Justice Vikramjit Sen to head Digital Media Content Regulatory Council

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation announced the appointment of Justice Vikramjit Sen as the Chairman of its newly formed self-regulatory body Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC)

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) on Monday announced the appointment of former Supreme Court judge Justice Vikramjit Sen as the Chairman of its newly formed self-regulatory body Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC).

Besides, six other eminent industry members which include filmmaker Nikkhil Advani, writer and director Tigmanshu Dhulia, filmmaker and writer Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, content producer and distributor Banijay Group CEO and founder Deepak Dhar would also be part of the self-regulatory body, IBF said in a statement.

This Council also includes - Sony Pictures General Counsel Ashok Nambisan and Star and Disney India Chief Regional Counsel Mihir Rale, it added.

"The Council constitutes prominent personalities from the Media & Entertainment industry and Online Curated Content Providers (OCCPs), with experience in IPR, programming and content creation," it said.

IBF, the apex body of broadcasters, had last week announced to expand to cover digital streaming platforms and is soon going to be renamed as Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation (IBDF).

The move was done to bring together the broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms. It had also announced a self-regulatory body DMCRC for digital OTT platforms.

"The self-regulatory body which is formed as per the mandate of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 with active consultation amongst the creative industry fraternity is expected to create a credible, robust and practical code for content, with an inclusive and fair governance structure," said IBF.

Commenting over the development IBF President K Madhavan said this is a historical moment for the stakeholders -- media and entertainment industry, the policymakers and the subscribers of the OTT platforms.

"I look forward to working with the Council whose mandate is to ensure freedom of expression of the Indian creative industry as well as help the discerning audience of the OTT platforms to have unhindered access to world-class and differentiated content," he said.

IBF represents television broadcasting and its members provide channels and programmes that deliver about 90 per cent of television viewership in India.

The Indian subscription video-on-demand industry is witnessing faster growth and it has been further expedited after the pandemic. It is expected to have the fastest growth in the media and entertainment sector for next coming years.

According to a The PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020-2024, the Indian Media & Industry sector is expected to grow at a 10.1 per cent compound annual growth rate to reach USD 55 billion by 2024.

In terms of individual segment market size as a percentage of total industry revenue, OTT video is expected to see the largest gain and reach 5.2 per cent by 2024, it said.