Advertisers say AXN ban not right

NOT SO HOT: With the Government deciding what people should watch, viewers no longer hold the remote control to their TVs.

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Top Headlines

Top Videos

Most Popular

• I took calculated risks for higher growth: Pranab  

• Udayan's View: Budget 2009, a game of patience 

• A study in comparison: Education budget up Rs 7K cr 

• Face The Budget: Political response to Budget 09-10 

• The verdict: CNN-IBN panelists rate Pranab's Budget  

• Reform hopes dashed, market watchers feel let down  

• I-T exemption limit raised | FBT rolled back | Taxes and you 

• Pranab skips two paras of Budget speech, apologises 

• Bengal benefits, Mamata and Pranab budget for their state 

• Income tax limits raised; farmers, exporters get sops 

• Watch: Dalal Street reacts to the Budget 

• Budget: Pranab's chance to create his own legacy 

• FM has done a fairly good job: Narayana Murthy 

• Budget to focus on social spend, growth 

• Education reform will be for all Indians: Sibal 

• The Budget That Isn't: Cyrus gears up for Budget 

• EVMs are tamper proof, says Election Commission 

• Watch: Railway exams disrupted in Mysore, Banglaore 

• Watch: Maneka writes to PM over threat to Varun's life 

• One-upmanship: Sonia, Pawar in foodgrain politics 

• Life saving drugs, LCDs cheaper; Set-top-box costlier 

• Buy that big car: SUVs, petrol trucks to cost less 

• Defence budget unchanged; Army gets lion's share 

• Minimum Rs 30 lakh needed to be called wealthy 

• TAX BREAKS, WELFARE SCHEMES IN COMMON MAN'S BUDGET 

• Common man gets a treat, over 15 schemes 

• Health budget up by Rs 4,000 cr, 6 new AIIMS in cities 

• Bengal benefits, Mamata and Pranab budget for their state 

• Full text: Union Budget 2009 

• Software industry gets tax benefits for one more yr 

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

New Delhi: First it an NRI doing what he thought was a funny act of the Mahatma in a video that was put up on you tube. The video brought the Government's ire on news channels that showed the clip.

But now it's AXN, the television channel that's been banned for three months for telecasting what the Information and Broadcasting Ministry says - "are against good taste or decency and are likely to adversely affect public morality”.

“Our ministry has decisively decided yesterday and it will be effective form today to prohibit the transmission and retransmission of AXN with immediate effect till March 15 throughout the country,” said Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi.

This is the first time a channel has been banned completely. Though earlier, the government has restricted sexually explicit content from being aired. Whenever it's felt that it would apparently corrupt traditional values.

“The Government has been regulating the content of cinema for such a long time so I don’t it as a problem if they are doing it on television. Every channel ahs guideline and they all adhere to it,” said Creative Head, SONY, Sandeep Sikand

Last year in Mumbai, a ban on adult content on cable TV has led to high drama. Even the earlier NDA government had threatened to ban the French channel, FTV. Though later, an understanding was reached between the government and the channel.

But this recent ban on AXN has angered the industry that feels that such actions are undemocratic.

“We call ourselves a democratic country. But some thing like this can't happen. The Government shouldn't tell us what we should watch. Ironically what we saw with the Youtube thing was that very few people knew about it but when the ban was announced everybody started watching it,” says CEO, Future Brands Santosh Desai.

So with the Government deciding what people should watch, it looks like viewers no longer hold the remote control to their televisions.