Broadcasters146; body moots PPP model

NBA president G Krishnan said on Tuesday that the Government cannot and should not be controlling the content through the rationalisation of television rating system, proposed by the TRAI, and should do away with 8220;antiquated regulations8221;.

8220;In the garb of purportedly rationalising television rating system, it cannot control content and cannot confuse and inter-twine the diverse subjects of 8216;industry research8217; and 8216;content8217;. TRAI has no role in laying down guidelines for industry research and it should not deviate from worldwide industry practices, which they have relied upon,8221; Krishnan said at the first annual general meeting of the NBA.

Calling for 8220;forward looking guidelines8221;, Krishnan said that the regulatory models should be 8220;incentive based rather than coercive8221;, as this would help promote and encourage flexibility and reach audiences on new platforms.

Krishnan also called for a national digital policy, as suggested by the Indian Entertainment and Media Industry Report 2007 of FICCI Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

The News Broadcasting Standards Disputes Redressal Authority members include, under 8220;Eminent Persons8221; category, historian and author Ramachandra Guha, former president NASSCOM Kiran Karnik, eminent sociologist JNU Prof Dipankar Gupta and economist and former under secretary general, United Nations, Nitin Desai. Members under 8220;editors8221; include India TV8217;s Vinod Kapri, Zee News8217; B V Rao, Star News8217; Milind Khandekar and Times Now8217;s Arnab Goswami.

The authority to come into effect from October 2 was formed after months of deliberation by NBA members.