Broadcast industry seeks less control, more ‘ease of doing business’ from Centre

NEW DELHI: In response to the new guidelines proposed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) for uplinking and downlinking of private satellite channels and teleports that accords more to the home ministry, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has asked the Centre to simplify the approval process for licenses instead of adding more levels to it.

The IBF, a unified representative body of television broadcasters in India, has brought up issues such as timelines to permit new companies, or cases when a recognised broadcast entity, want to launch a new channel, change its logo, get a new board director without altering the shareholding pattern significantly, and so on. Channels believe security clearance by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is unnecessary and they should be permitted without the government trying to wield power over the industry.

The IBF responded recently to the draft guidelines that were released in April.