News & Media

The Parliamentary standing committee on communications and information technology has expressed concern over a significant increase in television channel pricing by broadcasters and recommended more freedom of choice to consumers for selecting individual TV channels.

On November 10, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released a draft of the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023. This bill is set to replace the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995 which has been in place for the past three decades. With the new bill, over-the-top (OTT) broadcasting services (like Disney+ Hotstar, Netflix, JioCinema, etc.) will also be brought under regulation. They will be required to ensure that their content is certified by a content evaluation committee, and will have to comply with a multi-layered regulatory system.

Union Ministry of Information and broadcasting has today invited comments on the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023. The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995 has been in effect for three decades, serving as the primary legislation overseeing content on linear broadcasting, including cable networks. However, the broadcasting landscape has undergone significant changes in the interim. Technological advancements have introduced new platforms such as DTH, IPTV, OTT, and various integrated models.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has requested the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to include the issue of granting autonomy to TV distributors in bouquet formation by allowing them to break broadcaster bouquets, in its consultation paper that was issued on August 8, people in the know told ET.

The All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) has pointed the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in the direction of DD Free Dish for allegedly not acting in accordance with the TRAI’s regulation that requires channels to be provided in an encrypted manner, as per an e4m report.

India's digital multi-system operators (MSOs) apex body the All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF), and Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd. have filed a writ petition against the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for changes in the telecommunication (broadcasting and cable) services interconnection (addressable systems) (fourth amendment) regulations, 2022.

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (I&B) has taken action in coordination with various intermediaries, to block 18 OTT platforms publishing obscene, vulgar, and, in some instances, pornographic content. 19 websites, 10 apps (7 on Google Play Store, 3 on Apple App Store), and 57 social media accounts associated with these platforms have been disabled for public access in India.

The All India Digital Cable Federation has cautioned advertisers not to run advertisements on Star, Zee, and Sony channels because the three broadcasters have deactivated signals to various independent MSOs because most of them have refused to sign new agreements, which could have resulted in price increases for consumers.

Disney-Star, Sony and Zee have disconnected services of their channels on the members of AIDCF as well as other cable tv platforms. These cable tv platforms have not executed the revised RIOs with these broadcasters as a mark of protest against the unreasonable pricing by the broadcasters.

The TV broadcasting industry is divided on implementing New Tariff Order (NTO) 3.0 from February 1. Many distribution platform operators (DPOs) have failed to file the fresh Distribution Retail Price (DRP) while some have already come out with new packages for consumers.