The Hindu Business Line : I&B Ministry favours revenue sharing model for FM radio

The Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, with film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Lara Dutta, at the Frames 2005 in Mumbai on Monday. — Paul Noronha

Mumbai , April 4

THE FM Radio industry's woes finally appear to have got the Government's attention. Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, today said that the Ministry was in favour of revenue sharing model for FM radio.

In his inaugural address at FICCI-Frames 2005, Mr Reddy said the I&B Ministry had readied a policy package for private radio, currently being studied by other ministries. "It will shortly go to the Cabinet. We have devised the policy package with an emphasis on growth and not revenue," he said. The second phase is expected to spawn over 300 radio stations in the private sector.

Over the next three years, as many as 4,000 community radio stations are also hoped to go online.

While currently the Government acts as regulator for the broadcasting sector, Mr Reddy said, "I believe there is the need for an independent regulator, one that is independent and quasi-judicial." According to him, a Bill in this regard would be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament.

Work is afoot on optical disc legislation. "The Government is determined to deal with the problem of piracy," he said.

It would be convening a meeting of State Information Ministers in the Capital on April 16 and 17, which would discuss piracy and examine prospects for cutting the current high entertainment tax. "We are going to see that the tax rate is reduced to the minimum," he said.

Doordarshan's DTH service, the only free-to-air service of that kind in the world, will add another 17 more channels to its bouquet before July taking it to a total of 50 channels. Referring to reports of the Government unlikely to provide budgetary allocation for the DTH service, he said that even as more private players would be allowed into DTH it "does not mean that the public broadcaster would abandon its duty to the middle class in the country."

"We shall try and see that a level-playing field is created in the country," he said replying to observations of greater operational ease with foreign players, from Mr Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee Telefilms Ltd.

The Minister agreed to take up with the Finance Ministry the subject of fringe benefit tax and its impact on film production, which was highlighted by Mr Yash Chopra, Chairman, FICCI Entertainment Committee.

Mr Daniel Glickman, President & CEO, Motion Picture Association of America, said there was concern about Government interference in the pay TV segment. "We need to make sure that Government policies do not choke new investment in the movie industry," he said.

The Internet, he said, would pose a challenge to IPR, given the fast truncating time for movie downloads, now almost an hour per film and projected to touch less than 90 seconds in five years.

In his address, actor Amitabh Bachchan spared a comment for the magic of the big screen amidst the flood to new fangled delivery systems flooding the industry. "It is the customary 35 mm that will be the ideal gauge for film viewing, much the same way the book will be the ideal gauge for literature.''

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