Govt threatens Nimbus over feed

It warns of action against the channel if 'superior quality live feed' is not shared with DD, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Feb 7, 2007, 21:46:00 IST

None | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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The government has threatened to take action against Nimbus if 'superior quality live feed' is not shared with Prasar Bharati (PB) as per the recently notified Ordinance on sports broadcast. Nimbus, on its part, said that it has left the matter at the discretion of Delhi High Court, where the issue would be heard on Thursday.

A senior I&B ministry official told Hindustan Times that Nimbus was 'categorically' told on Tuesday at a meeting called by BCCI chief Sharad Pawar that action as per downlinking guidelines would be taken, if the stipulations of the Ordinance, notified last week, is not followed. The channel not following the guidelines can be banned and a penalty of Rs one crore can also be imposed.

Nimbus' objection is against the stipulation in the Ordinance that it will have to share live feed with PB even for cable homes and DTH service. Nimbus chairperson Harish Thiwani said question of taking action does not arise as they are following the court orders. "Whether it is an Ordinance or the guidelines the final word is of the court of law. We will abide by the court's verdict," he said. On Thursday's match, he said, DD will get seven minute delayed feed as per the earlier court order, a violation of the Ordinance.

The talks between Nimbus and PB on sharing of live feed failed on Wednesday. "We have to wait for the court's verdict," a PB official commented, but added that it will inform the court about complaints against Nimbus by Dish TV of Zee Group, about the inferior quality Neo Sports feed. Nimbus had provided 15 camera feed to DD as against 30 camera broadcast shown on its own channel.

Two committees to resolve the issue have been constituted - a technical committee by I&B ministry having officials from PB and all sports broadcast companies and the other by BCCI. "The BCCI committee will look at all aspects of the Ordinance and will talk to the government. I am hopeful that the issue will be resolved," said BCCI media committee convenor Rajiv Shukla. He added that the board is not against sharing the feed but wants to find a "middle path".

Email Chetan Chauhan: chetan @hindustantimes.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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