The Hindu Business Line : Media cos not in favour of cross-media ownership restrictions

New Delhi, Nov. 27 In their response to TRAI’s consultation paper on cross-media ownership, the media has dismissed the need stating the diversity of the Indian population was safeguard enough from monopoly.

Entertainment Network (India) Ltd, the owners of Radio Mirchi, said with more than 15 official languages and 1,500 dialects across the country, there was no single media entity that could cater to the information and entertainment needs of the entire nation. The company saw no need for horizontal cross-media ownership restrictions. “Over and above this is the new reality of the mobile phone and the Internet, which on a single screen, carry newspapers and TV and radio markets in full….Moreover, there are over 300 million users of mobile phones today…far more than the combined circulation of newspapers or ownership of TV and FM radio,” pointed out the ENIL response.

Bennett, Coleman & Co, publishers of the Times of India, was of the view that TRAI lacked jurisdiction and the requisite power under the act to make recommendations on any matter with respect to any service except telecommunication. “Hence the inclusion of print medium within the scope of this consultation paper, it is respectfully submitted, is beyond the jurisdiction of TRAI,” was the media house’s response. The view was reiterated by the Mr Mammen Mathew in Malayala Manorama’s response. Anyway such an exercise covering print should be undertaken by the Press Council of India, he said.

TRAI, while issuing the consultation paper, had pointed out that many western countries had such cross-media restrictions applicable horizontally and for geographies. Media houses have, however, argued that these restrictions were introduced when the media was less fragmented in those countries. In India, there was no such socio-economic necessity for the Government to undertake such an exercise.

“Media projects involve long gestation periods, requiring large, untested territories. Further with convergence becoming a possibility, any restriction imposed on ownership between players would retard the free flow of capital, technologies and business synergies between players, said NDTV, which however, also requested for appropriate safeguards to ensure non-discriminatory access to platforms.

Television network STAR was of the view that ownership threshold would prevent Indian companies from realising their domestic and overseas potential.

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