NaMo TV – the confused channel orphaned by I&B ministry and DTH operators

It's odd that BJP hasn't openly admitted ownership of NaMo TV since many political parties, across India, own TV channels.

NaMo TV being shown on Tata Sky | ThePrint

It was an orphan with a multiple identity crisis: No one knew who owned it, no one knew how it got where it is and no one knew if it was a news channel, an entertainment channel, a ‘special service’, an advertising platform, or an ‘add on’ for political propaganda.

Now all has been revealed.

NaMo TV, reports ThePrint, according to the Information and Broadcasting ministry is a ‘special service’ channel or platform available for DTH operators, which doesn’t require I&B permission. It has been rented by the BJP and will reflect in the party’s expenses.

As such, it is a unique channel: First, because it is dedicated and devoted solely to Prime Minister Narendra Modi – it carries his face as its logo and broadcasts his election campaign speeches live as well as previous speeches he has delivered as the prime minister.

Second, it has the distinction of defying the laws that govern broadcast television and yet enjoy prime billing on five DTH platforms including Tata Sky, Airtel and Dish TV.

Third, even though the BJP may have rented this special service and will pay for it, no one knows if the ruling party actually owns it because it has been extremely coy about acknowledging parentage.

If after reading this you a little baffled, blame it on NaMo TV, Tata Sky and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which, between them, have done everything to confuse us further in the last week.

What we do know is this: It was born in Gujarat, broadcast NaMo content during the 2012 Gujarat assembly elections, appeared as the rechristened Content TV sometime in March 2019 and then took rebirth as NaMo TV in the last week of March 2019.

We also know that since 31 March 2019, it has been broadcasting all of PM Modi’s campaign speeches live, and repeats of earlier ones. To fill in the gaps between his speeches, Bollywood films are telecast that amplify his messages and the BJP’s philosophy, for instance, Parmanu on the Pokhran nuclear test that took place during the first BJP-led Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

What had incensed opposition political parties, and bewildered media observers, last week, was that the channel did not have a broadcasting license, never applied for one and is not on the I&B ministry’s list of registered channels. Now we’re told it is a ‘special service’, but that is not what the I&B ministry or Tata Sky first said. They seem to have made this up as they went along.

In a series of tweets, Tata Sky first called it a “Hindi news service”, changed that to a “special service” provided “as a launch offer” to subscribers without the “option to delete the individual channel”.

After political parties like the Congress and AAP complained to the Election Commission about NaMo TV, citing various violations of the model code of conduct, the EC has asked the I&B ministry for an explanation.

Initially, the I&B ministry said NaMo TV was not a licensed channel but a direct-to-home advertisement platform paid for by the BJP. That would have been another first: teleshopping political propaganda for the head of a government.

It’s odd that the BJP hasn’t openly admitted ownership of NaMo TV since many political parties, across India, own TV channels: for instance, Sun TV is owned by Kalanithi Maran, grandnephew of the late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi.

A question that remains is that since this is a ‘service’ for only PM Modi will the rules that limit individual candidate’s election expenditure apply to it or not? After all, films like Padman or Bose, telecast last week, don’t come cheap. NaMo TV’s story isn’t over.