New Delhi: The I&B Ministry has accepted broadcast sector regulator TRAI's recommendations on guidelines for accreditation of TV rating agencies and will soon approach the union cabinet for its nod, Union Minister Manish Tewari said.
The ministry had earlier asked the regulator to provide its guidelines on the issue, after which TRAI had in September released its recommendations including a condition that they be notified within two months.
TRAI had also laid down that the minimum number of homes that a rating agencies should measure should be 20,000 within six months of the guidelines coming into force, after which the number should be increased by 10,000 every year to reach 50,000.
"We have accepted the recommendations of TRAI. We have circulated a cabinet note already," Tewari told reporters here".
He said most recommendations had been more or less accepted. "Once we have the cabinet approval, we will notify the guidelines," he added.
The TV audience measurement mechanism has been a subject of controversy in the past with many channels expressing dissatisfaction with TAM ratings.
Tewari was asked whether the I&B ministry was planning to bring a PRB Bill. He said the proposed amendments to the Act were ready and had been put on the website and stakeholders' had sought fresh consultations on issues including on 'paid news', which had been slated for Tuesday.
He said the ministry would take a further decision after the consultations.
Replying to a question related to setting up of a National Gaming and Animation centre in Mohali, Tewari said there was a problem as it was intended to be a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) but the private sector had not turned up.
He said government was considering a plan to set up the institute with Japanese assistance.
Tewari also said bills to give special status to Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) had been sent to the law ministry.
He said another proposal to give the status of 'institute of national importance' to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication was by and large ready.
He said another proposal to give status of 'institute of national importance' to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) was by and large ready.
On the issue of raising the permissible levels of FDI in print media, Tewari said that Press Council of India (PCI) had submitted its recommendations. He said PCI's stakeholders had opined that the current levels of FDI in print media should be maintained.
He said Indian Newspaper Society (INS) had favoured raising the limit to 49 percent.
"We are trying to build a political consensus after all media is a sensitive area," Tewari said.
