I&B ministry may allow private FM channels to air their own news

The rider is they will have to carry AIR news first, for a fixed tariff ranging anywhere between Rs2lakh and Rs50lakh The Information & Broadcasting (I&B) ministry may allow private radio operators to air their own news content, provided they start airing news sourced from the All India Radio (AIR) at a fixed tariff for a certain period of time. Under the FM radio policy guidelines, private FM channels were not allowed to broadcast news as there was no manpower or mechanism to monitor the content of such news. However, last year, under the third phase of FM auction guidelines, the government had decided to allow private radio operators to carry “verbatim” AIR news content. The move may lure licensed radio operators to use news sourced from AIR, an idea that had failed to generate interest among them. This will also fetch the central government a good revenue, as it plans to expanding the radio broadcasting sector through private channels. The I&B ministry has recently invited applications for e-auction of second batch of 266 FM Radio channels in 92 cities under the FM Phase III expansion, under which special incentives are being offered to 36 channels in 14 cities comprising Jammu& Kashmir and north eastern states. Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati will sign an agreement to allow such FM channels use AIR’s news bulletin and has already prepared a tariff card for those interested in sourcing news bulletins from the AIR.

As per the tariff card, radio operators will have to pay the AIR anywhere between Rs2 lakh to Rs50 lakh per year, depending on the popularity of the channel and the city where the channel is operating. The tariff would be lower for smaller cities and will go up for tier I cities. Whether the channels decide to run the AIR news content for 15 minutes or for all day, the tariff would remain the same. It is awaiting the I&B ministry’s nod. A senior I&B ministry official said that most private radio operators are anyway not keen on airing news. “Private radio operators have barely shown interest in running news on their channels. They can get readymade news content for AIR and run them at their ease,” the official said. When dna contacted minister of state for ministry of Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, he said private FM channels should start airing news as per the phase III policy. "As yet we have not seen anyone air news on private FM," he said.