Viewers of pay TV channels should not be burdened with ads: Javadekar

NEW DELHI: Even as a few broadcasters continue to grapple with the ad cap issue in the Delhi High Court, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar today said pay channel viewers should not be burdened with advertisements.

He said that while the government felt the logic of permitting advertisements was logical in the case of free-to-air channels, it would shortly decide whether this kind of restriction should also apply to pay channels who also earned through subscriptions. FTA channels have no other means of revenue apart from advertisements.

The Minister was answering a question relating to the 10+2 ad cap presently permitted to all television channels. 

The News Broadcasters Association and other stakeholders have already challenged the 10+2 formula in the Delhi High Court and it is pending hearing.

While the NBA contends that news broadcasters being free to air do not earn any other revenue, the government has reiterated that the ad cap was part of the Cable TV Networks Regulations 1994 and the Cable TV Networks (Regulations) Act 1995.