Govt forms panel to regulate TV, films

Looking at laying down a widely debated policy for regulating content on television channels and films, the government has formed a committee, comprising of representatives from the industry and social organisations, which would give its recommendations by this year-end, information and broadcasting (I&B) secretary S K Arora said on Thursday.

"We have constituted a 30-member committee, which will have ten representatives each from the entertainment industry, social organisations and government, and we expect it to submit the report in the next three months," Arora said at the "India Television Summit 2005'.

The I&B secretary, who heads the committee, said against the exhaustive guidelines laid down by international regulators such as Ofcom in the UK and Federal Communications Commission in the US, India just had about 2-3 page guidelines.

The committee will look into Central Board of Film Certification and programme and advertising guidelines and also at international experiences. Arora said, pointing out that while FCC had over 100-page guidelines, Ofcom's ran over 300 pages."It should be less subjective in interpretation and should have little more accuracy and objectivity," he said.

Asked whether the government could also look at allowing adult channels in India, especially in view of the growth of the direct-to-home (DTH) platform which was an addressable system and had option of pay channels, he said this issue would be part of the committee's mandate.

Arora said the government was determined to bring forth the Broadcasting Regulation Act as soon as possible, which would provide the overall framework for the industry.

Listing out the 'slippery areas' or the impediments to the growth of the broadcasting industry, Arora said there was a need to tackle the issue of vertical integration or monopolies with some dominant players being present across all platforms. "It needs to be examined a little more closely," he said.

The I&B secretary also said there was a need to break monopolies at last mile operator levels and check the bundling of channels by dominant broadcasters, which provided little choice for consumers.

Arora also said there was a need to check the rapid onslaught of foreign channels, or those being uplinked from abroad into India. "It could be a threat for the domestic industry," he said, pointing out that of the 350-odd channels currently operating in India, only 164 were being uplinked from the country.