New TV broadcast Guidelines

About New TV broadcast Guidelines:

• According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the new guidelines have been amended after a gap of 11 years, and a number of steps have been taken for ease of doing business, as there are more than 870 channels operating in the country now.
• It is obligatory under the guidelines for all TV channels, including private channels, to “undertake public service broadcasting for a minimum period of 30 minutes in a day on themes of national importance and of social relevance”.

Themes:

• The guidelines have identified eight “themes of national importance and of social relevance”:
  • education and spread of literacy;
  • agriculture and rural development;
  • health and family welfare;
  • science and technology;
  • welfare of women;
  • welfare of the weaker sections of the society;
  • protection of environment and of cultural heritage; and
  • national integration

Compliance:

• Once the guidelines are implemented, the Ministry will monitor the channels for the broadcast of this content.

Exemption:

• The exemption may apply to wildlife channels and foreign channels, besides live telecasts in the case of sports channels.

Other provisions:

• The policy mandates that channels uplinking in frequency bands other than C-band must encrypt their signals.
• Uplinking and downlinking “shall be subject to clearance and approval by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and wherever considered necessary, of other authorities”.
• The new guidelines allow a news agency to get permission for five years instead of the current one year.
• The penalty clauses have been rationalised, and separate sets of penalties have been proposed for different types of contraventions as against the uniform penalty that is applicable currently.
• The new policy eases compliance for TV channels in various areas. Broadcast companies will be allowed to uplink foreign channels from Indian teleports, which would create employment opportunities and make India a teleport hub for other countries.
  • Singapore is considered the hub of teleport uplinking.

Source : Indian Express

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