With broadcasters raising concerns over the pricing cap on channels, broadcast regulator Trai on Saturday said that it was devising a solution to the problem.
"Broadcasters spoke to me last week. We are trying to start a dialogue. Devise a solution," Trai chairman Rahul Khullar said, adding that he could not, however, give any specific assurance to them right away as the issue of pricing mechanism is still sub-judice.
Trai has capped price of pay channels at Rs 5.20. Broadcasters have found the current pricing uneconomical. Star India CEO Uday Shankar said that current pricing of channels was not viable for channels beaming quality content. "The pricing of channels was fixed several years ago and it is a fundamentally flawed concept that the pricing of all channels in the same category should be the same," Shankar said.
Khullar also spoke on the recently introduced TV rating guidelines, describing the present system as ``broken.'' "There were things which were broken, like the TRP system, which is getting fixed and also under-reporting of consumers which too is getting fixed with digitisation," he said.
Khullar also said that new technologies were affecting the way content was being delivered, adding that the sort of convergence seen in US, Japan or Korea happens in India. He said that non-availability of spectrum in the broadcast sector could hamper many ambitious plans.
Source: Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
