The number of TV channels in the country already exceeding 800, the battle for eyeballs can only get hotter as the broadcasting sector continues to see an expansion with 260 applications pending for the launch of new
channels.
Even as the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting (MIB) has given over 40 clearances this year, another
noticeable trend that has emerged is that, in 2014 and 2015, the number
of non-news and current affairs channels that are coming up is
significantly more than that ofnews channels.
According to the ministry, the actual
number of private satellite channels that have been granted permission
over the years is 955, although 125 permits were cancelled for various
reasons.
Sources said that most of the
cancellations were due to reasons like non-operationalization of the
channel, non- submission of Performance Bank Guarantee (PBG) or
surrender of permission, etc.
As a result, there are 830 private
satellite TV channels with valid permission in the country of which 398
are news and current affairs channels while 432 are non-news and current
affairs channels.
The number of channels that have been
given permission has also seen an increase in recent years. In 2012, 37
channels were granted permission and, although that number slumped to a
meagre seven in 2013, in 2014, the number of channels that were given
permissions was 45.
Further, till November this year, the MIB granted 42 permissions.
An interesting development is that in
2014 and 2015, the number of non-news and current affairs channels that
are being launched is significantly more than that of news channels. The
two categories have over the years been quite close in terms of numbers
of channels being extended permission.
In 2014, there were 14 news channels
which got permission as opposed to 31 in the non-news category. Till,
November 2015, the MIB has approved 39 channels in the non-news category
but only 3 news channels.
In 2013, however, the number of news
channels given permissions was more than that of non-news channels. Of
the seven channels that were granted permissions, four were in the news
category while the rest were in the non-news category.
