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The Indian government is proposing amendments in uplink laws and
putting in place guidelines relating to downlink of TV channels
in India. Both these laws have a clause that states that any private
broadcaster would have to share with DD on a mandatory basis feed
of listed sporting events held within and outside India.
The controversial clause has brought together private sports broadcasters
who otherwise squabble on sports rights. Ficci, which is said to
have some lobbying clout with the government, is actively providing
its platform for the industry to air its viewpoints.
Pointing out that most private broadcasters rely on two sources
of revenue, advertising and subscription, Ficci has said subscription
income is important for survival of sports channels as “high costs
of (sporting) rights cannot be covered by advertising revenues alone.”
“Such a move will financially cripple the sports broadcasting industry
in India, since in the absence of addressability no cable operator
will come forward to pay any subscription fee for sports channels
once all the key content is shared,” Ficci’s note, circulated after
a government-industry meet on 22 August, states.
The incremental ad revenue from sharing the feed with Doordarshan
will not be able to cover even 10-15 per cent of the loss that will
be suffered by “undermining of the pay business model,” Ficci has
said in the note that has been given to defense minister Pranab
Mukherjee who’s heading a group of ministers examining proposed
amendments in broadcasting laws.
According to Ficci, “The proposed regulation, thus, will be a drain
on the capital investment and programming development will slow
and the quality and variety of programming for viewers will suffer.”
Sounding a warning note, the apex chamber of commerce has said
that restrictions on sports events under the proposed legislation
could lead tomorrow to extension to any variety of events deemed
to be of `national interest,’ thereby “casting a pall of uncertainty”
over the entire private broadcasting sector, curtailing the enthusiasm
for investment and stunting overall media industry’s growth.
Since the proof of the pudding lies in eating, Ficci has countered
arguments put forward by DD and the I&B ministry that such laws
exist in other western nations also.
“It appears that the regulation, under consideration in the case
of India, is aimed at requiring the private broadcasters to share
sports broadcasting rights with the government-owned Doordarshan,
which would in turn be free to distribute to end users via its terrestrial
free to air stations or its DTH
platform.
“This approach of mandating private broadcasters sharing (content)
with DD, which has both a terrestrial and DTH service, is not consistent
with international regulatory norms,” Ficci has counter-punched.
The detailed Ficci note, which has been accessed by Indiantelevision.com,
also states that such a legislation would have adverse impact on
development of sports in general and on various sports federations
that are cash strapped and unable to pump in money in their respective
fields.
In this connection it’s worth mentioning that ESPN Star Sports
has joined hands with the Indian Hockey Federation to develop domestic
hockey over a period of 10 years and to make the game attractive
to audiences of all types.
“While formulating policies/guidelines, various aspects such as
competition/anti-trust legislation, monopolistic practices, free
competition, a level playing field, adequate compensation, and mechanism
for identifying events of national importance, manner of designating
such events, duration of validity of such a list of designated events
and other factors must be addressed,” Ficci has said in conclusion.
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