support’ and ‘Essential Ancillary’ areas, keeping in mind the varied Agro-Economic Zones, Climatic Areas, Different Crops and the need to address the target audience spread across various states but will have to be entertaining and engaging.

     

    The content on DD Kisan will be in Hindi with regional dubbing.

     

    The genres for which it invited proposals are: Documentaries/Features (Field Based); Magazines/Docu Dramas (Field Based); Cookery Shows/Biographies; Daily Soap/Fiction Serials/Family Serials/Thrillers; film song based programmes; Reality Shows/Game Shows; and Mandi Bhav/Bazar Bhav/Agro Based Bulletins.

     

    In addition, DD Kisan will have a new segment for iconic characters plus Content Packaging where animation characters will convey the agricultural themes and desired messaging. It is expected that the participants under this category will also provide layouts of the channel’s packaging.

     

    It will also have a segment for edited feature films where the entire film is expected to be capsuled with anchor based presentation for 60 minutes.

     

    In the ‘Bazar Bhav’ /Mandi Bhav’ segments, updates from the Mandis including the template will be required to be provided, which would be required to give the core audiences suitable direction and help in the agricultural productive activity.

     

    To begin with, each producer has to send in the synopsis of 26 episodes but this may be extended if necessary.

     

    Under the scheme of self-financed commissioning, the Producer will produce the programme at his own risk and cost and on the selection of the programme, Doordarshan will market it, telecast the same and pay the producer for his services after a specified period of time.

     

    Self-financed commissioning of programmes through outside producers could be done for DD’s national channels, regional language channels, state networks, regional and local services.

     

    DD shall, at its discretion and in accordance with its programme requirements, select producers suo moto for production of programmes on its channels by following the procedure outlined below. DD may also consider proposals submitted by producers on their own.

     

    Ministry sources said Prasar Bharati had said inputs would be taken from different Agricultural Universities and Institutes to develop rich content for the channel and the same would  be disseminated among the farmers.

     

    DD is hoping to engage people in the fields of production as well as marketing in positions ranging from senior to mid to junior level.

     

    There are a total of 67 vacant posts of Post Production Professionals, Visual Graphics Designer, Record Keeper, Senior Videographer, Junior Videographer, Senior Production Executive, Production Executive, Senior Creative Editor, Creative Editor, Senior Presenter, Presenter, Copy Editor–Cum-Writer, Programme Trainees, Head- Sales & Marketing, and Senior Sales & Marketing Executive.

     

    Other steps being taken by Prasar Bharati for this channel include: production of in-house and outsourced content; liaison with relevant ministries to get inputs for channel content and for which advertisements will be issued; calculation of budget and expenditure for the channel; crowd sourcing for channel name, logo, jingles etc; issue of advertisement for channel packaging and branding along with look and feel and montage;

     

    A consultation meeting has been held with various educational institutes for a rich content and to create a ‘Resource Persons Group’ and this would be a continuous process.

  • I&B budgetary allocations up by Rs 600 crore; Prasar Bharati’s grants-in-aid upped

    I&B budgetary allocations up by Rs 600 crore; Prasar Bharati’s grants-in-aid upped

    NEW DELHI: The total budget of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been raised to Rs 3711.11 crore for 2015-16 against the revised budget of Rs 3176.80 crore (against the initial allocation of Rs 3316 crore) for the year 2014-15. This was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to the Parliament on Saturday, while presenting the Union Budget 2015 – 16.

     

    Additionally, the grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati have been also raised from the revised estimates of Rs 2361.54 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 2824.55 crore for 2015-16, apart from an investment of Rs 200 crore by the government in the pubcaster.

     

    The investment in the pubcaster was stopped over the past two years but has been revived this year in the budget for 2015-16.

     

    Although the grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati had provided for Rs 90 crore for the Kisan TV channel in the budget presented by Jaitley in July last year after the new government took over, the revised estimates for 2014-15 show the amount as Rs 21.68 crore and this amount has been raised to Rs 45 crore in the budget for 2015-16.

     

    An explanatory memorandum says that the grants-in-aid is meant for meeting salary and salary related expenditure. In addition, there is a proposal for Kisan TV for making available information to farmers across the country.

