Schedule VIII

(Refer sub-regulation (8) of regulation 4)¹

¹Inserted by the Second Amendment Regulations, 2020 (w.e.f. 01.03.2020)

Calculating the discontinuation threshold for a television channel

1. The ‘discontinuation threshold’ for a channel shall be the number arrived at by multiplying the average active subscriber base of the concerned distributor in its declared target market with the ‘discontinuation multiplier’ for the language of that channel.
2. The ‘discontinuation multiplier’ for a language shall be five percent of the total percentage of the population speaking that language in the declared target market of the concerned distributor as per the latest Census data.
   1. In case the declared target market of the concerned distributor is ‘All India’, the ‘discontinuation multiplier’ shall be calculated as per the following table (until more recent Census data is available):

      S no	Language	Speakers' strength (%)	Discontinuation Multiplier (%)
      1	Hindi	57.11	2.856
      2	English	10.62	0.531
      3	Bengali	8.88	0.444
      4	Telugu	7.80	0.390
      5	Marathi	8.18	0.409
      6	Tamil	6.33	0.317
      7	Urdu	5.22	0.261
      8	Gujarati	4.98	0.249
      9	Kannada	4.85	0.243
      10	Malayalam	2.94	0.147
      11	Odia	3.52	0.176
      12	Punjabi	2.98	0.149
      13	Assamese	1.95	0.098
      14	Any other language	1.00	0.050

      Source: Census 2011 data: C-17 Population by bilingualism and trilingualism

   2. In case a distributor declares multiple states as target market under the provisions of the regulations, the discontinuation multiplier shall be calculated in proportion to the speaking strength of the language of that television channel in all the states constituting the target market.
   3. In case a distributor declares a State or a Union Territory as the target market under the provisions of the regulations, the discontinuation multiplier shall be calculated in proportion to the speaking strength of the language of the television channel in that state or Union Territory.
3. The following illustrations explain the criteria for determining the continuance or otherwise of a television channel.

   ILLUSTRATION-I

   Target Market: All India: Let us assume that the distributor has declared all India as its target market and its monthly average active subscriber base is 1,00,00,000. For a broadcaster of a television channel that has declared Bengali as its language, the speakers' strength is 8.88%. The distributor will calculate 8.88% of its subscriber base (i.e. 8.88% of 1,00,00,000 = 8,88,000). If the monthly subscription of the channel is less than 5% of 8,88,000 i.e. 44,400, then it may discontinue the channel. Alternatively, the distributor may calculate the threshold by multiplying ‘Discontinuation Multiplier (%)’ with the subscriber base i.e., 0.444% of 1,00,00,000 = 44,400.

   ILLUSTRATION-II

   Target Market: Combination of State(s) & Union Territory(ies): Let us assume that the distributor has declared Gujarat, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli as its target market and its monthly average active subscriber base is 2,00,000 (1,50,000 in Gujarat, 40,000 in Daman & Diu, and 10,000 in Dadra & Nagar Haveli). The speakers' strength of Gujarati language is 85.97% in Gujarat, 50.83% in Daman & Diu, and 21.48% in Dadra & Nagar Haveli. The distributor will calculate the threshold as follows:
   = 5% of (85.97% of 1,50,000) + 5% of (50.83% of 40,000) + 5% of (21.48% of 10,000)
   = 6448 + 1017 + 107 = 7572.
   If the monthly subscription of the channel is less than 7,572, it may be discontinued.

   ILLUSTRATION-III

   Target Market: All India- Multiple Languages: Let us assume that the distributor has declared ‘all India’ as its target market with a subscriber base of 1,00,00,000. A broadcaster has declared English and Hindi as its languages. The speakers' strength for Hindi is 57.11% and for English is 10.62%. The distributor will calculate the threshold as follows:
   = 5% of (57.11% of subscriber base) + 5% of (10.62% of subscriber base)
   = 5% X [ (57.11 + 10.62)% of 1,00,00,000]
   = 3,38,650.
   If the monthly subscription is less than 3,38,650, the channel may be discontinued.