TRAI has issued the Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisement in Television Channels) Regulations 2012 wherein the duration of advertisement in television channels is sought to be curbed to only 12 minutes in a clock hour. Any shortfall in advertisement in any one hour cannot be allowed to be carried over to the next hour. Advertisement during live broadcast of any sporting action can be carried out only during the break during the sporting action. The minimum time gap between two advertisement breaks should not be less than 15 minutes and in case of movies it shall not be less than 30 minutes. Part screen and drop down advertisements are not permitted. It shall only be full screen advertisements. The audio level of the advertisements should not be more than of the regular programs.
This is a major move by the regulator to bring in quality standards in television channels. Many a time we have seen endless advertisements during a program and especially the regional channels have too many advertisements and in fact their program duration is less than the advertisement duration. So this is a welcome move.
We have also seen during the last world cup that advertisements were cropping even before the last ball of an over has been completed and most of the times the advertisements have been intrusive. So having advertisements only during the break in a sporting action is most welcome, though i have seen advertisements being carried out in Formula I grand prix coverage which normally runs into more than 1 hours' duration. Now with this directive such advertisements cannot be carried out.
The minimum break time between advertisements is most welcome in case of movies because watching a good movie gets spoiled in case there are too many advertisement breaks.
Scroll advertisements are mostly seen in the news channels when they have multiple scrolls across the tv screen and all the scrolls are moving fast so it becomes very difficult to read what is news and what is advertising and the actual screen space is totally eroded by the scroll advertisements.
The moot point which the channels have raised is whether TRAI has the mandate to regulate matters concerning broadcasting which according to them is best left to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. But i think the TRAI does have the powers to regulate matters concerning broadcasting industry.
Another issue which they have raised is that of over regulation and revenue impact. According to the channels, such kind of regulations could spell the death knell of many channels because they are surviving only on advertising support which if restricted to 12 minutes per hour could get severely impacted. The channels say that competition is the best market force because if any channel carries too much advertisements then the viewers would naturally gravitate to other channels. This argument by the channels is very weak because if all the channels over advertise then the viewers naturally have no choice of channels.
Laying down minimum quality of service standard for the broadcasting industry is most welcome.
The salient features of the regulation can be found here
The text of the regulation can be accessed from the TRAI site viz. www.trai.gov.in
This is a major move by the regulator to bring in quality standards in television channels. Many a time we have seen endless advertisements during a program and especially the regional channels have too many advertisements and in fact their program duration is less than the advertisement duration. So this is a welcome move.
We have also seen during the last world cup that advertisements were cropping even before the last ball of an over has been completed and most of the times the advertisements have been intrusive. So having advertisements only during the break in a sporting action is most welcome, though i have seen advertisements being carried out in Formula I grand prix coverage which normally runs into more than 1 hours' duration. Now with this directive such advertisements cannot be carried out.
The minimum break time between advertisements is most welcome in case of movies because watching a good movie gets spoiled in case there are too many advertisement breaks.
Scroll advertisements are mostly seen in the news channels when they have multiple scrolls across the tv screen and all the scrolls are moving fast so it becomes very difficult to read what is news and what is advertising and the actual screen space is totally eroded by the scroll advertisements.
The moot point which the channels have raised is whether TRAI has the mandate to regulate matters concerning broadcasting which according to them is best left to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry. But i think the TRAI does have the powers to regulate matters concerning broadcasting industry.
Another issue which they have raised is that of over regulation and revenue impact. According to the channels, such kind of regulations could spell the death knell of many channels because they are surviving only on advertising support which if restricted to 12 minutes per hour could get severely impacted. The channels say that competition is the best market force because if any channel carries too much advertisements then the viewers would naturally gravitate to other channels. This argument by the channels is very weak because if all the channels over advertise then the viewers naturally have no choice of channels.
Laying down minimum quality of service standard for the broadcasting industry is most welcome.
The salient features of the regulation can be found here
The text of the regulation can be accessed from the TRAI site viz. www.trai.gov.in
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