Digital Broadcasters | India Censors Irked by FTVs Catwalk Capers

In India the satellite TV channels have been pushing the boundaries of decency in programming in the past six months - that is by Indian standards. The latest is from FTV and its catwalk capers of believing less is better. In a country that bans kissing on TV, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting was forced to act on March 29 when Fashion TV under the FTV.com India label showed models strutting the catwork clad skimpily and without brassieres and swearing seethough tops at the midnight hour. The channel is carried by the country's cable TV operators. The Ministry slapped a ban on the channel for two months under Sub-Section (2) of Section 20 of the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995. The transmission or re-transmission of this Channel on all platforms has been prohibited effect April 1 through to May 30 across the country. The ministry guardians depict the programming as "against good taste and decency, denigrating women and likely to adversely affect public morality." Is there no subtlety? The programming was called ‘Midnight Hot’. I suspect that most adult men would at least be tempted to take a peek at a program with such a title. Still, being "off-air" is an indirect way of even greater promotion for the channel that has not been short of a following as it is. Will FTV in turn be irked by the prudishness of the Censors at India's Broadcasting Ministry?