New Delhi : Failure to urge access to cable TV carriage by the leading operator in Punjab has claimed another new channel as victim. Punjabi news channel ABP Sanjha declared to shutdown operations on Wednesday evening, affecting 200 employees.
Management of the channel, a part of the Anandabazar Patrika group that runs leading channels including ABP News in Hindi, cited the virtual blackout as the primary reason for the cessation.
It came suddenly for the staff, including around 100 editorial employees, who reached office like any other day. In the morning, all reporters and camera persons were asked to deposit their equipment. This was followed by a team led by the national human resource department head of the channel, Satyakki Bhattacharya, gathering the staff at the office in Phase 8, Industrial Area, SAS Nagar, and announcing the pack-up. Bhattacharya announced three months’ salary for the staff to be let off.
Sources revealed that he said they could not get their channel carried by Fastway Transmissions Private Limited, which covers around 75% of the cable network in Punjab. Citing the shutdown as an outcome, he also told the staff that even if they ran the channel through the digital direct-to-home (DTH) network, they won’t be able to sustain it.
Bhattacharya also said that the top management of ABP group from Delhi had approached Punjab’s SAD-BJP government for help but nothing came of that.
The channel had started recruitment at the end of 2012 and began technical training for staffers in February 2013. But effectively it never went on air due to the virtual blackout. For around a year and a half now, the channel was trying to sustain itself through video-sharing websites like YouTube.
When contacted, Jagwinder Patial, senior editor of ABP News who was heading Sanjha operations in Chandigarh, said he was not authorised to comment on the issue. Bhattacharya, who has the designation of chief people officer in the group, didn’t take calls despite repeated attempts.
A channel named Day and Night News had also severely scaled down its operations last year citing the same reason.
However, Fastway’s managing director Naval Kapoor refused to comment on the matter, saying that he was in a meeting and could not talk till the next day.
Protest held against Badal govt, cable ‘mafia’
Sacked employees of ABP Sanjha News, held a protest march in Sector 17 here on Thursday against what they termed the “cable network mafia” of the state.
Holding placards, the around 150 protesters raised slogans of ‘Down with Badal sarkar’ and against the cable mafia, gathered at Sector 17 Plaza. The sacked employees have now formed a Journalist Action Committee to organise Punjab-wide protests against the cable mafia and the Parkash Singh Badal-led government.
“We shouldn’t forget that those who are today shutting down one after another news channel, also aspire to gag every critical voice, be it even in the form of newspapers or magazines,” said Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer Rajwinder Bains who was also part of the protest. Another high court lawyer, Navkiran Singh, said if the political establishment of the state was allowed to go on like this, “soon there will be no independent media voice to report atrocities by the police and the State”.