At least 100 television channels owned by nearly two-dozen broadcasters are set to lose their permit for being ?inactive? since obtaining the necessary government permission in the last two years.
These includes channels owned by both prominent national and regional broadcasters including ETV Punjabi, ETV Assam, Maa TV, Sanskar TV, Nick, Zee Sports, Zee Cinema USA, ETV Malayalam, ETV Punjabi, Focus TV, Star Majha, Star Telugu, MTV, Colors and TV9, among others. Also, this includes a large number of regional news and non-news channels.
According to industry sources, several of these channels and their promoters have now received a final notice from the I&B ministry, seeking explanation as to why their broadcast licence should not be withdrawn as they are non-operational. ?A final opportunity will be given to such broadcasters and permit-owners to explain their position in the next few weeks. If they do not respond or fail to come up with valid reasons for being inactive, their licences will be withdrawn,? a top government source told FE.
The exercise of withdrawing the licences for these inactive channels may begin by the month-end, sources added. It is part of the government?s initiative to bring in transparency and accountability among broadcasters after acute shortage of broadcast spectrum was reported. Additionally, nearly 250 new channels are waiting the I&B ministry’s permission for broadcast licence. Currently, the number of permitted channels stands at 560. In fact, in order to curtail the heavy rush of new applicants seeking a broadcast licence, the I&B ministry had suspended the process for nearly three-months earlier this year (January 18-March 31) while it awaited the recommendations of the broadcast regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
This comes after the I&B ministry, after nearly four-months of scrutiny, discovered that nearly 100 channels are neither ?on-air’ nor close to being operational. Till July, of the 475 permitted channels 273 had not responded to the official notice regarding furnishing proof of operational status. This number came down to 188 (till August-end) and 109 (till September-end). Sources said now the number has come down to around 100.
As reported first by FE in August, the decision to crack the whip on those squatting on TV licences came after the I&B discovered a huge gap between the operational and inactive channels. Also, the government is concerned with the rising number of applicants who want permission to own and operate channels but do not have much working experience or background in broadcasting. Recommendations from Trai on the issue is also under active consideration of the I&B ministry. Trai has suggested a substantial rise in the net-worth of the applicants and at least five-years of mandatory experience in handling broadcasting as riders. This is also in line with the I&B ministry’s policy at supporting the growth of broadcasting through its initiatives on the premise that the sector is showcasing unprecedented growth riding on the launch of new channels. “We do not wish to create any panic amongst broadcasters but at the same time we want transparency in the working of all broadcasters. We certainly do not want to encourage fly-by-night broadcasters who obtain licence but can not run their channels with professionalism and accountability,” a senior I&B official had recently told FE.