The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) on Thursday told the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) that a rule providing for an average of 12 minutes per hour advertisements during 6 am to 12 midnight will be economically more beneficial to news channels than a rule that limits advertisements to 12 minutes per hour.
NBA offered the said argument during a hearing concerning a Trai regulation, which limits advertisements by TV broadcasters to 12 minutes an hour.
Appearing for NBA, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi pleaded before the tribunal that ad-revenues of news broadcasters vary with different time-slots and that advertisement durations on news channels depend on news flow of the day, adding that it will not be possible for news broadcasters to adhere to the 12-minutes ad cap rule at all times.
?Entertainment content is pre-made whereas news is uncontrollable. Controlling the ad duration would amount to inversely deciding the length of the programme of the news channel and this insistence by Trai will lead to censorship and curtailment of the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression of the news broadcasters,? he said.
He said that instead of having a rule which mandates adherence of limiting advertisements to 12-minutes per hour, a rule which provides that a 12-minute average of advertisements through 6 am to 12 pm should be considered by Trai.
?During some programmes, when revenue generation is high, more advertisements can be put up by news channels and subsequently advertisements can be reduced during other hours of the day, so as to come to an average of 12-minute per hour through out the day from 6 in the morning to 12 in the night,? Singhvi said.
?Time from midnight to 6 am should not be considered as they are not bankable hours during which advertisements are placed,? Singhvi said, adding that the rule will provide news channels with the necessary ?economic underpinnings? to survive on ad-revenue and will also prevent any violation of the liberty of the press.
Citing numerous judicial precedents, Singhvi said that liberty of the press has been time and again retained for the print media and the same constitutional fundamental rights should be guaranteed to the visual medium as well.