News Broadcasting
IBF plea to TRAI: leave revenue aspects to market forces
NEW DELHI: It’s jockeying that’s going on big time as the different stakeholders try to get their point across to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) today expectedly made a strong case in front of the regulator to let “market forces decide” revenue aspects, instead of mandating them, and suggesting that conditional access system be “properly test-marketed before full rollout.”
This presentation was made slightly before the cable industry was to go into a meeting with TRAI officials later in the day.
In a lengthy presentation made a short while ago, the IBF conveyed to the TRAI that the interim price freeze of cable services has created confusion, opening avenues of “potential litigation” between stakeholders.
The IBF presentation, a copy of which is available with the indiantelevision.com, says that the regulator should not step in where revenue share arrangements are to be formalised as such things are “best left to market forces.”
On possible restrictions on ad time on pay channels, the IBF has pointed out that the regulator should follow a model that is similar to the print medium as it would be “impractical to lay down standards for compliance.”
It has added further that such restrictions of revenue streams would hamper growth and competition in the broadcast industry and increase cost to consumer. “Avoid administered pricing,” the IBF has said in its presentation.
Dropping ample hints that the cable industry is to be blamed for the CAS imbroglio, the IBF has said that CAS is just one of the platforms for consumer addressability and transparency and not the ultimate one.
The IBF has also implied that cable ops should provide boxes as an investment to protect acquisition of a consumer, implying that boxes should be given free of cost by the cable industry.
For more on this, stay tuned.
News Broadcasting
News18 India to air Sabse Bada Dangal on 4 May counting day
Channel promises fastest results, live trends and analysis across five states.
MUMBAI: Ballots will do the talking and screens will do the shouting. As counting day approaches for high-stakes Assembly elections across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, News18 India is gearing up for an all-day broadcast of its flagship election show, Sabse Bada Dangal, on 4 May from 6 am onwards. The Hindi news channel plans to deliver continuous, real-time updates as votes are tallied, combining live counting data with on-ground reporting and studio analysis. With political fortunes set to shift through the day, the coverage will track every swing, surge and surprise as trends turn into results.
The broadcast will feature a mix of senior political leaders, analysts and experts, offering instant reactions and decoding the evolving electoral picture. Expect heated debates, quick takes and detailed breakdowns as the numbers settle across all five states.
For News18 India, counting day has long been a high-visibility moment. The network is banking on its reporting reach, editorial bandwidth and technology-driven coverage to stay ahead in what is often a fiercely competitive news cycle.
With multiple battlegrounds and shifting narratives, the day promises both drama and data in equal measure. And if all goes to plan, Sabse Bada Dangal will once again turn the counting of votes into prime-time spectacle.
