Unlicensed fare: Court asks channel to stop airing Indian content

In case foreign broadcaster ignores ruling, Pemra directed to take channel off air.

LAHORE:

In a landmark order, the Lahore High Court (LHC) directed the local distributor of a foreign channel to immediately stop showing Indian content, and also ordered that, in case the channel violates the court order, it must be taken off air.

The order came during the hearing on a writ petition filed by five leading local entertainment channels of Pakistan - Hum TV, Express Entertainment, TV ONE, ARY Digital and Geo Entertainment.

The five channels had complained to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) that, while the regulator had been restricting Indian content to not more than 6% of their total transmission, a new foreign channel was increasingly showing more Indian content and was also claiming that it was entitled to use 90% of its transmission for showing Indian dramas.

The local broadcasters had complained that, while they had no issue with the restriction, Pemra needs to take immediate steps against the foreign channel to protect the local drama industry.

Pemra produced a copy of the distribution licence for the foreign channel which showed that the permission was only for “foreign content dubbed in Urdu”.

The Pemra representative contended in court that the distribution licence for the foreign channel specifies 90% of “foreign content dubbed in Urdu.” The channel was not entitled to show any Indian content whatsoever.

Arguing the stay petition on Friday, the petitioners’ counsel, Nadeem Ahmed, argued that, despite the passage of 10 weeks, the foreign channel has not sent any reply to Pemra saying it is entitled to broadcast Indian media content; none of the show cause notices have been responded to, and, even at the hearing at Pemra headquarters, the foreign channel did not deny the stand taken by the petitioners and Pemra.

The court was also briefed by Pemra’s senior officials, Directors General Operations and Licensing, and Pemra’s legal aide, who explained in detail their regulatory approach, and the distinction between local broadcasters and foreign channels.

The latter are only allowed to be distributed in Pakistan in case a local company took responsibility that the broadcasting activity on that foreign channel will be strictly in accordance with the distribution license granted by Pemra, the officials said.

They said the distributor of the said foreign channel neither asked for, nor was given, any permission for showing any Indian media content.

Asked why the regulator treated Indian media content differently, Pemra officials explained that they could not remove the restriction unless Indian officials showed reciprocity and allowed Pakistani channels to be shown in India.

When the court asked if it could, through a ruling, restrict the transmission of Indian content on the foreign channel to 6%, Pemra officials explained that this would open flood gates since all foreign channels that are being shown in Pakistan will also start showing 6% Indian content.

After hearing the foreign channel’s counsel for more than an hour, the court proceeded to grant the petitioners’ temporary injunction application.

The hearing was then adjourned.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2012.