The information and broadcasting ministry will spend Rs 196 crore for the full digitalisation of 10 DD studio centres and 61 All India Radio (AIR) stations. According to I&B minister S Jaipal Reddy, currently 9 DD studio centres and 79 radio centres are fully digitalised. “During 2005-06 and 2006-07 ten DD studio centres are targeted to be fully digitalised and 22 partially digitalised at a cost of Rs 164 crore,” Reddy said. The government will spend Rs 31.91 crore for the complete digitalisation of 61 AIR radio centres, he said in Parliament in response to a question. On foreign investment in news channels, Reddy said, “The government have constituted a group of ministers (GoM) to examine the proposals for review of the existing uplinking policy. The GoM is yet to finalise its recommendations.” Both the uplinking and downlinking policies were referred to the GoM by Cabinet in July. The GoM comprises of eight ministers and is being headed by the external affairs minister. So far, the GoM has met only once to discuss the matter. The next meeting is expected to take place in the first week of September, ministry sources informed.
GV Films writes a new script
Chennai-based GV Films the first public limited film production and distribution company is rejigging its business model. The company which was a pure play film production and distribution house is transforming itself into a full-fledged media company. Under the new model, the company plans to foray into new business lines like content creation for television, IMAX film productions for the international market and setting up of multiplexes in Tamil Nadu. The total investment for expanding its service lines would be Rs 40.42 crore. Mahadevan Ganesh, chairman, GV Films, said, “The multiplex concept has become popular and we want to be a leading player in this arena.”
FM radio II bidding may end by Nov
Ashish Sinha
The bidding process for the second phase of FM radio expansion under private sector is likely to be wound-up by mid-November. The expansion involves 336 channels across 90 cities.
The draft tender document for FM II expansion is in the final stages and the advertisement will be published towards the end of August, said senior officials from ministry of information and broadcasting. “There has been a slight delay in the process as some existing private FM operators had sought clarifications on issues like ‘lease rent’ etc, which we are incorporating as part of the tender document,” SK Arora, secretary, I&B ministry, said.
In the first leg, post advertisement of tender documents, applications will be invited from interested parties alongwith supporting papers meeting the eligibility criteria. “We will then short-list the eligible bidders and notify the region-wise venue for the start of bidding process. This will be completed by end-September,” Arora added.
The entire bidding process will take one month after that. By the end of November the successful bidders will be asked to deposit 50% of the bidding amount within seven days of allotment of frequencies upon which the ministry will issue ‘letter of intent’, senior I&B officials said.
The government had notified the second phase expansion of private FM radio on July 13.
A common infrastructure for private FM transmission will be created in nine cities at a cost of Rs 25 crore. The cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and Jaipur. Remaining 81 cities have already got the basic infrastructure.
Setting up of media panel under study
THE government has said that the proposal to set up a media commission was being examined. “The proposal and its various aspects are under examination,” information and broadcasting minister S Jaipal Reddy informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
Reddy said a group of ministers (GoM) has been constituted to examine the proposal for ‘review’ of the existing ‘uplinking policy’. The GoM is yet to finalise its recommendations, he said, adding a timeframe cannot be indicated in this regard. To another question, he said at present 14-free-to-air private TV channels, in addition to 19 Doordarshan channels, are available on DD Direct+, Doordarshan’s DTH platform. The private channels are being carried without any carriage fee and are included in the bouquet in order to reach out to a wider audience and make service popular, the minister said.
Prasar Bharti is not driven by commercial consideration alone, he said adding it is hosting private TV channels free of charge for a period of two years as an exploratory measure.