India to monitor 800 TV channels & private radio

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry of India is considering expanding the realm of the Electronic Media Monitoring Committee (EMMC) from 300 to 800 TV channels as well as to take account of private radio services.

“The proposal to expand EMMC’s scope has received the approval of the expenditure finance committee,” according to U K Varma, I&B Secretary. The EMMC, established in 2008, currently monitors about 191 channels on a 24 x 7 basis.

The EMMC is believed to monitor the content of the TV channels based on the up-linking and downlinking guidelines in India to confirm the violation of program and advertisement codes as per the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act. The EMMC also monitors private FM radio channels but depends on the radio channel for recordings, mediamughal.com reports.