Committee set-up to revise community radio air-time rates
With an aim to revise the airtime rates and guidelines for duration of sponsored programmes on community radio stations, I& B (Information and Broadcasting) Ministry has formed committee to look into the matter.
Six bodies, namely Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), Community Radio Forum (CRF), Community Radio Association (CRA), Radio Namaskar and Radio Mattoli; will nominate a member from their respective organisation.
Under the chairmanship of I& B Ministry economic adviser B. Brahma, the committee will make the decision on the same. Till date, the committee has not had any sort of formal or informal meeting. The chairman can also co-opt additional members to the committee if necessary.
Director of CEMCA Sanjay Mishra; president of CRA Kandarpa Das; NA Shah Ansari from Radio Namaskar; and N Ramakrishnan and Arti Jaiman from CRF will represent in the committee. The aim is to help radio become more sustainable in this date and age of rising prices and increasing standard of living.
I& B Ministry had issued the guidelines for empanelment of Community radio stations with DAVP and sponsored programmes along with the rates of advertisements way back in May 2012. The rates of advertisement on air were fixed at Rs 4 per second.
As per the memorandum issued, the committee is requested to submit the report within three months. It might also visit operational community radio stations to obtain to understand the challenges and issues faced by them.
Source RadioandMusic.com