Trai brings sportscasters under 12-minute ad ceiling

(27 August 2012) NEW DELHI: Sports broadcasters are also being brought under the ambit of the Trai regulation that allows only 12 minutes of advertisements per hour, prompting a strong reaction from the stakeholders as it would severely upset their business models that are under pressure from high acquisition costs and severe subscription revenue leakages due to under-reporting of subscribers by cable TV operators.

In a draft amendment to the regulation The Standards of Quality of Service (Duration of Advertisements in Television Channels) Regulations, 2012, the regulator has withdrawn the leeway granted in the case of live broadcast of a sporting event.

In the regulations notified on 14 May 2012, sports broadcasters were allowed to carry advertisements during the breaks in the sporting action. The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) had in June stayed the implementation of the cap on advertisement on an appeal filed by broadcasters.

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