NEW DELHI: The broadcasting industry today made a strong plea to the government to notify the self-regulatory mechanisms of the news broadcasters as well as the general entertainment TV channels - the News Broadcasters Standards Authority and the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council.

This was reiterated by various broadcasters including Indian Broadcasting Foundation president and Star India CEO Uday Shankar and News Broadcasters Association president and NDTV vice chairman KVL Narayan Rao.

Addressing a session on Content in the one-day ‘CEOs in Broadcasting‘ meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and later addressing a press meet, Shankar said that notification will enable the two bodies to also exercise self-regulation with regard to channels which were not members of these two bodies. He pointed out that the Advertising Code drawn up by the Advertising Standards Council of India had been notified under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act and therefore it had official sanction.
 
He said the TV industry had never opposed regulation, but had always held the view that the regulator should be an independent body and not the government. "We wanted neutral qualified people and not controlled people from the government". He and Rao were satisfied that the government had supported self-regulation and given it a chance to work.

Shankar said we cannot curb creativity, but have to prevent "dirt" from coming in. He said the BCCC had already proved to be very effective in this regard as channels had complied with the verdict of the Council headed by Justice AP Shah.

Referring to the quality of talent on the channels, Shankar said that with high carriage fee and other expenses, channels were left with little money to get high quality talent.

Rao said the NBSA had been in existence for over three years now and had worked very well, with channels generally complying with the directives of Justice JS Verma. He said the NBSA was not just a complaints body but unit for improving standards. Around 3000 complaints had been dealt with satisfactorily so far in an exemplary fashion, even with penalties being imposed.

Actor Shabana Azmi, who is a member of the BCCC, said that the Council had been working very satisfactorily so far and broadcasters also took it seriously. She said the members had also gained experience in understanding the responsibility of being part of a self-regulatory body.

She said it was interesting that the Government tended to forward to BCCC complaints relating to kissing scenes or scenes of that kind, while the complaints received from the public tended to relate to excessive violence.

Centre for Media Studies director PN Vasanti, who had been instrumental in drawing up the Content Code on behalf of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in 2007, said a monitoring body working with the CMS had come across over 3000 violations.

She wanted the two self-regulatory bodies to create greater public awareness by putting all their verdicts on the websites. She also felt that the two bodies had to work with the government - ‘there are no two ways about it‘.

NBA Secretary General Annie Joseph said that the Electronic Media Monitoring Cell of the Ministry had also begun forwarding complaints to the NBSA.

NewsX Editor-in-Chief Jehangir Pocha wanted clarification on what is news and what constitutes views and said standards should be drawn up for this.

Broadcast Editors Association and NDTV‘s Pankaj Pachauri said self-regulation should not ‘merely work, but should be seen to be working‘. He wanted the bodies to increase the reach to non-members.

Times TV Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla said there was need to be more public about the action taken by the bodies.

Speaking at the press meet, CII Media and Entertainment Committee chairman Amit Khanna described digitisation as a huge step forward and said the byword would now be pay TV and channels would not be driven merely by advertising and the race for TRPs.

He pointed out that the government also stood to earn Rs 60 billion additional revenue with the coming in of digitisation. Piracy would also become difficult, he added.

He supported the stand of the two regulatory bodies for a statutory status.

Answering a question, he said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India would decide the basic tariffs after digitisation, but this would be done after issuing a consultation paper and eliciting the views of stakeholders.

Den MD Sameer Manchanda expressed satisfaction that I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma had committed that the sunset dates would be met.

MUMBAI: English GEC Star World will kick off its new local show ?Love2HateU?, which is being positioned as being bold, edgy, daring and unique. On the show celebrities will be face to face with their biggest haters. The presenting sponsor is Samsung Galaxy Note. The show?s host Arjun Rampal will get celebrities to confront their biggest haters.

Gone are the days when an actor?s charm lay in his inaccessibility. The advent of social media and its arms like Facebook and Twitter, has changed from being just a ?hang-out? place for the youth to a platform which people use to engage, discuss and vent, thus giving rise to fans and public haters of celebrities alike! A key take away of what is expressed on social media is that "Youngistan" Loves To Hate!

The show takes its disruptive concept from this growing trend on social media and is based on this insight that aims to bridge the gap between celebrities and their haters.

Rampal said, "Love2HateU? is a show with a very interesting concept. The premise of the show is what really excited me, where a person with a very strong opinion about a celebrity comes face to face with that celebrity. Most of these people who we call haters on the show are very active on social networking sites like twitter or are bloggers themselves. Does that opinion have credibility or not is what we find out through the course of the show."

Through the show viewers will see how the celebrities with their talent, humour and charm try to win over their hater by engaging with her/him through various activities that will convert the hater into a fan. The show boasts of a line up of young, desirable and popular celebrities.

