MUMBAI: All Television channels - except Sony Entertainment Television - will be bound by restrictions during the fourth edition of Lakme India Fashion Week with Liberty (LIFWL) 2003.
The annual fashion gala is scheduled to be held between 18-24 July at the Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium within the premises of Tata group-owned NCPA in south Mumbai. Sony Entertainment Television (SET), the channel that has bagged the electronic rights of the largest and most high profile fashion event in the country, however will be given priority.
While addressing the inaugural press briefing Fashion Design Council of India executive director Vinod Kaul said TV crews would have to abide by strict LIFWL guidelines.
Event management agency IMG's director Zubin Sarkari specified the rules /guidelines applicable to all TV crews other than that of SET: 
For regularly scheduled news - TV channels can only air three minutes of LIFWL footage per 21 minutes of original programming during LIFWL. TV channels can only air a maximum of 10 minutes of new LIFWL footage per day.
Lifestyle and general entertainment programmes and other programming: LIFWL footage can only be aired after a 72-hour delay from completion of the relevant fashion show days of LIFWL. News channels can only air three minutes of LIFWL footage per 21 minutes of original programming during LIFWL. They can air a maximum of 10 minutes of new LIFWL footage per day.
Regarding Fashion channels: In addition to all the terms and conditions above, the ramp footage from the LIFWL main show can be broadcast only one month after the airing of programmes by the official broadcaster SET.
When asked whether SET would be showing the daily happenings, Kaul told indiantelevision.com that the channel will prepare special capsules and broadcast them at a later date. Which begs the question - what does such exclusivity really achieve if it is not being leveraged via live coverage or at least daily highlight packages.
Several news channel TV crews present were not amused by the strict coverage terms and argued that there should be no restrictions on showcasing national events such as LIFWL.
Sarkari, however, mentioned that the LIFWL committee had made arrangements for a "Preview Photo shoot" every day at 2:30 pm at the Foster's Pitstop café. "Fashion designers would preview their collections that will be shown the next day. The names of designers who will be participating in the photoshoot will be available every morning at the media centre," said Sarkari.
Looks as if FDCI has taken adequate steps to protect official sponsors such as SET from "ambush telecasting."