exchange4media and Group will hold India’s foremost event on Voice Marketing on July 15, 2021.

The event is about how the industry is building smart solutions on voice and its role in the marketing mix. Some of the areas that it will cover include how voice has been used innovatively to target audiences in rural India, the surge in voice searches, the rapid adoption of virtual assistants, and the integration of bots to drive conversational commerce. 

Reuters Institute Digital Report shows BBC as India’s most trusted international news brand while Ipsos Affluent survey highlights BBC is one of the top three online news brands in India

After Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has decided to move the Kerala High Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

The IT rules have been challenged on the ground that they give excessive powers to government authorities to restrict the freedom of speech and expression of the media.

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) principal tariff order and regulations (NTO 1.0) and amended tariff order and regulations (NTO 2.0) do not violate the fundamental rights of the broadcasters. 

The bench of Justice AA Sayed and Anuja Prabhudessai also noted that the powers granted to TRAI under Section 11 of TRAI Act 1997 related to the broadcasting sector do not violate the fundamental rights of the broadcasters. 

It has been close to nine months since BARC announced a blackout period for the news genre ratings and while broadcasters have no fresh update from the measurement body, industry insiders suggest that BARC is prepping to get news ratings back soon. Sources also suggest the possibility of a BARC board meeting in the next two weeks where the return of news ratings could be discussed.

“As per the law, every company shall hold a minimum of four board meetings in a calendar year but the BARC board haven’t met since October, ever since the news ratings were discontinued. We are hopeful that if the meeting happens soon, we will have an update on the status of news ratings,” said an industry insider.

Last week, the Bombay High Court finally delivered its verdict in the NTO 2.0 case. While largely upholding the tariff order, which will bring about major changes in the way channels are provided to consumers via distribution platform operators (DPOs), the court did provide a small but significant relief to broadcasters.

If either the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) along with its members or the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) challenge the HC order in Supreme Court, ostensibly, the implementation of NTO 2.0 will remain in limbo.

KOLKATA: One of the major issues that has dominated the pay TV ecosystem in India is in constant conflict between stakeholders and the sector regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).  With the Bombay high court pronouncing its verdict on the amended new tariff order matter, one of the long-fought battles between the two may have come to an end. It upheld the constitutional validity of Trai’s NTO 2.0 but set aside the second clause of twin pricing conditions. The court's decision is receiving mixed reviews from senior industry executives.

The Bombay High Court has pronounced its judgement in the pleas filed by TV broadcasters against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0.

The HC has upheld the NTO 2.0 barring the second proviso of the twin conditions which states that the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP), forming part of a bouquet, shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.

For the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the Bombay High Court upholding the validity of the New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0 (barring the second of the twin conditions) is a validation of its powers. While the order copy has not yet been provided, the broadcasters conversely see the striking down of the second proviso of the twin condition comes as a small but significant relief.

If speculations are to be believed, the IBF may challenge the Bombay HC verdict, especially since the commercial impact NTO 2.0 may have on the broadcasters.

The Bombay High Court has pronounced its judgement in the pleas filed by TV broadcasters against Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) New Tariff Order (NTO) 2.0.
The HC has upheld the NTO 2.0 barring the second proviso of the twin conditions which states that the a-la-carte rates of each pay channel (MRP), forming part of a bouquet, shall in no case exceed three times the average rate of a pay channel of the bouquet of which such pay channel is a part.
The bench of Justices AA Sayed and Anuja Prabhudessai found the second proviso to be arbitrary. The bench has also observed that TRAI will not take any coercive steps for six weeks for implementation of remaining part of NTO-2.0, which has been upheld.