The unstoppable march of informatics and technology has made it evident that the digital space is a force to reckon with in the second decade of the twenty-first century.
The COVID-19 pandemic, while impacting life and business in myriad ways that are often irreversible, has also had a positive impact – that is, the intermingling of the digital world with the physical being. With every facet of communication moving towards the online mode, the internet has become an integral part of our very existence. All this has impacted the dynamics of the media and entertainment industry in too many positive ways.
The lines of demarcation among technology giants, media companies, content creators, aggregators and other stakeholders is rapidly getting blurred and, therefore, the IBDF felt it was time to create an ecosystem of like-minded companies in the digital domain as well.
The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (now Indian Broadcasting & Digital Foundation or IBDF), established in 1999 as the apex industry body representing the interests of a diverse group of broadcasters, has set up the Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation (IDMIF) in October 2021 as its wholly owned subsidiary to expand its workspace in the digital domain. IDMIF has its role cut out: to bring the digital players, or the OTT platforms, within its fold just as IBDF had accomplished with the television channels.
Irrespective of genres – general entertainment, infotainment or news – the IBDF now has more than 400 channels as its members, comprising more than 90 percent of television viewership in the country. Add to this the rising number of digital OTT platforms that are now members of its subsidiary, IDMIF.
The clear vision of the IBDF Board of Directors led to the creation of the Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC) pretty early in the day. The new Council, set up under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, has been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring self-regulation of the digital content. In many ways, the new initiative is a way forward from and a natural corollary of the extremely successful experiment in television content self regulation undertaken through the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) established by IBDF way back in June 2011.
The Founding Members of the IDMIF include:
- Mr K Madhavan, Disney+ Hotstar
- Mr Amit Goenka, Zee5
- Mr Rahul Joshi, VOOT
- Mr N P Singh, SonyLIV
- Mr Jayant M Mathew, Manorama Max
- Mr Mahesh Kumar, SunNXT
- Mr Ruchir Jain, Discovery+
- Mr Punit Goenka, IBDF
Other IDMIF Members include:
- Neestream Creations Private Limited
- YuppTV Digital India Private Limited
- HaYu (Universal Pictures Subscription Television Limited)
Board of Directors of IDMIF:
- Mr K Madhavan, Disney+ Hotstar; President-IDMIF
- Mr N P Singh, SonyLIV; Vice President-IDMIF
- Mr Amit Goenka, Zee5; Treasurer-IDMIF
- Mr Rahul Joshi, VOOT
- Mr Mahesh Kumar, SunNXT
