Sat Tv Units Upbeat Over Uplinking

Some of the broadcasters are even talking of the possibility of the government passing an ordinance to speed up what may end up being a long-winded process. The government is supposed to consider the future of the country's media policy in the winter session of parliament.

"Little opposition can be expected," says a broadcaster. "All the political parties understand and agree that uplinking by private Indian channels is something that can't be wished away any more."

Both the Nitesh Sengupta Committee and Ram Vilas Paswan Committee on media have agreed that private Indian-owned channels should be allowed to uplink programmes out of India as not only will it result in more editorial control, it will also help save foreign exchange, which channel owners have to fork out to uplink facilities in Singapore.

 

There are quite a few scenarios that could be possible, say broadcasters. One, uplinking will be allowed through VSNL or DD or the DoT. The second scenario envisages that a government organisation/s or private companies -- chances of the latter getting permission are rather remote -- will be the nodal point of uplinking and will look after the infrastructure.

The third possibility is that channel owners will be allowed to set up their own uplinking stations with studio facilities for all the users of the service. The third option may end up just being an option as the investment needed is amazingly high.

There's a possibility that a few channel owners may reduce their risks by getting together and forming and funding a new company which will build the required infrastructure, after getting the necessary government approvals. However, that's in the future. Immediately, TV channel owners are looking ahead to getting the governmental go-ahead for uplinking, be it in whatever form.