ITV

Category: Local Cable Operators

  • Laqshya Media Group creates India’s largest billboard for Jeep Compass

    Laqshya Media Group creates India’s largest billboard for Jeep Compass

    MUMBAI: Laqshya Media Group has partnered with Jeep India to create India’s largest outdoor media installation for its iconic Compass on one of the busiest national highways of India which connects two major cities, Mumbai and Pune.

    Laqshya Group has erected India’s largest ever ad billboard for Jeep Compass on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

    Billboards and transi-advertising in the outdoor market are all set to rise this year, with 15 per cent growth year on year.

    Laqshya Media Group CEO Atul Shrivastava said, “Laqshya Media Group has always given importance to its customers’ needs and understands the requirement in-depth. We chose India’s largest outdoor installation site to create a landmark for the Jeep Brand to showcase the brand’s motto of go anywhere and do anything. This was a challenging task and the efforts by the team were on a grander scale than ordinary.”

    “This is a beautiful example of how our teams across various functions come together to create something as mammoth as this. We are extremely proud to have developed a truly larger than life site for Jeep. The site stands out for all the efforts we have put into this. We are extremely proud of our campaign and the buzz continues stronger day by day,” he added.

    FCA India Automobiles assistant VP marketing and PR Rahul Pansare added, “When it comes to the brand Jeep, nothing is ordinary and thus wanted to do something which has never been done. We partnered with Laqshya Media Group as they are the leaders in outdoor advertising to create an installation which stands for passion and adventure. We are very happy with this partnership as they helped us in creating a landmark site on one of India’s busiest highways.”

    The billboard is around 25, 000 square feet and equivalent to thirty billboards. To formulate, it required 70 skilled craftsmen, 80,000 kg of metal and 45 days to complete the project. The installation is 253 feet wide and 100 feet tall. The Jeep logo itself is 164.6 feet long and 65.8 feet tall.

  • GTPL Hathway revenue up for Q1

    GTPL Hathway revenue up for Q1

    BENGALURU: Indian multi-system operator and internet service provider GTPL Hathway Limited (GTPL) reported 15.7 per cent increase in total income for the quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Q1 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year-ago quarter  (y-o-y) Q1 2018. GTPL’s total income in Q1 2019 was Rs 303.55 crore, for the corresponding year ago quarter it was Rs 262.41 crore.

    GTPL’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) was almost flat (declined 0.9 per cent) y-o-y in Q1 2019 to Rs 12.57 crore from Rs 12.69 crore in Q1 2018. Consolidated total comprehensive income for the period reduced 1.3 per cent y-o-y to Rs 12.50 crore from Rs 12.66 crore. Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) excluding other income increased 18.6 per cent in Q1 2019 to Rs 77.49 crore (26.1 per cent of operating or op revenue) from Rs 65.35 crore (25.4 per cent of op revenue) in the previous fiscal.

    GTPL has two segments – cable TV business and internet service. Cable TV business operating result increased 9.9 per cent y-o-y to Rs 10.17 crore in Q1 2019 from Rs 9.26 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Operating revenue of GTPL’s cable TV business increased 17.4 per cent y-o-y to Rs 260.93 crore from Rs 222.18 crore.

    GTPL’s internet service operating revenue in Q1 2019 increased 2.6 per cent y-o-y to Rs 35.98 crore from Rs 35.07 crore. Internet service segment’s operating results for Q1 2019 declined 30.2 per cent y-o-y to Rs 2.40 crore from Rs 3.44 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL Hathway

    Consolidated total expenditure increased 17.2 per cent y-o-y during the quarter under review to Rs 283.11 crore from Rs 241.49 crore in Q1 2018. Pay channel cost in Q1 2019 increased 17.8 per cent y-o-yto Rs 126.44 crore from Rs 107.37 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Other operational costs reduced 15.4 per cent y-o-y in Q1 2019 to Rs 21.48 crore from Rs 25.40 crore in Q1 2018.

