New law may bring OTT apps under ad, programme codes

OTTS which have adopted self-regulation so far to follow stricter standards under new law

- Lata Jha

The government is working on a draft broadcasting services regulation bill to bring all formats including linear television, radio and over-the-top (OTT) streaming services under one regulatory umbrella, a move which has raised concerns within the creative community.

Although the draft bill has not been released for public consultations yet, a copy seen by Mint indicates streaming platforms may have to adhere to a programme code and advertisement code. This could prompt OTT services, so far allowed to self-regulate their content, to resist the government’s move.

An executive at a broadcast network expressed apprehension that under the new law, private satellite channels may be asked to share digital streaming rights of sports properties with Prasar Bharti that is planning its own OTT. So far, Prasar Bharati, which runs national broadcaster Doordarshan, can air the feed it gets from private sports broadcasters only on its terrestrial network and its own DTH (direct-to-home) platform, Free Dish.

“The public broadcaster will put sports content out for free on OTT, making any kind of monetization a challenge for other players," the person added.

Some believe the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) will assert its authority to issue economic regulations for broadcasting services.