Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Nov 12, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Nov 12, 2005 |
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Radio/TV Industry & Economy - Radio/TV New downlinking norms — Foreign channels given 6 months for registration Our Bureau
New Delhi , Nov. 11 THE Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry has given foreign television channels beaming into the country six months to register themselves and comply with the new downlinking guidelines. It has said, "No cable operator or direct-to-home (DTH) service provider shall, after the expiry of 180 days from the date of this notification, carry or include in his cable/DTH network any television channel that has not been registered under these guidelines." While making it mandatory for channels downlinking into India to register themselves in the country, the Government has banned foreign news channels from carrying advertising and news programmes designed specifically for Indian audiences. The notification also states channels, which carry a few news bulletins, would also be deemed to be a news and current affairs channel. It has further said that private channels would have to share the telecast rights of cricket and other events of national importance with the public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati. "The sports channels/sports rights management companies having TV broadcasting rights shall with immediate effect share their feed with Prasar Bharati for national and international sporting events of national importance, held in India or abroad, for terrestrial transmission and DTH broadcasting," said the notification. These events would be decided by it in consultation with Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Prasar Bharati and the rights holder concerned. On the mandatory registration of channels in India, the Ministry has said the entity applying for permission for downlinking a channel must be a company registered in India under the Indian Companies Act, irrespective of its equity structure, foreign ownership or management control. "The applicant company must have a commercial presence in India with its principal place of business in India," it said. Also, the applicant company must have a minimum net worth of Rs 1.5 crore for downlinking one channel and Rs 1 crore for every additional channel. Channels will be granted registration for a five-year period, which would then be extended. The applicant company will have to pay a registration fee of Rs 5 lakh for each channel and an annual fee of Rs 1 lakh.
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