The year's biggest policy initiative was CAS (conditional access system) , which also turned out to be the most controversial piece of legislation as also the biggest turkey of the year.

The amount of space and airtime that the media spent on CAS coverage in 2003, if totaled up, could just about go to create a world record. But despite so much of media hype, the policy move on CAS till date still remains entangled in uncertainties.

That is why we will not write more about CAS in this piece (except a brief postscript at the end) - which, at one time, was described as a move that would herald a revolution in cable homes of the country, bring more transparency in intra-industry (broadcasting and cable) dealings and push India to another level of development of the media and entertainment industry. Alas, that was not to be.

Though the government has listed a series of achievements on the policy front, unfortunately most of the major ones managed to whip up more heat and dust than bring about some orderliness. Sad really, especially in an industry that is growing at such a fast pace that by the time a piece of legislative measure is put in place, it is threatened with extinction on the grounds of having become obsolete.

As information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told indiantelevision.com on the eve of another year, "Since the time I took over as I&B minister, I haven't had the time to take even a short vacation. The constant battle over the legacy that I have inherited (from his predecessor Sushma Swaraj) has kept me busy."

If it was not CAS, then it was the KU-band direct-to-home television service or the uplinking of news channels issue that kept the I&B ministry and the government busy throughout 2003.

The DHT story
It is another story altogether that DTH finally saw the light of the Indian day amidst tall claims by the Subhash Chandra companies (Zee Telefilms and ASC Enterprises) and total panning of such a service by the likes of Peter Chernin, the No 2 to media czar Rupert Murdoch in News Corporation (News Corp's pan-Asian venture Star too has plans to launch a DTH service in India, which is being touted as a service of the kind that the country has not seen till now).

Even the Dish TV venture - the brand name under which the Chandra companies are marketing their DTH service - was born after several rounds of heated exchanges among the government, Zee/ASC combine and Star. The last, of course, has been accused by the Indian media companies of flouting rules and regulations and "making a monkey" of the law.

But it has to be admitted that the Dish TV service, slightly exaggerated claims of over 20,000 subscribers notwithstanding, does change the whole TV viewing experience. The crystal clear video and digital sound quality, plus sundry add-on services, makes it pleasurable viewing. Unfortunate that one cannot watch cricket matches or Star programmes on Dish TV because of the absence of agreements between Zee and other broadcasters.

Uplinking drama
That brings us to the monkey maker and the ring master (read the I&B ministry). If the government had thought the existing law governing uplinking would take care of the various corporate restructuring in news channels that took place after some divorces (NDTV parted ways with Star News), it had to think hard and burn some midnight oil to come up with revised uplinking norms as the `foreigners' threatened to take over the news channels.

After Star was accused of flouting the spirit of the then existing guidelines by taking indirect control of Star News, the norms were revised. The revised eligibility criteria require, inter-alia, that total foreign investment in the applicant company shall not exceed 26 per cent of the paid-up equity and permission will be granted only when equity held by the largest Indian shareholder is at least 51 per cent of the total equity, amongst other things.

Thankfully, the government also set up a committee to look into policy revision for the radio broadcasting sector for the second phase of FM radio privatisation.

The government is yet to fully accept the radical report, allowing foreign investment in private FM radio ventures and news on FM channels, but indications are that some of them would be favourable considered.

Focus on entertainment
What is more heartening is that entertainment certainly was a priority for the government, in a year when Aishwarya Rai went as a jury member to Cannes and
the first Indian television star Simone Singh made an appearance as a presenter at the IEmmy's in the US. Simone's presence at the IEmmy's was due principally to the intiative taken by indiantelevision.com's founder and CEO Anil Wanvari, who was nominated in July as an Associate of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for a period of two years.

The government took several initiatives to bring about changes in the entertainment sector in the interest of the overall development. In order to suggest a policy framework for the entertainment industry a committee for development of the entertainment sector was set up.

In the meeting, which was held in October 2003, the Committee made recommendations, mainly relating to a further reduction in entertainment tax rates to 45 per cent, appointment of a nodal officer in each state for assisting in anti piracy matters and facilitating a single point clearance by state governments for foreign film crews shooting in India.

In order to bring about receptive regime in the entertainment sector within India, a Committee has recently been set up to suggest a strategy to facilitate the flow of venture capital into the sector.

Had CAS not continued to be a thorn, the government and the I&B ministry could have prided itself for attempting to clean up tangled issues. But that too did not happen as the government emerged as a loser having handled several issues in a ham-handed fashion.

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