Mumbai: A parliamentary committee?s recommendation to bring the news industry - both print and TV - under a media council to clamp down on the beast called ?paid news? has got the news TV industry?s goose.

The committee also recommended that the Press Council of India should be revamped to keep a close tab on print media?s love for paid news. In case, this is done, it is imperative that another statutory body be set up to monitor electronic media.

The committee had insinuated that this was necessary as industry?s self regulation mechanism had failed to check the menace of paid news.

The News Broadcasters? Association (NBA) is quite clear that such high handed measures are not needed. Says NBA president & NDTV group CEO Narayan Rao: "With all due respect to the parliamentary committee, I beg to differ. I believe self-regulation is the best way forward. The late Justice Verma?s committee has done a fabulous job in this respect. The mechanism of self regulation has been working well over the years."

Seconding Rao is IBN7 editor-in-chief Ashutosh, with a caveat. Says he: "Self regulation should be encouraged and should be extended to the areas of regional journalism as well."

Rao highlights that paid news is a beast that can be tamed and there are mechanisms within the NBA to keep it in check. "There is an advisory on our website and we have a code of ethics for the broadcasting industry. If there is any instance of paid news, we take very strict action against it."

The parliamentary committee has recommended that media owners or other interested parties should not be a part of the proposed media council.

Ashutosh believes that this could prove to be quite unhealthy for the fourth estate. "Any form of regulation which is funded and undertaken by the government specially in the political system of India, is dangerous for a democracy," he says.

"The Indian constitution and the judiciary guarantee the press its freedom to speech and expression. Any step which curbs this is totally counter-productive and undemocratic," adds a pretty agitated BAG Network chairperson and MD Anuradha Prasad.

Rao says rather than harping on paid news, the focus of the entire news broadcasting ecosystem - including the government - should be on reworking its flawed business model. "There is a high dependence on ad revenue which promotes the menace of paid news. The faulty rating system, the TRP rat race and the lack of subscription revenues are the areas that we should focus on."

MUMBAI: MultiScreenMedia (MSM), which got the exclusive rights for four years with the National basketball Association (NBA) last year, intends to take the relationship to the next level by building the NBA brand and getting fans closer to the game Earlier this year, the rights had been shared with Zee.

MSM CEO Man Jit Singh says, ?the aim for the year is to grow the reach, viewership and time spent on the NBA and build it as a platform. When we did the deal last year we realised that for focused marketing and cross promotional activities it is better to have one platform. We are looking at on-air content as well as on the ground grassroots initiatives. On-air we will go beyond just showing live games.

"We are looking at showcasing the NBA lifestyle through special content like player profiles. The NBA fits in very well with our strategy of showcasing sports and entertainment. The TG is 14-35 in the Metros and tier one and two cities. Other properties are coming up in this space and we will evaluate these opportunities?

While specifying no plans, he did not rule out having an NBA feed in Hindi. On the ground MSM will do grassroots initiatives with the NBA. ?This will allow us to offer cross promotional opportunities to sponsors. Later this year we and the NBA will do a three-on-three competition across the country. The activity will spread across India and will run for around three months. Winners will get a chance to play against members of an NBA team. This event will be packaged and shown on Six. The appeal of basketball is that it is fast paced. Also, doing grassroots events is not difficult as the infrastructure requirements are not huge unlike other sports like soccer.?

Today NBA and MSM announced a tie-up with the NGO Magic Bus to launch an NBA Cares programme in the country. Weekly basketball programmes will be used to promote education, health and fitness for boys and girls ages 7 to 14. The initiative kicks off in June.

?The NBA is a brand that I admire as they also give back to the community. At MultiScreenMedia we are committed to Magic Bus as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility programme. This will bring the sport to underprivileged children. It will help children compete in a new sport, become active and improve their health? added Singh.
 
NBA Commissioner David Stern is visiting the country for the first time. He noted that while China is the largest market for the NBA outside the US, the expectation is that India will catch up in a shorter period of time. ?India has a large youth population. They will want to consume other sports besides cricket. Globally year on year we have been seeing double digit revenue growth?.

Referring to the tie-up with Magic Bus, he noted that social responsibility was a part of the league?s mission. ?We are proud to work with our partners at Magic Bus and MultiScreenMedia to promote the values inherent in our game ? dedication, discipline, teamwork and sportsmanship and the importance of fitness and good health among Indian youth. The NBA has conducted over 450 grassroots events in India in 10 cities over the last five years?

Magic Bus and the NBA will identify a community in Mumbai and launch a pilot programme for underprivileged youth that will include a jointly developed basketball curriculum. There will be weekly sessions that will feature and basketball activities and will teach life skills in the areas of education, gender equality, health and fitness. The programme is a part of Magic Bus? ?Sport for development? approach.

Basketball will also be integrated into existing Magic Bus programmes in 12 Indian communities and NBA coaches will conduct basketball and fitness clinics for youth enrolled in each community. NBA legends and players who travel to India in the coming year will also participate in clinics for Magic Bus youth.

Magic Bus CEO founder Mathew Spacie said, ?We are thrilled to partner with the NBA to pilot a programme where we will use basketball as a base for our award winning ?sport for development? curriculum. The Magic Bus curriculum works to help provide youth with guidance to make dignified life choices from childhood to adulthood and integrating basketball as a sport for development can diversify our programme benefits to help more and more children learn and grow.?

MUMBAI: Yannick Colaco, who recently quit Nimbus Sport where he was chief operating officer, has joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) India as managing director.

Colaco will manage the NBA?s India office, based in Mumbai, and oversee all of the league?s business and basketballdevelopment in the
country. He will report to NBA President, International, Heidi Ueberroth.

Ueberroth said, ?Yannick Colaco has the ideal combination of experience and knowledge of the sports landscape in India necessary to lead our expanding operations in the country. Basketball is on the rise in India and we are thrilled to have Yannick lead our extremely talented staff as we build towards the future.?

Colaco will be responsible for leading the growth of the NBA in India. He will continue to build on the league?s efforts to grow participation in basketball in partnership with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI).

Colaco -- who played basketball at the national university level in India -- will work with the league?s media, marketing and merchandising partners to make the NBA more accessible to fans in India. He will also be responsible for growing further the NBA?s social media presence in the country.

He said, ?The sports market in India is poised for significant growth and as basketball participation increases further there is a tremendous opportunity for the NBA. The league has a strong staff in Mumbai and I look forward to joining their efforts to carry out the NBA?s mission to grow basketball in India.?

The NBA?s Mumbai office opened in October 2011 and includes Akash Jain, Senior Director, Business Development and Partnerships; Troy Justice, Senior Director, Basketball Operations, and three other employees.

NBA headquarters in New York also has a cross-departmental team dedicated to NBA growth in India.

Colaco was named Nimbus Sport COO in June 2009 after joining the company in August 2002. During his tenure he worked extensively across a wide range of sports properties and drove Nimbus Sport business to record profitability.

Prior to Nimbus Sport, Yannick began his career at IMG where he worked on a number of prominent event properties including India?s first ATP Tour Event, Asian PGA Tour Events and the Indian Fashion Week.

The NBA is committed to growing basketball in India and
has hosted more than 450 events in 10 cities since 2008. The league has marketing partnerships in India with adidas, Coca-Cola, Nike, Reebok and Spalding.

NBA has merchandise widely available in 200 adidas locations. Earlier this season, NBA announced a new television partnership with Multi Screen Media?s Sony Six channel providing fans in India the most comprehensive NBA programming and game coverage.