In its ‘Recommendations on Inputs for Formulation of National Broadcasting Policy-2024’, the TRAI has suggested that the existing audience measurement system in India needs to be revamped.
The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is the official TV viewership measurement body, while there is no unified third-party measurement system in digital and radio.
The TRAI has recommended expanding the sample size of the audience measurement system to capture India’s diversity. It is also in favour of encouraging multiple rating agencies to carry out audience measurement to ensure healthy competition.
The regulator also said that return path data (RPD) and other latest technologies must be utilised to enhance the accuracy of data.
Infrastructure status and ease of doing business
It has also stated that processing the grant of ‘Infrastructure Status’ to the broadcasting sector for raising capital for investment in newer technologies must be a priority.
The grant of infrastructure status has been a long-pending demand of the broadcasting sector.The regulator noted that infrastructure sharing of broadcasting equipment and transport streams among the service providers in the broadcasting and cable television sectors must be encouraged. Telecom infrastructure must be utilised for the provision of broadcasting services, it added.
The regulator also suggested streamlining Right of Way (RoW) processes and standardising RoW charges across all states for laying cables and erecting towers by utilising a single window clearance and centralised payment system.
Reiterating its earlier recommendation, the TRAI has also stated that the ease of doing business in the broadcasting sector should be improved by digitising permissions and providing single-window clearance to attract long-term foreign and domestic investment for the growth of the sector.
Measuring impact of broadcasting on GDP
The TRAI has called for the establishment of an institutional framework to gauge the broadcasting sector’s contribution to India’s economy in collaboration with the National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme.
The parameters are to be measured in terms of gross output and value addition for direct economic contributions such as revenue generation, employment generation, subscription figures, etc., as well as other indirect economic contributions.
While the exact contribution of the broadcasting sector to the economy is not available, the TRAI noted that the combined contribution from trade, hotels, transport, communication, and broadcasting sectors constitutes 17.57% of the GDP for the years 2023–2024.
Policy for AVGC sector
The regulator has said that the notification of the ‘National Policy for Growth of the ‘Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics, and Extended Reality’ Sector in India is in mission mode.
In order to enable the reach and access of television broadcasting services to uncovered households, it has proposed leveraging fixed-line broadband infrastructure, including that created under BharatNet, to extend the reach of television services in rural and low-density television areas.
Expanding reach of TV
It has called upon the MIB to devise subsidised bundled schemes through the Public Service Broadcaster for the provision of ‘DD Free Dish’ services, including television sets and CPE, to the marginalised, tribal, and economically weaker sections.
According to TRAI, the TV distribution platforms must be encouraged to devise low-cost offerings, curate content for rural underpenetrated areas, and identify, reactivate, and reuse inactive set-top boxes through appropriate incentive schemes.
The TRAI has suggested promoting R&D and securing IPR in the broadcasting sector and manufacturing and adopting new technologies, including indigenous broadcasting technologies and equipment.
Other key recommendations
Among other recommendations, the regulator has also proposed enhancing employment through training and upskilling, promoting innovation, empowering startups, fostering economic growth, making India an uplinking hub for television channels, and utilising digital terrestrial broadcasting.
The TRAI has recommended the establishment of a ‘Centre of Excellence for Broadcasting’ at leading technological institutes and industry associations for research, standardisation, development, and testing of emerging broadcasting technologies.
The government must aim to promote manufacturing of core electronics components through production-linked incentive schemes, aiming to create a ‘Global Manufacturing Hub’ for the broadcasting sector, the TRAI said.
Combating piracy
The regulator has recommended that DD Free Dish should be migrated from an unencrypted non-addressable system to digital addressable systems to prevent piracy and unauthorised re-distribution of the content.
It also suggested that the MIB should collaborate with Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) for establishing dedicated anti-piracy units within LEAs and provide them with necessary tools and resources to proactively combat physical and digital piracy activities in real-time.
To fast-track the disposal of copyright infringement cases, the TRAI has said that specialised courts or tribunals must be established at both Centre and State level.
It is also in favour of constituting an inter-ministerial committee under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) including MIB, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to formulate actionable points to strengthen enforcement mechanisms both at the national and state levels to combat piracy.