    Employee benefits expense in Q1 2019 increased 18.6 per cent y-o-y to Rs 35.32 crore from Rs 29.78 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Finance costs increased 57.2 per cent y-o-y during the quarter under review to Rs 16.12 crore from Rs 10.26 crore. Other expenses in the period increased 23.3 per cent y-o-y to Rs 36.19 per cent in Q1 2019 from Rs 29.36 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

  • Jio & Hathway continue to lead wireless and wired Internet subs growth in 2018

    Jio & Hathway continue to lead wireless and wired Internet subs growth in 2018

    BENGALURU: India witnessed 1.74 percent growth in broadband internet customers in the month of April 2018 (Apr-18, month under review) according Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for the month ended 30 April 2018. Hence, 71.90 lakh (7.19 million, 0.719 crore) broadband subscribers were added in Apr-18.

    The smallest segment among broadband internet services providers – the Fixed wireless- WiFi, Wi Max, Point to Point, Radio, Vsat segment, lost about 40,000 subscribers – the segment’s subscriber base fell from 4.6 lakh (0.46 million or 0.046 crore) to 4.2 lakh (0.42 million or 0.042 crore) during the month. The wired broadband internet subscriber base grew by 20,000 to 179.70 lakh (17.97 million, 1.797 crore) in Apr-18 from 179.50 lakh (17.95 million, 1.795 crore) in the previous month.

    A major portion-100.42 percent (72.20 lakh or 7.22 million or 0.722 crore) of the new users opted for wireless broadband internet through mobile devices and dongles in Apr-18. The mobile devices and dongles segment grew 1.83 percent in the month. It may be noted that TRAI considers download speeds equal to or in excess of 512 kbps as broadband internet. Also, TRAI subscriber numbers data is published in millions with 2 decimal places, hence the accuracy of this report is limited to the nearest 10,000 (Ten Thousand).

    As on 30 April 2018, the top five Wireless Broadband Service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 1,961.9 lakh (196.19 million, 19.619 crore), Bharti Airtel  or Airtel with 875.1 lakh (87.51 million, 8.751 crore), Vodafone with 599 lakh (59.9 million, 5.99 crore), Idea Cellular with 424 lakh (42.4 million, 4.24 crore) and BSNLwith 115.1 lakh (11.51 million, 1.151 crore) subscribers respectively.

    Wireless Internet

    Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio) showed the largest growth in terms of absolute numbers across all segments. Jio’s subscribers have grown by 17.32 percent in calendar year 2018 (CY 2018) since 31 December 2017 (or 1 January 2018, Dec-17). Its subscriber base has grown from 1,600.9 lakh (160.09 million, 16.009 crore) as on 1 January 2017 to 1,961.9 lakh (196.19 million or 19.619 crore) on 30 April 2018. Jio grew by 95.59 lakh (9.559 million, 0.9559 crore) in April 2018. At present, Jio provides only wireless broadband internet services through mobile devices including phones and dongles. The highest growth rate in CY 2018 until April 2018 was by Idea Cellular at 21.80 percent. Idea Cellular also led subscriber growth in Apr-18 with respect to Mar-18 with 6.45 percent growth.  BSNL has being losing subscribers on a regular basis. Please refer to the figure below.

    public://g1_1.jpg

    Wired Internet

    Growth of the wired internet subscribers until Apr-18 was led by Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited (Hathway). The company added about 60,000 (grew by 8.22 percent) subscribers in CY 2018 until Apr-18 and its subscriber base grew to 7.9 lakh (0.79 million, 0.079 crore) in Apr-18 from 7.3 lakh (0.73 million, 0.073 crore) at the beginning of CY 2018. Hathway subs base grew by 1.28 percent (added 10,000 subscribers) in Apr- from 7.8 lakh (0.78 million, 0.078 crore) in Mar-18.

