2002: A turning point for print media

In the history of Indian print media, 2002 will go down as a turning point, which changed nearly five decades of government policy barring any foreign participation in the sector. But the coming year may see more regulation for the media if the information and broadcasting ministry has its way.

After years of debate and stiff resistance from opposition parties and a section of the media, the sensitive news and current affairs print media was opened to 26 per cent foreign direct investment with "safeguards", while 74 per cent foreign equity was allowed in other publications.

The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal in May this year, reversing the 1955 Cabinet resolution that barred entry of foreign equity in the print media.

The government came out with guidelines for news and non-news print media recently and assured it had incorporated enough "safeguards" to protect the country's interests.

Foreseeing a revolution in the print media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj now hopes India will become the hub of printing Asian editions of technical and speciality magazines.

The year, which began with the government concern over "indecent" images on FTV, ended with Swaraj coming down heavily on the print media for "negative and vulgar portrayal" of women and assuring the Press Council "more teeth", a long pending demand of the autonomous body.

With the passage of the Convergence Bill taking time, Swaraj is not likely to wait for its implementation and is eager to take immediate steps for content regulation on television channels.

Just months after giving up plans for setting up a Media Council, which was to replace the Press Council taking under its ambit the electronic media besides print, Swaraj is now considering setting up a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority.

The proposal has support from members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to her ministry, who felt it was necessary to address concerns of "public order and decency, preservation of cultural diversity, prevention of excessive depiction of sex and violence, national security, integrity and sovereignty of the country and protection of children from undesirable programmes and advertisements."

The Communication Convergence Bill, seeking to set up a common regulator (Communication Commission of India) for information technology, telecom and broadcasting, has already been cleared by the Standing Committee of Parliament and may be taken up in the Budget session beginning mid-February.

More than two years after the Union Cabinet gave its nod to direct-to-home television services, it is yet to become a reality.

The government is not open to any change in the guidelines stipulating a 20 per cent FDI limit in a foreign equity cap of 49 per cent, which some broadcasters feel is not a commercially viable proposition.

However, the government has received two applications for launching DTH services from Space TV and ASC, which are awaiting clearances from ministries like home and finance.

The broadcasting scenario in the country will soon see a change with Parliament giving its approval to a Bill making it mandatory to view pay channels through a Conditional Access System, a step welcomed by cable operators.

Under this Cable Act amendment, viewers can subscribe for desired pay channels accessing them through a set-top box, which the government says will have to be borne by the consumer.

Quoting estimates by the Consumer Electronics and TV Manufacturers Association, Swaraj said while 100,000 such boxes will cost Rs 2,500 each, 10 lakh (1 million) of them will cost Rs 1500 each and since the country is estimated to have over 3.5 crore (35 million) cable households, the cost will come down further.

With 77 channels now uplinking from India and the government giving permission for 16 teleports, it is now looking at India becoming an uplinking hub in the region.

Having got an industry status, Indian film export has crossed Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) from just Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) three years ago.

The year also saw the Rs 50 crore (Rs 500-million) magnum opus Devdas by Sanjay Leela Bhansali making an entry to compete for the Academy Awards, the year after Aamir Khan's blockbuster Lagaan nominated for the Oscar missed the coveted honour.

Bollywood saw a series of flops even as the government decided to adopt a "pro-active" policy in exports of films and hoped "good money will lead to good cinema".

After nearly four years, Prasar Bharati got a permanent chief executive officer with K S Sarma, former director-general of Doordarshan, taking over this March from Anil Baijal, an additional secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting, who held the charge temporarily.

Prasar Bharati chairman, U R Rao, quit from the post leaving a vacancy for which a high-level panel headed by the vice president is yet to recommend a name.

Doordarshan's Metro channel saw an increase in coverage from 13 per cent to 37.7 per cent of the population.

It was radio broadcasting, which saw a revolution during the year with private FM launching services in several cities including Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Indore while more cities may be able to tune in to it very soon.

All India Radio was not far behind launching its second FM Channel providing both news and entertainment besides starting digital direct-to-home service in radio and digital based programme production facilities and digital storage of Archival Audio material.

Celebrating 100 years of recorded music in India, the information and broadcasting ministry has declared that November 11, 2002, to November 10, 2003, be declared centenary year of recorded music in the country.

Doordarshan is also producing a commemorative series entitled "A Century of Recorded Music- A Restrospective."

The All India Radio has plans to capitalise on the commercial potential of its five decades of recorded music by throwing it open to the music company market.

The Union Cabinet recently decided to allow operation of low frequency FM band radio in educational institutions, including universities, Indian Institutes of Management, Indian Institutes of Technology and residential schools.

-- PTI

2002: The Year That Was