#172 State Of Play

Yabi Lali

31 min

Knowledge

Description

PolicyWTF: See No Evil, Read No Evil, Hear No Evil This section looks at egregious public policies. Policies that make you go: WTF, Did that really happen? — Pranay Kotasthane Earlier this week, I stumbled on this headline in the Business Standard: "Remove price cap and channel bundling restrictions: Broadcasters tell TRAI”. For someone writing a weekly newsletter on Indian public policy, price controls are a gift that keeps on giving. Naturally, I went down this rabbit hole. For context, read <a target="_blank" href="https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/CP_07052022.pdf">this consultation paper</a>. Under the New Regulatory Framework 2017, there are price caps on channel bundles, individual channels that are part of bundles, and the overall package of standard-definition channels. Once this 2017 order came into force, broadcasters smartly kept the popular sports channels out of the channel bundles. The aim was to price them high, thereby cross-subsidising other channels. Further, some providers included these sports channels in bundles at a discounted rate so that they could be packaged with other trashy channels. Not surprising. And now, TRAI wants to reduce the price cap on individual channels that can be part of a bundle to ₹12 from ₹19 per month. Mind-boggling, no? The consultation paper is quite well-written, to be honest. It makes me wonder the extent to which state capacity is applied to come up with price controls. This instance got me thinking about how government restrictions have shaped today’s media environment in India. Let’s have a look at the three major types: video, radio, and written media. How OTT (Over-the-top) became TOT (The-Only-Thing) The same TRAI consultation paper highlights that OTT platforms (SonyLiv, HotStar, etc.) are displacing traditional TV. Anecdotally too, this shift is quite obvious. So why is it that there’s good Indian con

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Episodes

#172 State Of Play

Yabi Lali

31:11