The National Federation of Akashwani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE) is looking to step up their agitation against the Prasar Bharti Act, which according to them has “lost relevance” in the wake of continued financial loss.
“The autonomy of Prasar Bharti has no meaning today. With the advent of many private TV channels and private FM stations, the broadcast scenario in our country has changed and there is need to have a fresh look at the Prasar Bharti Act,” a senior NFADE member said.
Quoting recommendations from the review comittee set up under Shunu Sen in 2000, the member said, “The committee had recommended that Prasar Bharati target should be to become financially self-sufficient within five years so that the organisation would not require any major funding from government of India... Which is not the case so far.”
The financial health of Prasar Bharti, according to NFADE, is not in good shape. Prasar Bharati’s earnings have been stagnant for the past five years. “It is not possible to bring in revenue with most of our stations operating at remote, financially unviable locations and that too with the mandate of public service broadcasting being carried by Prasar Bharati,” the official said.
Another aspect of the problem faced by NFADE is the rent it pays for the DD and AIR buildings as they are currently housed in government property. “Soon there will be a situation where we will have to either vaccate the premises or pay up the market rent as per the commercial value of the property. This will snowball into a major crisis for us,” Poonam Dabas, vice-chairman of NFADE said.
According to sources in the I&B ministry, this year Prasar Bharati received a total grant of Rs 1,100 crore from the ministry, against a revenue of Rs 600 crore. However, for special grants sanctioned for completing projects, 14% interest is charged on the loan amount. According to the sources, the interest so far on such special grants has reached Rs 987 crore.
Allow private TV broadcast in digital, analogue modes: Trai
Submitting its recommendation on the private terrestrial TV broadcast service, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has suggested that the government should permit commercial television broadcasting in both analogue and digital modes. Trai has also suggested that the licensing structure in this arrangement should be on the lines of FM radio.
In its recommendation Trai said, “The frequency allocation for analogue and digital services could be finalised later, once the major decisions are taken. The distribution would have to take note of the requirements of the wireless-based telecom services.” l
Sony, Warner Music confront Apple on digital music prices
Two-and-a-half years after the music business lined up behind the chief executive of Apple, Steve Jobs, and hailed him and his iTunes music service for breathing life into music sales, the industry’s allegiance to Jobs has eroded sharply. Jobs is now girding for a showdown with at least two of the four major record companies over the price of songs on the iTunes service. If he loses, the one-price-fits-all model of 99 cents a song that iTunes has adopted could be replaced with a more complex structure that prices songs by popularity. A hot new single, for exampe, could sell for a $1.49, while a golden oldie could go for substantially less than 99 cents.
Music executives who support Jobs say the higher prices could backfire, sending iTunes’ customers in search of songs on free, unauthorized file-swapping networks. Signs of conflict over pricing issues are increasingly apparent. This month, Apple started its iTunes service in Japan without songs from the two major companies — Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group leaving artists like Avril Lavigne, Beyonce and Rob Thomas out of the catalog because the companies refused to license their music to iTunes, said executives involved in the talks.
That gap in the Japanese music market, the world’s second-biggest, is considered a harbinger of what may await American consumers as the contracts that record companies have with Apple in the United States come up for renewal early next year.
Jobs in the past has cast himself as a David-sized innovator battling established media Goliaths like Disney and Microsoft. But these days, allies and adversaries both agree, he is an 800-pound gorilla, with more clout online than even Wal-Mart has in the brick and mortar world.
Apple commands an estimated 75 per cent of digital music sales, and roughly 80 per cent of sales of MP3 players, with its market-leading iPod. While many still admire Jobs’ seeming Midas touch — iTunes quickly established a market for paid downloads after the industry wasted years on misfires — he also inspires enmity or jealousy from others in the industry, which is back in a slump after a modest rebound last year.
Jobs’ vision of simple, uniform pricing for songs, and a policy of limiting Apple’s music to Apple’s devices, are increasingly under attack. “He’d liked to continue to define the rules of the game,” said Paul Vidich, a special adviser to America Online and former executive vice president of the Warner Music Group. Vidich noted that the digital music market, while growing, is still a fraction of the music business, but added that “I just think the music companies are now at a point where there’s too much money on the table not to insist” that Apple accept variable prices.
Andrew Lack, Sony BMG’s chief executive, discussed the state of the overall digital market at a media and technology conference three months ago and noted that Jobs “has got two revenue streams: one from our music and one from the sale of his iPods.”