Today, allegations are being hurled about how the acting chief executive of Prasar Bharati dipped into the information and broadcasting ministry's piggy bank to extend financial facilities to Nimbus. And how DD's deal with Nimbus is an even greater rip-off than Stracon's agreement with the broadcaster. On the other hand, Nimbus has been raking up muck about Stracon's wrongful dealingswith DD during the past year and the funding of the education of two or three DD officials' children.

Any one in the know in the industry is aware that this charge is true; that Stracon had instituted a scholarship and DD officials' kids were the beneficiaries. However, is this kind of dirt-digging called for? Hasn't Stracon benefited from the business it did with advertisers on behalf of DD? Hasn't Nimbus also made oodles of cash courtesy the state broadcaster in the past?

It is totally possible that the powers-that-be don't want the privatisation of the network's air-time sales to work, despite recommendations from experts that this is absolutely essential for DD's survival. Remember I&B minister Pramod Mahajan's statement that the state-owned broadcaster's role is to offer public service programmes and be a voice of the government; it has no reason to dabble in commercial activities, the minister had added.Hence, why not encourage infighting amongst the parties who are involved and then say that theprivatisation experiment is not working when they start warring under the glare of a hungry-as-hell print media. This will finally present the minister with an excuse to take DD and Prasar Bharati back in the clutches of insecure politicians. Or it could be sheer coincidence that the three players have got embroiled in a bitter battle over the moolah they will be raking in from the World Cup. Whatever the case, only time will tell what the truth is. But the current brawl has once again highlighted the shortcomings of DD.

Advertisers are a worried lot
Advertisers sure are getting worried whether their television commercials during the telecast of the World Cup will be watched at all should India get knocked out of the tournament. As it is they are already hurting courtesy the tactics of cable operators who have been blocking ESPN and STAR Sports'-booked commercials with commercials that they have booked themselves.

In Mumbai, this activity reached a feverish pitch last week as cable operators enmasse placed scrolling ads and commercials for Suraj Water Park, Hasina Man Jayengi (a Smita Thackeray production), Donear Suitings, Trig Securities, and Fresh Ones over ESPN-STAR Sports ads. Net result: The rupee that advertisers have given to the broadcaster was partly wasted as you cannot have ads for a national brand not being viewed in Mumbai. What is worrying is the strategy that ESPN-STAR Sports is taking to counter this move by cable operators. It has told cable operators not to indulge in piracy (indirectly calling them pirates) in a public service message that has being getting a lot of airplay on the two channels. Can you imagine the outcome if a Hindustan Lever calls one of its distributors a crook in public? The name-calling by ESPN-STAR Sports will obviously lead to a further negative reaction from the cable TV trade.

ESPN-STAR Sports has also taken recourse in legal measures. A better solution is that the broadcasters keep aside a certain block of airtime every hour for cable operators andsign agreements with them to this effect. Cable TV operators should be allowed to hawk this time to advertisers. Let both ESPN and STAR Sports also draw up schedules for these blocks of time and give them to both advertisers and cable operators. This is a practice followed in several cable TV markets and rather successfully too.

The fear amongst broadcasters is that Indian cable TV operators will still continue to block ads. That may happen with some cable ops, not with the majority. And such violators can be brought to book. It's about time the broadcast industry evolved. Addressability is some time away. Broadcasting regulations seem to take forever to be passed in India. A solution such as the one given by this writer may well take the television industry a step forward.

The writer is the editor of The Indian Cab&Sat Reporter. Feel free to email with your comments to television@vsnl.com or television@hotmail.com