The Politics of Radio in India
2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 34; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/01296612.2007.11726851
ISSN2377-6277
Autores Tópico(s)South Asian Cinema and Culture
ResumoThe second phase of the privatisation of radio in India in January 2006 led to the government granting additional licences to 282 FM stations resulting in the current number of 304 private FM stations servicing the country. In contrast to the first phase of licensing that ended acrimoniously and that revealed a government eager to earn millions of dollars in licensing revenues but chary of awarding licences, this second phase has been welcomed by the broadcasting industry as a step in the right direction. So could this be the clearest indication yet of the government exorcising its tryst with its control of broadcasting? Yes and no. It is interesting to note that the government has not relinquished total control as these newly licensed stations have either to share common transmission infrastructures on existing state-owned “Prasar Bharati” towers or will have to wait until the government creates common transmission infrastructure. “In 81 cities, the facilities would be co-located on existing AIR/DD towers, while in remaining nine cities, new towers shall be constructed by the Ministry, through Broadcast Engineering Consultants Limited (BECIL), for the purpose” (2001). At best, this opening up is an indication of the partial liberalisation of the broadcasting sector and it remains to be seen as to whether this will extend to the entire broadcasting sector.
Referência(s)