According to sources, the contention of the complainant is wrong. ASCI’s latest verdict contradicts its own stand taken in May when it held that the same headline was not misleading, say company sources.

The complaining company’s letter to ASCI on December 16 stated that the "complainant is feeling threatened by our superior status and is, therefore, time and again resorting to such tactics without checking the relevant figures".

JK Tyre has also pointed out that the company manufactures JK branded tyres through the Vikrant production facility and, therefore, for all practical purposes, JK Tyre and Vikrant Tyre has to be looked at together.

According to sources, even ATMA clubs JK and Vikrant numbers.

As regards the contention of MRF that the turnover figures from audited financial statements can only be considered as authentic and not ATMA production numbers, company sources said that the turnover of MRF included a number of segments such as paints, industrial rubber products, toys and 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler tyres which need to be excluded before making any comparison with JK and Vikrant, which are manufacturers of only 4-wheeler tyres.

According to sources, ASCI had in May accepted ATMA numbers in support of their decision that the heading "JK Tyre—No 1 Tyre Manufacturer in India" was not false or misleading.

Whether the English news channel will garner as good viewership numbers as the Hindi news channel will only become clear with time. However, with this launch, TV Today Network is likely to benefit on other aspects of business.

According to some media analysts, the launch of another news channel is supposed to put Aaj Tak in a stronger bargaining position vis-à-vis bouquets in the market.

Also, it would be beneficial from the point of view of gaining a greater share of advertising revenue. "The ad pie for the news channel market is growing and is expected to reach Rs. 500 crore in the next two years. Of this, we expect to garner a major share," says Krishnan.

Following this, TV Today Network is planning to take Aaj Tak to the NRI market in the U. S. A. and the U. K. The news provided by Aaj Tak for the NRI market will be derived from Hindi and English news channels in the Indian market.

Some of the laws expected to be a part of the new legislation are the Cable Television Regulation Act, the legislation permitting direct-to-home (DTH) telecasting and the multiple guidelines that regulate television content. However, the licensing powers will rest with the Government.

The Bill will also specify the framework for the setting up of a broadcasting council for content regulation on television channels in view of the delay in the passage of the Communications Convergence Bill.

The Bill will address the issues of public order and decency, preservation of cultural diversity, prevention of excessive depiction of sex and violence, national security, integrity and sovereignty of the country and protection of children from undesirable programmes and advertisements on various channels.

It will also provide powers to the council to form programming codes for television channels as well as advertising on the electronic media. Besides, the regulator will be given powers to implement its guidelines as well as to penalise defaulters.

The Bill would cover all aspects of broadcasting, including areas such as terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting as well as DTH cable television distribution.

This is the second attempt by the government in the past five years to introduce a comprehensive Bill to govern the broadcasting sector. The last broadcast Bill was introduced in 1997 in Parliament by the then Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy, and dealt with every aspect of broadcasting in detail. The Bill was not pursued in view of introducing the Communication Convergence Bill. The 1997 Broadcast Bill categorically debarred foreign equity in terrestrial broadcasting, while capping foreign direct investment in other services at 49 per cent. It had also suggested cross-media restrictions of 20 per cent, while stating that interested players could obtain licences for only one type of service of the seven sought to be licensed by the government.

According to sources, Reader’s Digest Association Inc is demanding a royalty of close to 12 per cent of the annual turnover from the Living Media group.

Currently, the Tatas pay five per cent of sales turnover as royalty to Reader’s Digest Association Inc, which holds the copyright, trademark and dictates editorial content and policies for the Indian edition.

Explaining the reasons for the delay in the sale, officials said the royalty agreement being negotiated is for 10 years and requires Government approval.

The sale of the business from the Tatas to the Living Media group involves the entire publishing enterprise, which includes the brand name, database, subscription list, advertisement contracts, staff, office space and receivables of the organisation.

Apart from the publishing business, RDI Print & Publishing also has an investment business, which would not be part of the sale. The investments with a book value of close to Rs. 50 crore include shareholding in several Tata companies and real estate.

The net profit of Reader’s Digest in India for March 2002 was close to Rs. 4 crore with Rs. 14 crore income from circulation and Rs. 7 crore from advertising revenue.

The exit of the Tatas from Reader’s Digest is in line with the group’s strategy of exiting from non-core businesses as it did in the case of Tomco, Merrind and Lakme to name a few.