I&B Ministry
I&B min requests ministries to clear dues to media
MUMBAI: The media industry has been in doldrums in India due to a massive drop in ad volumes. While the industry already experienced a slowdown in FY19, the countrywide lockdown has worsened the crisis. Post COVID-19 period, many of the media houses are sacking employees, cutting salaries, shutting down divisions and furloughing workforce, making a huge number of journalists and employees vulnerable. In this dire situation, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) has asked other ministries to clear dues to the private media sector and the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC) in order to sustain the cashflow.
Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment
As MIB is in urgency to have their funds released, it has, in a letter to the ministry of communications, ministry of electronics and IT, and department of posts, requested to make the payments to BOC at earliest. The payments are due for various communication and advertisement works undertaken in previous years. MIB has mentioned that it would enable BOC to release it for respective media houses.
The letter has also mentioned that if all payments due to the private media sector are made to them, it could prevent layoffs and pay cuts keeping the businesses afloat. It also noted that these media houses are supporting the government’s efforts to communicate with its citizens during the COVID-19 crisis.
So how much money do various ministries owe to the media sector?
According to a document sourced by Indiantelevision.com, total pending outstanding due to the media sector by several ministries stands at total Rs 230.82 crore, which include a due of Rs 68.77 crore to the television segment and Rs 99.14 to the print media.
Ministry of agriculture owes RS 6.14 crore
Ministry of communications and IT owes Rs 16.05 crore
Ministry of corporate affairs owers Rs 1.62 crore
Ministry of finance owes Rs 30.86 crore
Ministry of environment and forest owes Rs 2.33 crore
Ministry of health and family welfare owes Rs 55.81 core
Ministry of home affairs owes Rs 6.44 core
Ministry of human resources and development owers Rs 18.99 crore
Ministry of labour and employment owes Rs 19.96 crore
Niti Aayog owes Rs 13.05 crore
Ministry of rural development owes Rs 24.47 crore
Ministry of shipping, road transport and highways owes Rs 14.38 crore
Ministry of social justice and empowerment owes Rs 1.84 crore
Ministry of textile owes Rs 5.14 crore
Ministry of tourism owes Rs 4.83 crore,
Ministry of women and child development owes Rs 8.91 crore
MIB has also stated how the newspaper industry and FM Radio sector are under stress due to heavy input costs, import duty on newsprint and low advertisement and stoppage of transport respectively.
I&B Ministry
Prasar Bharati opens AIR to private content under new policy
NIPP introduces revenue share, sponsored and gratis models
MUMBAI: Radio may be the oldest voice in the room, but it’s learning some very modern tricks. In a bid to stay tuned to changing listener habits, Prasar Bharati has opened the doors of All India Radio to private players under a newly rolled-out content framework. The initiative, titled Notice Inviting Programme Proposals (NIPP), marks a significant shift in how the public broadcaster approaches programming moving from a largely in-house model to a more collaborative, market-aligned ecosystem. Issued by Akashvani’s Directorate General in April 2026, the policy invites private producers, content owners and aggregators to pitch programmes across formats, from radio dramas and documentaries to quiz shows, storytelling and music-led content.
At the heart of the framework lies a three-pronged participation model designed to balance creative freedom with commercial viability. The most prominent route is revenue sharing, where advertising and sponsorship income generated by a programme is split between the producer and the broadcaster. The structure tilts in favour of creators offering a 70:30 split when producers bring in advertising, and 65:35 when monetisation is handled by Prasar Bharati.
Alongside this sits the sponsored model, where producers fully fund and monetise their content, subject to compliance with advertising norms and the AIR Broadcast Code. For those less commercially inclined, a gratis route allows content to be submitted free of cost, with Prasar Bharati retaining all monetisation rights effectively turning the platform into a national distribution channel for diverse voices.
The move comes as legacy media grapples with intensifying competition from private FM networks, streaming platforms and digital audio ecosystems. By repositioning AIR as both a public service broadcaster and a content marketplace, Prasar Bharati appears to be recalibrating its role in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Importantly, the framework does not dilute editorial control. All submissions must adhere to the AIR Broadcast Code, and proposals are evaluated through a layered process that weighs storytelling quality, production capability, audience appeal and revenue potential. Only proposals crossing a defined threshold move forward, signalling that while access has widened, the bar remains firmly in place.
Operational discipline is another cornerstone of the policy. Producers are required to maintain broadcast-ready content, deliver episode banks in advance and navigate a structured approval process. Crucially, all production costs are borne by the content provider, reinforcing Prasar Bharati’s positioning as a distribution and oversight platform rather than a commissioning entity.
What elevates the initiative further is its scale. The framework spans multiple clusters and stations across India, covering both metro and regional markets, with specific language mandates and submission channels. This not only expands the content pipeline but also deepens linguistic and cultural representation, an area where AIR has historically held an advantage.
In effect, NIPP signals a quiet but meaningful transformation. AIR is no longer just broadcasting to the nation, it is inviting the nation to broadcast with it, blending legacy reach with contemporary content economics in a bid to stay relevant in an increasingly fragmented audio universe.
