Ok so advertisements are not for viewers but for the channels to mint money. Is this how a channel works to generate revenue ? where were the days when content was more important than mere advertisements when the viewers used to wait till the ads are done so that they don't miss the content? Those days are long gone as the viewers these days are really fed up with unending and frequent interruptions of advertisements in TV. Although many complaints were made in the past, no action was taken. But now the recent regulation from TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has come as a big relief to the common man, however Channels have immediately protested the new regulation and accused that its a big jolt to the operation of channels and many news channels would shut down if that regulation is implemented. In one clock hour, 12 minutes is the maximum time a channel can use for advertisements. Article gives detail reasoning on why the protest from new channels is baseless that such actions is against freedom of speech and also a trick to stop them from making the best use of upcoming elections.
Firstly, this regulation is not new, it existed for the past 25 years that a channel cannot exceed 12 mins in an hour for advertisement, 10 mins being normal ads and 2 mins,being thier own ads for channel promotion. Article infers that the reason why channel never raised this point in the past but have a problem immediately the moment this regulatory was passed is due to the strict decision to implement the regulation this time as in the time this rule was not taken seriously. In a genuine survey on the extent of advertisements coverage for 6 news channels , a shocking revelation came out that 35% of the time in an hour is spent on advertisements instead of 20% per day and there were time when this percentage went up to 40% annually. Article suggests that now that regulation has passed there is no turning back and that TRAI will make no mistakes this time in implementing this rule. Article also points out that some of the elements such broadcasting an ad by split screen or a quarter screen and increasing the volume of the ad when compared to the actual program were dropped out from the regulation which should be taken as consolation by the channels.
Author ends on a happy note that TRAI has seriously considered the pain of common viewers who will now be able to enjoy their programs and its high time the channels concentrate on pleasing the viewers instead of fooling them will advertisements.
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