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BASU, GHOSE FACE FLAK
FROM EX-COLLEAGUES
DD's big-shots are taking
potshots at each other. Current DD director general K.S.
Sarma and former information & broadcasting (I&B) secretary
Bhaskar Ghose are the two warriors.
Sharma apparently fired the
first salvo when he ran down former DG and to be Star TV
India chief R. Basu's efforts (to launch DD-3, DD International,
program commissioning for the two channels and the setting
up of excess low power transmitters) in what were photocopies
of unsigned notes given to journos. Sarma also apparently
helped the I&B ministry prepare a report in mid-August which
questions the steps taken by both Basu and Ghose to counter
the onslaught from private channels which were chomping
away DD's revenues. The report --which is likely to be sent
to the cabinet secretary and then to the PMO -- says that
DD's advertising agreements with Hindustan Lever and Procter
& Gamble were debatable decisions. As was the awarding of
exclusive advertising rights to the World Cup cricket to
Pepsi --a decision that was later fought against by Coke
and overturned with even the Atlanta based soft drink leader
being allowed to advertise on DD. The report also points
fingers at Basu's and Ghose's minimum advertising guarantee
scheme for certain programmes (more specifically the Sunday
serial Chandrakanta which was given 470 seconds of free
commercial time -- FCT).
Ghose, however, is not sitting back. He has responded to
all these allegations in his column in The Sunday Pioneer.
He agrees that a lot of political pressure was used to literally
ram through the large number of low power transmitters and
commissioned programmes. He adds that the various financial
agencies cleared each case and expenditure budgets were
not crossed. Ghose, however, questions Sarma's efforts to
paint his predecessor as a profligate, saying that "civil
servants are birds of passage; they serve for a few years
in one post and move to another. Sarma has been asked to
look after DD - he is not even qualified to do so-- for
sometime...once he goes..there will be no shortage of people
to tell the new DG of all the dark deeds he was responsible
for.."
Ghose then goes onto enumerate a couple of misdemeanors
that Sarma is likely to be hauled up for. The first is the
eight (including two extended C band) transponders on Insat
2C that had been earmarked for the I&B ministry. The "profligate
previous regime," says Ghose, "had pleaded with the department
of space to release them," to use them to telecast better
quality signals and to new states, but failed. He adds that
the transponders on the satellite -- which was commissioned
eight months ago --could have fetched Rs 50 crore in hiring
fees up to now. Since Sarma too hasn't succeeded in this
endeavour, he is likely to be fingered in future for this,
according to Ghose.
The second misdemeanor relates to FCT. The former I&B secretary
reveals that the K.S. Sarma regime has been even more lavish
in handing out FCT to private TV producers in the case of
Jai Veer Hanuman. (Instead of 120 seconds of FCT, the producer
has got 720 seconds, Ghose says.) Touche, shall we say?
Currently, there is no framework
in place; no Broadcast Authority of India. There are no
codes for advertising and editorial content on television.
What is good for DD needn't be good for DTH television which
is a niche service targeted at well-heeled people. Unless
the government has a coherent strategy- apart from raising
money -- behind allowing DTH services, it should not. The
money will disappear quickly. And we may well end up with
a repeat of what happened with telecom licensing. Respected
Mr Vajpayee, Mr Narayan, and Mr Mahajan please do your homework
before taking decisions you may well regret in future.
Article appeared
in a local newspaper on 27.8.96
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