     

    (Expenditure on salaries of Prasar Bharati has fallen on the shoulders of the government since all Prasar Bharati employees, who were in employment as on 5 October, 2007 have been given deemed deputation status.)

      

    The allocation under ‘Secretariat – Social services’ covering centenary of cinema celebrations and digitisation of cable television among other things has gone up to Rs 235.23 crore as against the revised estimates of Rs 92.81 crore. Other subjects under this head include the National Film Heritage Mission, anti-piracy measures, promotion of Indian cinema overseas, production of films and documentaries, and setting up a centre of excellence for animation, gaming and visual effects. The explanatory note adds that Secretariat – Social services also covers expenses on development of community radio, and development support to the north-east as well as Jammu and Kashmir and ‘other identified areas’.

     

    The allocation under the Film Sector has been reduced to Rs 130.69 crore for 2015-16. The budget for the film sector for 2014-15 was Rs 135.81 crore while the revised estimates had put this figure at Rs 128.40 crore. There is an additional outlay of Rs 7.68 crore towards certification of cinematographic films.

     

    For the sixth year in a row, the government has not announced any investment in the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

     

    The allocation for Press Information Services, which includes grants to the Press Council of India has been marginally increased to Rs 71.45 crore from last year’s revised estimates of Rs 65.47 crore to meet the expenses for the Press Information Bureau, and the Press Council of India.

     

    For the first time after almost three decades, there is no allocation to the Press Trust of India for running the non-aligned countries news pool. (The pool had been established in the eighties but had gradually ceased to exist, although the allocation to PTI had continued.)

     

    The allocation to the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre has been reduced marginally to Rs 10.41 crore from the revised estimates of Rs 12.52 crore in 2014-15. The EMMC was set up for monitoring television and radio channels for violation of programme and advertising codes.

     

    The allocation for advertising and visual publicity has been more than halved to Rs 91.02 crore against the revised estimates of Rs 210.48 crore and budget allocation of Rs 230.37 crore for 2014-15, covering expenditure incurred by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity for publicity campaigns through advertising and other printed materials, as well as through radio, television, exhibitions and other outdoor campaigns.

     

    The allocation for research and training in mass communication has been raised marginally to Rs 26.26 crore as against the revised estimates of Rs 24.48 crore and the budgetary allocation of Rs 33.54 crore for 2014-15. This covers the Indian Institute of Mass Communication and the Research and Reference Division of the I&B Ministry, which collects and collates basic information on subjects of media interest for providing assistance to the Ministry and to its media units, Indian missions overseas, and newspapers and news agencies.

     

    There is an increase in the lump sum provision for projects/schemes for development of North-eastern areas including Sikkim to Rs 92 crore for 2015-16. The budgetary allocation had been Rs 100.5 crore in the 2014-15 but had come down in the revised estimates to Rs 75.2 crore.

     

    The Minister has also proposed a Centre for Film Production, Animation and Gaming in Arunachal Pradesh for the North Eastern states. Though there is no separate budgeting for it, Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that this will come under the lump sum provision for the North East and from the Development of North Eastern Region Ministry.

  • Over 3000 posts in AIR, DD revived for filling through direct recruitment

    Over 3000 posts in AIR, DD revived for filling through direct recruitment

    NEW DELHI: The Government has said that 3067 of the 3452 identified as essential category posts in All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan to be filled through direct recruitment have already been revived.

     

    Another 38 middle/senior level programme posts have also been revived through deputations, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Lok Sabha on 27 February.

     

    The Minister admitted that there are 16,764 vacancies in All India Radio and Doordarshan as against a sanctioned strength of 46,756. 

     

    Rathore said that the Sam Pitroda Committee had recommended a complete manpower audit of the pubcaster and also asked to draw up a re-deployment scheme. The Ministry had already asked Prasar Bharati to prepare an action plan in this connection, the Minister said. 

     

    In June last year, the then I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar had given his clearance in principle to setting up Recruitment Boards for Prasar Bharati, and Indiantelevision.com had learnt that a total of 1154 technical posts had been cleared by the relevant selection committees.

     

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

     

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

     

    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 CEO 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.  

