[cr-india] INDIA TODAY: Casting coup...

[Frederick Noronha]

Let's have no illusions. If this isn't a crude attempt at censorship, what
is?  Given the ideological perspectives and priorities of our rulers, we're
probably fooling ourselves waiting for them to "open up" community-radio
too. -- FN
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C A S T I N G   C O U P

The new cable legislation may prove to be a bugbear for both consumers and
broadcasters.

By Kaveree BAMZAI * India Today, May 27, 2002

IT'S POSITIVELY ORWELLIAN in scope and significance, reviving fears that Big
Brother will be watching and deciding what you watch. For those who thought
regulation was a distant possibility with the Convergence Bill pending since
last year's winter session with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT
and Telecom, there's bad news.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj has come up with the
innocuously titled Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill,
2002 that seeks to legislate the Conditional Access System (CAS).

The bill, passed in the Lok Sabha last week, may have appeased the powerful
cable operators' lobby angered by a price hike of over 150 per cent by pay
networks in the past two years, but it has put broadcasters in a bind and
left consumers bewildered.

The CAS provides for a two-tier system: basic and premium.

The basic-tier, comprising free-to-air networks, will cost Rs 5 per channel.
As of now, there are about 30 such channels but there number will be
determined by the government "in the public interest", opening up
mind-boggling opportunities for bureaucratic mishandling.

The premium tier of pay channels will cost the consumer up to Rs 4000 for
set-top boxes and an additional Rs 10 to 15 per channel. Even here, in
demanding that cable operators submit detailed reports on programming, the
government has decided it has the right to know what the viewers are
watching.

Clearly, the move will tighten government control on the so far elusive
private foreign broadcasters. By deciding which networks will comprise the
basic tier to be available to the consumers in every state, city, town and,
amazingly, even area, the government has allowed itself unprecedented
control over content, that it had been unable to do ever since the Broadcast
Bill fell through. And by arrogating to itself the right to "specify the
maximum amount that a cable operator may demand", it has become a super
price regulator.

In the short run, several things may happen when th CAS is implemented in
four metros in the first phase over a period of six months.

Consumers will pay less but for fewer networks not necessarily of their
choice, pay networks may have to go free-to-air because not enough set-top
boxes are available, thus sacrificing their subscription revenue currently
at Rs 1000 crore a year, and cable networks will have to invest a minimum of
Rs 2.5 lakh in the subscriber management system to control the set-top
boxes.

Though the Government is confident the bill will resolve all problems, Peter
Mukherjea, CEO of Star TV, disagrees: "It doesn't solve the real problem of
gross under-declaration of subscribers by cable networks. Star is available
in 38 million homes but cable operators pay us for only 6 million."

The cable operators deny the charge. Rakesh Datta, general secretary of the
Delhi-based Cable Networks' Association, says: "We are tired of being called
thieves. Star, for instance, is paid for at least 12 million homes."

Swaraj insists all the issues "have been investigated and resolved". 

In theory, yes. The Task Force on the introduction of CAS, chaired by I&B
ministry joint secretary Rakesh Mohan, met for over six months last year. It
had representatives from broadcasters, cable operators, set-top
manufacturers and consumers.

But Akhila Sivadas, director, Centre for Advocacy and Research, Delhi, who
was on the task force as a viewers' representative, insists the proposed
powers for the government will prove counter-productive "in the absence of a
public regulatory or an independent consumer grievance body".

There are also apprehensions about the government playing favourites in
choosing networks for the basic tier. It could exert subtle pressure on
networks with content unpalatable to the government of the day. Already,
without waiting for the Convergence Commission to be put in place, swaraj
has appointed a committee under Section 20 of th existing Cable Television
Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. Comprising joint secretaries of the
ministry of I&B, defence, home affairs, law and external affairs "it has the
power to take programmes off the air", says Swaraj.

But Kunal Dasgupta, CEO of Sony, hopes the government will not be draconian
when it comes to the implementing of the bill. "I'm confident the
government will exercise its power with responsibility. In a democracy, it
has to." 

Concerns over content apart there are technological issues to contend with
too. Nearly 70 per cent of the television sets in India are black and white,
many of them costing less than set-top boxes. Set-top manufacturers are
looking at ways to producing cheaper models and also at alternatives such as
leasing.

THE BOTTOM LINE is whether public interest will be served by the bill. In
the short run, consumers will feel the pinch. From paying an average of Rs
150 a month for 75 channels, they will have to start paying Rs 5 for each
free-to-air channel and the pay channels will cost extra.

Mukherjea says Star had suggested a better option to the government:
implement the law and allow two years for the set-top boxes to be available
in adequate numbers. Give cable operators 90 days in which to declare their
subscriber base and broadcasters will automatically drop their rates. Even
Dev Naganand, CEO of Zee Network which supports the bill, says 18-24 months
is a more realistic time-frame for the implementation of CAS.

The cable operators, however, are in no mood to negoatiate. Says Datta:
"We've have told the I&B minister that if the bill is not passed we will
increase the rates to Rs 360 a month across the four metros."

Ashok Bhanushali, president of the Mumbai-based All India Cable Operators'
Association, agrees. "Broadcasters are afraid of CAS because their level of
connectivity will be exposed. They have been getting away with inflated
figures of reach forcing us to telecast the not-so-popular channels with the
more populaar ones."

Clearly, between the ministry, broadcasters and cable operators, the Big
Fight promises plenty of action watched avidly by the consumer, of course.
(www.indiatoday.com)