NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is working on a comprehensive consultation paper on cross media ownership that will examine both vertical and horizontal integration of ownership.
Addressing a Roundtable on Cross Media Ownership, TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar said that technology is moving at a fast pace and the presence of media is overwhelming in many ways. He stated that there is a definite need for regulations which are customized to the Indian scenario and not borrowed from those prevailing in other countries and the regulator would draw up rules and regulations in this regard after the views of stakeholders are received. He however said that any rules or regulations have to be framed in a manner which will not affect the freedom of the press and will also safeguard content.
He flagged certain issues that must be kept in view while drawing up the regulations. These included conflict of interest, domination in and by the media, reduced competition because of the presence of media magnates and the need for plurality of content and ownership which was essential to the freedom of the press. He said that the regulations should cover the entry of media houses or corporates, mergers and acquisitions, and their growth in size. He felt that it was important to keep in view that the media was providing a market for influencing opinions and ideas and therefore needed some checks and balances.
Khullar said that vertical concentration meant cases where the producer of content and the distributor of that content were both owned by the same individual or business house as this created a monopoly and cut competition, while horizontal concentration implied all forms of media – print, radio, television, and new media – owned by the same group/individual. He said that horizontal concentration is barred in most countries.
Khullar noted that these concentrations lead to lack of diversity in content and could also lead to play of market and extra-market forces which could bring in political influence as well. He said in most countries, advertising agencies and political parties were not allowed to have stakes in the media, and newspaper owners and broadcast owners were not allowed to have stakes in other media. Furthermore, there was restriction on foreign ownerships, and individuals were not permitted to control a majority. He said that it was not enough for anyone to pass the test of ownership, and he also had to pass the test of concentration.
Khullar stated that the regulator would with the help of the Competition Commission of India attempt to ensure that there are minimum number of mergers and acquisitions. Thus, any Consultation Paper will spell out restrictions, make mandatory disclosure requirements, spell out levels of market share which will not impede plurality and diversity, list general disqualifications, recommend how cross media ownership can be dealt with, set rules for disaggregated markets and ensure minimum mergers and acquisitions.
Answering a query, he said that ways could be found to deal with those magnates or corporates who already had large concentration, vertically as well as horizontally. This was particularly easy in cases where there was shareholding.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Prakash Javadekar who was a member of the Paid News sub-committee of the Press Council of India said self-regulation and not government regulation was necessary if freedom of the press had to be ensured. He also made a plea for enlarging the Press Council into a Media Council that included the electronic media, though he admitted that television channels were opposed to this.
Mr Jehangir Pocha of INX News stressed the need to define cross media ownership, and to decide who can own the media: mediapersons, tycoons, or corporates.
Dr Paramita Das Gupta of the Administrative Staff College of India in Hyderabad, which had prepared a study on cross media ownership at the behest of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, said the report had clearly established that there was large scale concentration in a few hands, both vertically and horizontally. She named Sun TV, Essel, Star, and ADAG as the top houses with large-scale horizontal and vertical cross media ownership, while five major groups – which she did not name – own the largest number of TV and radio channels.
She referred to the Broadcast Services Regulation Bill 2007, and wondered how the government had arrived at the figure of 20 per cent cross-media ownership. She said that a sectoral convergence regulator was necessary to check cross-media ownership and should work at tandem with the Competition Commission of India. She said that the Regulator must also conduct regular market surveys every three to four years and there should be a cap on vertical holdings which should be fixed very carefully.
CCI Member R Prasad said the theory of public interest generally means government control. Prasad said pluralism was necessary and the stranglehold of a few had to be stopped. He said that the CCI came into the picture only when consolidation happened in any sector, with the aim of preventing monopoly.
Hindu’s Siddharth Varadarajan said unfair practices had taken strong roots in the media, beginning with the price wars and then paid news. The choice had become limited despite the number of publications and TV channels. He said technology was ahead of regulation and therefore the government should act quickly.
Others who spoke included TRAI principal advisor N Parameswaran, Mr Shantanu Bhanja of HT Media, Star India’s Legal and Regulatory vice president Pulak Bagchi and Pradeep Mehta of Consumer Unity and Trust Society.