India: Govt firm on central regulatory mechanism for TV, radio

10 June 2010 6:10 pm

MUMBAI: Information and Broadcasting Secretary Raghu Menon advocated the need for a three-tier regulatory mechanism for the media in the country, indicating that the government is firm on setting up a regulatory body at the national level. 

Inaugurating a seminar on 'Marketing Responsibly' organised by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) here, Menon said apart from individual self regulation and an industry body, the sector should have a third level of regulatory body established with a legislative backing. 

Menon said the Government had been encouraging self regulation in media and has welcomed self regulation codes brought out by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation and the News Broadcasters' Association.

He said self regulation and regulation by industry bodies like ASCI have been by and large working well and pointed out that the I&B Ministry had adopted the advertising code prescribed by ASCI in the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act.

He said the Task Force set up by the government to look into the regulatory structure was holding wide ranging consultations with a cross-section of people, both within the industry and outside and eliciting opinion. ''There is a need to evolve a consensus on the issue before the framework could be put in place,'' he added.

Menon said that while technical issues relating to broadcasting are being handled by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), content regulation is being done by the Ministry directly.

He further added that "an independent, autonomous authority for the broadcasting sector is not only required for the purpose of content regulation, but more importantly for the purpose of addressing large number of technical and commercial issues that are crucial for the healthy and orderly growth of the sector".

The Secretary noted that both television and radio had emerged as powerful media in view of their wider reach, both in rural and urban areas, with over 570 TV channels and more than 400 radio stations. In addition to the content created by the broadcasters, a large number of cable operators also generate local content, he added.

The seminar was organised as part of the silver jubilee celebrations of the ASCI.

Source:Govt firm on central regulatory mechanism for TV, radio http://bit.ly/9iziDm

(Yimber Gaviria, Colombia)