Relief for media: Hike in ad rates to continue (Lead)

The government Monday came to the rescue of a recession-hit media by extending the hike in government advertisement rates for print media by another six months.

Since the print media is still reeling under recession, the government has decided to extend the hike in advertisement rates by another six months, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday while presenting the budget for fiscal 2009-10.

In February, the government had hiked the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) advertisement rates by 10 percent and waived off the 15 percent agency commission till June 30.

The relief is subject to documentary proof of loss of revenue in non-governmental advertisements as compared to the same period last year.

The hikes were announced after some media barons and leaders met then minister of state for information and broadcasting Anand Sharma and sought the government's help to bail them out of the financial crunch due to recession.

Since the new government took charge, top industry representatives met the new information and broadcasting minister, Ambika Soni, and sought a further hike in advertisement rates. The DAVP rate structuring committee finally decided to extend the current special relief package, sources said.

Last updated on Jul 6^th, 2009 at 14:09 pm IST--IANS