  • Age of superannuation for all employees continues to be 60 years: Prasar Bharati

    Age of superannuation for all employees continues to be 60 years: Prasar Bharati

    NEW DELHI: In an attempt to put an end to the controversy that had arisen around six months back about announcers and radio jockeys in All India Radio (AIR), the Government told Parliament today that “the age of superannuation for all employees of Prasar Bharati (including announcers and newsreaders) is 60 years.” 

     

    Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said this information had been conveyed to the government by Prasar Bharati. 

     

    In October last year after talks of voice modulation tests raised controversy, All India Radio had said it will not consider the age of its radio jockeys when conducting skill and voice modulation tests.

     

    Noting that ‘monotony is venom for any broadcaster’, AIR Director General F Sheheryar had told indiantelevision.com at that time that a broadcaster needs to recreate itself to remain popular. 

     

    While stressing that none of the radio jockeys were permanent employees and were on contract for presenting programmes for a maximum of six days a month, Sheheryar said that some of the presenters had gone to court in Kolkata but had lost the case. 

     

    He stressed that most of them were either employed elsewhere and working part-time for AIR or were doing this work as a hobby or to supplement income. ‘None of them are employees of AIR,’ he emphasised. 

     

    He said that the rule relating to voice modulation and skill tests for radio jockeys beyond 35 years of age had always been there, but AIR will concentrate on the tests instead of considering the age. 

     

    Sheheryar had said, “AIR has no plans whatsoever to sack anybody. We would conduct a voice test for all and ensure each casual/ RJs/Announcer gets a chance to prove their versatility in front of the microphone.”

     

    Earlier in mid-June, AIR had clarified that the directive asking certain presenters and radio jockeys to quit because they have crossed the age bar for the channels in which they were working was only implementation of the relevant audition rules.

  • Supreme Court to hear Cricket World Cup live telecasts appeal in July

    Supreme Court to hear Cricket World Cup live telecasts appeal in July

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed that the special leave petition to appeal by Prasar Bharati against the order of the Delhi High Court with regard to World Cup Cricket telecasts will come up for hearing on a Tuesday in July “in view of the importance of the matter.”

     

    According to the order of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Prafulla C Pant, which became available today, the Court said ‘we are of the view that the interim order passed earlier to the effect that the impugned order dated 4 February of the High Court shall remain suspended should continue until further orders.’

     

    The judges also said, “It is our considered view that at this stage we ought not to consider the submissions made on behalf of the parties on the merits of the controversy as the same may have the effect of prejudicing either of the parties.”

     

    However, the Court said it was ‘not inclined’ to consider the suggestion made by Star Sports that Doordarshan should set up an extra/special channel, which has been contended by Prasar Bharati to be unviable and technically unfeasible within any reasonable period of time.

     

    “Though an offer has been made on behalf of respondent No. 4 (Star India) to make available its expertise and personnel to aid Prasar Bharati, we are not inclined to consider the said offer made on behalf of the respondent. The first suggestion put forward therefore does not merit acceptance,” the Court said.

     

    On the second suggestion about putting up a scroll to the effect that “the channel displaying the sports event (concerned ICC World Cup 2015 matches) is meant only for Doordarshan,” the Court said, ‘acceptance of the said suggestion would be understanding the provisions of Section 3 of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007 and Section 8 of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 in a particular manner, which is not warranted at this stage of the proceedings. We, therefore, decline to accept the said second suggestion advanced on behalf of the respondents.’

     

    Meanwhile, the judges said the parties may exchange pleadings, if required.

     

    In an additional affidavit filed at the instance of the apex court, Star India had said that it was losing around Rs 290 crore every year by sharing its sports signals with Doordarshan every year and was expecting to lose around Rs 120 crore by sharing the telecast of the World Cup this year. (Under the Act, the rights holder gets 75 per cent of the revenue from the telecast on DD which keeps the balance 25 per cent.)

     

    On the suggestion by Star Sports that DD should run a separate channel without the signals of the World Cup for cable operators or run a scroll that the World Cup telecasts are not meant for cable operators, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi had pointed out that DD had 1400 transmitters all over the country of which most were unmanned and it was technically not feasible for DD to run a separate channel.

     

    The Delhi High Court had declined to set aside the must carry clause as well as the Act of 2007 in its judgment.

     

    SUPREME COURT ORDER IS ATTACHED BELOW