Ill fitting cap

At the request of the ministry of information and broadcasting,TRAI had agreed not to enforce the 12-minute cap until the end of the year. However,it has reportedly sought legal action against 14 channels — which have routinely overstepped the limit — from the courts of Delhi,arguing that no one is above the law. Agreed,no one should be,but the real question is whether the law is prudent or even necessary. TRAI’s objective of providing better service to viewers is unexceptionable,but it forgets that viewers are capable of deciding their acceptable dose of advertising. Besides,advertising bodies have always argued that ads are of social and economic value,helping viewers to make informed choices. This is not wholly true,but some advertising is indeed designed for public service and may be counted as a form of programming.

The regulation of advertising is best left to producers and consumers of media,along with ad professionals. It is a complicated category and a heavy-handed volume cap may not improve viewer experience at all. In fact,it could make it much worse by forcing channels to reduce programming spends.