NEW DELHI: A majority of the participants in the fifth open house on media ownership in Indore today alleged that the media in the country was in the hands of just a handful of large corporate houses.

Answering around thirty questions that officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) raised at the open house which Trai officials confirmed was the last before the regulator finalises its recommendations to the government, the participants wanted greater democratisation in the media.

As in the last two meets, a large number of the 300 plus stakeholders were local cable operators who raised problems relating to digitisation.

The Indore Cable Operators Mahasangh president Iqbal Khan said that the revenue sharing pattern between the multi-system operators (MSOs) and LCO was very lopsided since it was the LCO community which dealt with the consumer. He said that the revenue share of Rs 80 given to the LCO under the conditional access system should not be reduced.
Other LCOs raised the issue of billing, saying that no billing was being done at present despite digital access system having been introduced.

They also complained about the poor quality of the set top boxes claiming that most were not of BIS standards and also pointing out that there was no centre for maintenance of these STBs.

However, officials of Trai claimed that a fruitful discussion was held on the subject under discussion. The meet was addressed on behalf of Trai by principal advisor N Parameswaran and advisor Wasi Ahmed.

The earlier open houses were in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Delhi and Bhubaneswar.

Trai had set 29 April as the last date for stakeholders to offer their cross-comments on a consultation paper on the subject. The paper had been issued on 15 February but the final date had been extended in view of the ?complexity of the issue?.
The paper among other issues has sought comments on devising ownership rules for vertical integration between broadcasting and distribution entities.

The paper will also devise rules/restrictions in case of mergers and acquisitions in the media sector, and media ownership rules within and across media segments.

Methodology to measure ownership or control of an entity over a media outlet, identification of genres to be considered while framing media ownership rules, and prescribing norms for mandatory disclosures by media entities are some other issues.

Trai has also discussed in its paper issues relating to identification of media segments wherein media ownership rules are to be prescribed, and identification of relevant markets for evaluating various parameters to be used for devising ownership rules and the methodology for measuring these parameters.

At the outset, Trai - which had issued a paper on the same issue some years earlier - said the paper had been issued at the request of the I&B ministry earlier last year following a report of the Administrative Staff College of India, in Hyderabad.

Trai said that it was felt that reasonable restrictions may need to be put in place on ownership in the media sector, to ensure media pluralism and to counter the ills of monopolies. It pointed out that such restrictions do exist in many international markets.

NEW DELHI: Around eighty stakeholders attended the fourth open house on media ownership held today at Bhubaneswar, with a large number of local multi-system operators (MSOs) and cable operators complaining that no time was given for persons from all over the state to come to the state capital to attend the meet.

However, officials of the telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) claimed that a fruitful discussion was held on the subject under discussion. The meet was addressed on behalf of Trai by principal advisor N Parameswaran and advisor Rajkumar Upadhyay.

Parameswaran told indiantelevision.com that the gathering included around fifty LCOs who gave valuable suggestions.

With the open houses on media ownership getting disrupted by cable operators insisting their issues be take up and a large majority of participants feeling Indian media is run by a handful of large media house, Trai had planned two additional open houses before finalising its report.

The next open house will be held in Indore at the Ravindra Natya Griha. The earlier open houses were in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad dominated by cable operators, and in Delhi.

Asked about the short notice for the last two meets, a Trai official said that advertisements were placed in local newspapers in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh apart from the notice on the Trai website.

In the Delhi meet, Trai chairman Rahul Khullar - while disagreeing with a representative of a large media house who denied that just three or four media houses controlled the entire fourth estate - said "There is a large body of Indian citizens who feel that way. Wake up and smell the coffee."

All the earlier open houses have been held this month and the one on 18 May in Delhi was held amidst heavy police arrangements.

Trai had set 29 April as the last date for stakeholders to offer their cross-comments on a consultation paper on the subject. The paper had been issued on 15 February but the final date had been extended in view of the ?complexity of the issue?.

The paper among other issues has sought comments on devising ownership rules for vertical integration between broadcasting and distribution entities.

The paper will also devise rules/restrictions in case of mergers and acquisitions in the media sector, and media ownership rules within and across media segments.

Methodology to measure ownership or control of an entity over a media outlet, identification of genres to be considered while framing media ownership rules, and prescribing norms for mandatory disclosures by media entities are some other issues.

Trai has also discussed in its paper issues relating to identification of media segments wherein media ownership rules are to be prescribed, and identification of relevant markets for evaluating various parameters to be used for devising ownership rules and the methodology for measuring these parameters.

At the outset, Trai - which had issued a paper on the same issue some years earlier - said the paper had been issued at the request of the I&B ministry earlier last year following a report of the Administrative Staff College of India, in Hyderabad.

Trai said that it was felt that reasonable restrictions may need to be put in place on ownership in the media sector, to ensure media pluralism and to counter the ills of monopolies. It pointed out that such restrictions do exist in many international markets.

NEW DELHI: The open house on media ownership today found the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) being criticised by media houses who wanted orderly growth in the sector to be ensured by working collectively with established institutions like Competition Commission of India(CCI), Securities and Exchange Board of India and Monopolies Restrictive Trade Practices Act.

The open house, which was the final meet before Trai finalises its second paper on media ownership issues, saw the presence of a large number of representatives from major media houses along with their legal representatives.

The meet was also attended by a large number of cable operators, multi-satellite operators and even consumers.

Trai chairman Rahul Khullar advised caution to the media houses, assuring them that the regulator was taking their views seriously and would compile its report keeping differing points in view.

He said that Trai had earlier issued a paper on this issue, but the government had again asked it to study the issue in the light of the fast changing scenario, and in the light of a report on the subject prepared by the Administrative Staff College of India in Hyderabad.

Principal advisors N Parameshwaran, Anuradha Mitra and Wasi Ahmed and secretary Rajeev Agrawal were present.

Some of the consumers and representatives of resident welfare associations also expressed their views. They generally said the lines had blurred between the different segments of the media and this had to be corrected.
 
One speaker felt that there was need to ensure that there is no conflict of interest or curbing principles of natural justice or restrictive trade practice. Norms should be created so that all resources are not cartalised in the interest of fair play and competition.

It was also emphasised by the consumers that self-regulation had failed and the government should step in to correct the balance.

A Trai official who did not want to be named said that following this meet, the regulator was expected to finalise its report in a couple of weeks.