A delegation of the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA), led by its president Rajat Sharma, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday and apprised him of the health of the news broadcast industry against the backdrop of the digital media's emergence.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was also present during the meeting, which lasted for over an hour.
"The delegation informed the Prime Minister regarding the health of the news broadcast industry, constraints, problems and challenges faced in the era of digital revolution, which is severely impacting and affecting the growth of the 'News' genre," a statement from the NBDA said.
The NBDA delegation included Dhruba Mukherjee, director, ABP Network Limited; Anuradha Prasad Shukla, chairperson-cum-managing director, News24 Broadcast India Limited; Rahul Joshi, managing director, TV 18 Broadcast Limited; Kalli Purie Bhandal, vice-chairperson and managing director, TV Today Network Limited; Anil Kumar Malhotra, advisor, Zee Media Corporation Limited; Sanjay Pugalia, director, New Delhi Television Limited; I Venkat, director, Eenadu Television Private Limited; R Mahesh Kumar, managing director, Sun TV Network Limited; Varun Kohli, COO, News Broadcasting Business, Bennett Coleman and Company Limited; and Annie Joseph, secretary general, NBDA.
The NBDA has 27 leading news and current-affairs broadcasters, comprising 125 news and current-affairs channels, as its members, according to the association's website.
The meeting came against the backdrop of concerns over the Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, which seeks to replace the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
PM Modi has promised to look into the challenges being faced by the TV news industry, a report in The Economic Times quoted sources as saying.