Even as Neeraj Chopra was scripting sporting history in Tokyo — becoming in the process the second individual Indian and the first to win an Olympics gold medal in athletics — a section of the TV news broadcasters were in the office of Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur in the Capital to discuss industry issues.

Thakur, who also holds the sports portfolio, and the head honchos of the TV news networks, however, had not anticipated the way the evening would unfold. They actually got a ringside view of history in the making — and delectable news bytes too — when Chopra’s javelin, thrown to 87.58 meters, emerged as the golden throw at Tokyo.

While the Minister, probably, would have loved to talk more about sports at that moment, he also had to pay attention to broadcasting, especially news broadcasting, which had also been witnessing some momentous moments in terms of new regulations.

So, Saturday’s discussions that representatives of News Broadcasters Association (NBA) had with the Minister, naturally, revolved round various pertinent themes like attaining a stable regulatory climate in the industry.

The participants also talked about other positive changes that can be introduced in the television ecosystem as a whole,  an NBA statement later said.

Further, NBA members discussed the industry landscape in the post-COVID scenario and apprised the minister about their concerns.

 The meeting also highlighted the importance of creating a strong policy roadmap for growth in the post-Covid era for the broadcast industry.

Speaking about the meeting, a spokesperson of NBA in a statement said, “Effective communication is extremely important for us to uplift the broadcast industry and implement positive changes…(the) discussion helped us provide direction to various issues within the industry. We are looking forward to working closely with the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Mr. Anurag Thakur to take the broadcast industry to greater heights.”

The NBA team was led by its President and Chairman- Editor-in-Chief of India TV Rajat Sharma. The delegation included ABP Network CEO Avinash Pandey, Zee News Editor-in-chief and CEO Sudhir Chaudhary, News24 CMD Anuradha Prasad Shukla, India Today Group Vice-Chairperson Kalli Purie and NDTV Editorial Director Sonia Singh.