The Hindu Business Line : Murdoch keen on early DTH clearance

THE direct-to-home (DTH) venture is on top of the priority list for the NewsCorp chief, Mr Rupert Murdoch, who has urged the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Jaipal Reddy, to expeditiously clear the proposal.

At an hour-long meeting, Mr Reddy told Mr Murdoch that the Government would process every application on its merits.

Speaking to newspersons, Mr Reddy said, "The I&B Ministry officials are in consultation with the Ministry of Company Affairs and the application is in advanced stage of consideration."

Star has entered into a joint venture with the Tata group for DTH with total investments of Rs 1,600 crore.

Mr Murdoch merely acknowledged that this issue was discussed.

Besides this, Mr Reddy said that the NewsCorp chief showed interest in the public broadcaster's DTH venture.

He also asked the Minister about any change in the foreign direct investment cap in the media sector.

"I have told them that there is no proposal yet to increase the FDI levels," he added.

Mr Murdoch also discussed the various technological changes that are taking place in the broadcasting sector.

However, he did not mention any investment plans for the Indian operations.

Star officials, comprising the Star TV CEO, Ms Michelle Guthrie, and the Star India chief, Mr Peter Mukerjea, also raised the issue of mandatory sharing of channels to various platforms.

Star India has not been in favour of this and has hence not yet offered its channels to the Subhash Chandra-promoted Essel Group.

Mr Murdoch also met the Commerce and Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, and was scheduled to meet the Communications Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran.

Meanwhile, the Sun Group too has plans to enter the DTH segment and has applied for a licence. Speaking at the 13th Convergence India, Mr Reddy said, "There are currently two more applicants for a private DTH licence.

"Their applications will be positively considered, provided terms and conditions are met with. They will not be discouraged.

"One of them is Space TV and the other applicant is Sun TV."

Mr Reddy said that a policy package for the expansion of FM radio has been finalised and would be taken to the Cabinet shortly.

The package is based broadly on the recommendations of the Amit Mitra Committee, he said.

The Minister expressed hope that FM radio in the private sector would grow immensely as India provided scope for over 400 such channels.

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