News broadcasters to raise issues with govt

Reeling under heavy pressure, news broadcasters in the country will raise issues faced by them with the government, NBA president Rajat Sharma said today.
Issues like paying huge carriage fees and the 12 minute ad cap rule will be raised before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, Sharma said, addressing the seventh Indian News Television Summit organised by indiantelevision.Com.
He said the content of TV news industry has changed in the last three years with more responsibility having crept into coverage of channels, which have been at the forefront in covering issues of national importance from corruption and criminalisation of politics to others.

Despite the important role played by them, news channels have been existing in a difficult environment. At a recent meeting, it has been decided that the problems facing the broadcasting industry will have to be solved and the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and I&B minister will be informed about it, he said.
Broadcasters will inform the government about the impact of carriage fees on the broadcasting industry and also that a way has to be found so that MSOs can survive on the basis of subscription revenues so that they don't have to depend on carriage fees. They will also inform the government about the impact of 12 minute ad cap rule, he said.

Sharma, who is also India TV chairman and Editor-in-Chief, emphasised that broadcasters should work together to face challenges confronting them.
During another session, NDTV Group CEO Vikram Chandra, TV Today CEO Ashish Bagga, IBN18 CEO Avinash Kaul, Focus News Network group CEO Neeraj Sanan, Doordarshan ADG (News) Mayank Agrawal spoke on the various modes of revenue generation through traditional and digital mediums.
In another session, issues related to editorial independence were discussed.