The show will also feature Bollywood filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar as a participant who will come face to face with his biggest hater. Bhandarkar will be seen taking the criticism in his stride as he takes on the challenge and shares his perspective on film making in his efforts of converting his hater into a fan.

Star India GM, senior VP, English Channels Saurabh Yagnik said, "Our viewer is a native of the digital world and we have seen them express very strong opinions of dislike on social media. This inspired us to let opinions of the virtual world come on television where the celebrity and their haters come face to face. We are confident that ?Love2HateU?, with its contemporary, bold, edgy and unique format will set new benchmarks for shows in the English GEC segment. So be prepared to watch sparks fly as celebs try to convert their biggest haters into fans."

The channel has chalked out a complete 360 degree marketing plan with TV, Print, Online, PR, Outdoor, Radio and On-ground leg attached to the campaign. Star World began with a unique teaser on-air promotion campaign leveraging the strength of the entire Star network which included social media influencers and real haters who voiced their opinions and dislikes towards Bollywood celebs.

On the digital front there is an engagement called Bitch & Win where fans can bitch about their most hated celebrities and the most creative, innovative and whacky "Bitch" statements stand to get featured on-air and win gadgets. A similar contest is also being hosted on Twitter. Alongside, the channel has also tied up with partners like BookMyShow.com which will help add to the buzz for the show.

The on ground engagement will see Rampal interact with fans in Delhi and Mumbai through Radio Station Studio Visits, and special screenings of the show.

MUMBAI: They say the stars in the universe change our lives. But when two of the biggest stars come together, they change a lot more!

Star India will be hoping for just that. Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan is making his debut on the small screen as a talk show host for Star India?s network channels in eight languages, signalling the broadest launch ever on Indian television.

Khan will anchor a show based on social issues that will simulcast on Star Plus, Star World, Star Jalsha, Star Pravah, Star Vijay, Star Utsav, Asianet and Suvarna. Produced by Aamir Khan Productions, the show will go on air early next year.

The name of the show that will simulcast in English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam is yet to be decided.

"Over the last few years, I have been approached for various TV shows, but the offers never excited me. However, this show will be a journey of discovery of change, of emotion and human story which touch and inspire our daily life," Aamir said.

Star India CEO Uday Shankar said that the show marks a big step and is audacious. "No Bollywood star has shown the ability to move the markets with experimentation as much as Aamir has done. Star India is doing a show with him to reinforce the same agenda of creativity and to come with something which is impactfull and engaging. It is a new show with the most successful film star. When you are the leader, there are responsibilities you have towards people. This drives me and the company each time we do something. There is social responsibility that comes with leadership. What we do defines how the industry is perceived. We change the agenda for how the TV industry behaves."

Khan said that the project had been in the pipeline for three to four years. "This began as a dream. Uday came to me to do television. There have been offers for gameshows which did not excite me. I like watching gameshows but to be a part of one everyday did not excite me. Television is a strong medium. Star has massive reach. Its stature and personality are right for this show. I wanted Uday to be involved with the show. What we are setting out to do is very ambitious. The idea is audacious and challenging. The show is about connecting with people, change, hopes and dreams. I told Uday that I wanted to use all his channels. I wanted it to be a pan India show."

Shankar said that the show is about real life situations and real life people. "It is not a fiction show. The show has been woven around Aamir. It will have the dramatic intensity of fiction with real life characters."

Indian television has attracted movie stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, Hrithik Roshan, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan to act in different roles.

NEW DELHI: Star India chief executive officer Uday Shankar has been re-elected president of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) for the second term.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd MD and CEO Punit Goenka was elected treasurer. Times Television Network MD and CEO Sunil Lulla, who had been treasurer until now, was elected as the vice-president in the 12th Annual General Meeting.

The only change in the Board is that Madhavan of Asianet has been co-opted in place of G Krishnan, who had quit TV Today recently.

Earlier in the day, during the 12th Annual General Meeting, the following were elected as members of the Board of Directors for 2011-12:

1. Uday Shankar
2. Sunil Lulla

3. Punit Goenka
4. Network 18 Group CEO Haresh Chawla
5. Eenadu TV director I Venkat
6. Dish TV MD Jawahar Goel
7. MM TV director Jayant M. Mathew
8. NDTV executive vice chairman KVL Narayan Rao
9. Multi Screen Media CEO Man Jit Singh

10. Star CJ Network CEO Paritosh Joshi
11. India TV chairman Rajat Sharma
12. Siddharth Jain, Vice President & General Manager (Distribution & Business Operations), Turner International India & South Asia

In the subsequent Board meeting, the Board co-opted the following Directors to the IBF Board:

1. Asianet Communications MD K Madhavan
2. Sri Adhikari Bros. vice chairman & MD Markand Adhikari
3. Colors CEO Raj Nayak

It was decided that the following members would be special invitees in the IBF Board of Directors meetings:

1. Turner General Entertainment Network VP and GM Monica Tata

2. ESPN Star Sports MD Manu Sawhney