[cr-india] more on private FM

[sajan venniyoor]

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FM Radio revenue sharing to be in 3-3.5 per cent band 

FINANCIAL EXPRESS
NEW DELHI

Revenue-sharing between private FM radio players and the government is likely to be finalised at around 3 to 3.5 per cent, according to sources. The expert committee on radio, headed by Ficci secretary general Amit Mitra, will meet again on October 13 to finalise the details. The recommendations of the committee are expected to be put up on the web by the 15th of this month for public comments. The word is that a shift from the licence regime to revenue-sharing era is likely to attract considerable public opinion. Revenue-sharing will follow payment of a one-time entry fee through a bidding process. 

While most of the issues for the second phase of radio privatisation have been worked out, a migration package is yet to be evolved. The migration package should be such that there are minimum legal complications, said a senior information and broadcasting ministry official. Since a migration arrangement was worked out for the telecom players a few years ago, it could serve as a model for the radio committee. 

Even as the government is likely to accept the recommendations of the radio committee, which was set up at the behest of the I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for the second phase of FM radio privatisation, it is yet to get satisfactory answers from an existing player. 

The government had recently issued a show-cause notice to Radio City, which is operated by Ispat group’s Music Broadcast Pvt Ltd (MBPL), and has Star group subsidiary Digiwave as the content-provider, but it hasn’t got any convincing reply from the licensee yet. 

The I&B ministry sent another letter last Friday, reiterating its concerns that Radio City is violating government norms. According to the ministry, it is Digiwave, and not MBPL (the licensee), which is running Radio City. The company has a week to reply. Although government had issued a show-cause notice to MBPL earlier as to why its licence should not be cancelled, the company secured a court order preventing the government from inquiring into content-provider Digiwave’s credentials. The Radio City saga is going on the same lines as Star News, as far as government questioning is concerned. 

In yet another matter involving both radio and TV, the I&B ministry is of the view that there shouldn’t be any licence on the sets, contrary to a proposal by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. Since UK’s public broadcaster BBC meets part of its expenses through licence fee on TV sets, Prasar Bharati wanted to adopt the same model.

© 2003 The Indian Express Online Media Ltd.