Chandra calls for liberal programming code

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Chandra calls for liberal programming code

Subhash Chandra

MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra echoed Star TV CEO Michelle Guthrie's sentiments when he too stressed that addressability will come about in India, but only through market forces.

Chandra, in his address at the valedictory session of Frames 2004, asked for a liberal programming code for channels, while also urging copyright protection laws. Chandra said his estimates for the media and entertainment sector in India are close to Rs 20,000 crore, a figure that differs substantially from the figure put out by the Ernst and Young report put out by Ficci on the first day of the convention. An additional Rs 20,000 crore will flow in if piracy is curbed, he said.

"Today television is the fourth necessity in this country after roti, kapda and makaan (food, clothing and shelter)," Chandra said. It is the unregulated nature of this industry that has taken the industry thus far, he said. The situation in India is quite different from the US, where the industry is far more tightly controlled that normally assumed.