Broadcasters are fighting TRAI for their survival

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Editor's note: 2020 seems to continue with the trend of bearing bad news for television broadcasters in India. On 1 January, the telecom regulator introduced some changes to the rules governing pricing and packaging of TV channels. In the amended rules, announced after three-and-a-half months of consultation, the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has reduced the cap on MRP of TV channels that are part of a bouquet by 37% to Rs 12 from Rs 19. The industry regulator has also brought back the analogue-era ‘twin conditions’, which limit broadcasters from offering more than 33% discounts on channel bouquets. Broadcasters have been asked to submit the revised rates of individual channels and bouquets on their websites by January 15th. From Broadcasters miffed with Trai’s amendments to tariff order • The Economic Times To say that this amendment, which will come into effect in March 2020, has left the broadcasters upset would be an understatement. Within days of the announcement, the top executives across almost all the large broadcasting companies came together—a rare sight—and condemned the changes. In fact, earlier this week, …