    In Apr-18, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL with 92.4 lakh (9.24 million, 0.924 crore), Bharti Airtel with 21.9 lakh (2.19 million, 0.219 crore), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT with 13.1 lakh (1.31 million, 0.131 crore), MTNL 8.6 lakh (0.86 million, 0.086 crore and Hathway with 7.9 lakh (0.79 million, 0.079 crore) subscribers respectively. The government’s BSNL and MTNL have in general being losing subscribers. Please refer to the figure below.

    public://g2_1.jpg

    All Internet

    Top five service providers constituted 97.42 percent market share in Apr-18 as compared to 95.23 percent market share in Mar-18 of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Apr-18. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 1961.9 lakh (196.19 million, 19.619 crore), Bharti Airtel with 897 lakh (89.70 million, 8.970 crore), Vodafone with 599.1 lakh (59.91 million, 5.991 crore), Idea Cellular with 424.1 lakh (42.41 million 4.241 crore) and BSNL with 207.5 lakh (20.75 million, 2.075 crire) subscribers respectively.
     

  • GTPL Hathway board moots 10% dividend for fiscal 2018

    GTPL Hathway board moots 10% dividend for fiscal 2018

    BENGALURU: The board of directors of Indian multi-system operator and internet service provider GTPL Hathway Limited (GTPL) has mooted dividend of Re 1 or 10 per cent per equity share of face Rs 10 each subject to approval from shareholders for the year ended 31 March 2018 (FY 2018, year or fiscal under review). The outstanding capital of GTPL Hathway as on 31 March 2018 was Rs 112.463 crore.

    GTPPL’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) more than doubled (increased 114.9 per cent) in FY 2018 to Rs 56.40 crore from Rs 26.24 crore in FY 2018. Consolidated total comprehensive income for the year increased 118.3 per cent to Rs 56.72 crore from Rs 25.98 crore. Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) excluding other income increased 29.6 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 383.12 crore (35.1 per cent of operating or op revenue) from Rs 295.71 crore (32.6 per cent of op revenue) in the previous fiscal.

    GTPL has two segments – cable TV business and internet service. Cable TV business operating result more than quadrupled (increased 302.6 per cent) to Rs 39.65 crore in FY 2018 from Rs 9.85 crore in the previous year. Operating revenue of GTPL’s cable TV business increased 21.7 per cent to Rs 947.87 crore from Rs 778.85 crore.

    GTPL’s internet service operating revenue in FY 2018 increased 13 per cent to Rs 143.40 crore from Rs 126.85 crore. Internet service segment’s operating results for fiscal 2018 increased 2.2 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 16.75 crore from Rs 16.39 crore in the previous year.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL Hathway

    The company’s consolidated total income increased 18.2 per cent during the year under review to Rs 1,113.35 crore from Rs 941.83 crore in the previous year. Consolidated operating revenue for fiscal 2018 at Rs 1,091.27 crore was 20.2 per cent higher than the Rs 907.70 crore for FY 2017. Other income reduced 35.3 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 22.09 crore from Rs 34.13 crore in FY 2017.

    Consolidated total expenditure increased 12.3 per cent during the year under review to Rs 1,009.34 crore from Rs 898.79 crore in FY 2017. Pay channel cost in fiscal 2018 increased 15.3 per cent to Rs 440.61 crore from Rs 382.11 crore in the previous year. Other operational costs increased 1.7 per cent to Rs 90.77 crore from Rs 89.29 crore.

    Employee benefits expense in FY 2018 increased 16.3 per cent to Rs 126.12 crore from Rs 108.44 crore in the previous fiscal. Finance costs reduced 32.2 per cent during the year under review to Rs 39.35 crore from Rs 58.08 crore. Other expenses in the period increased 16.5 per cent to Rs 141.42 percent to Rs 121.44 crore in the previous year.

    Also Read :

    GTPL Hathway board okays additional stake buy in subsidiaries

    GTPL Hathway reports higher numbers and flat q-o-q ARPUs

     

  • Kolkata cable operators want cable TV GST at 5%

    Kolkata cable operators want cable TV GST at 5%

    MUMBAI: The plea of cable TV operators in Kolkata to reduce the goods and services tax (GST) from the current 18 per cent to 5 per cent has been heard.

    The West Bengal government’s state municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim was quoted by the Cable TV Equipments Traders & Manufacturers Association (CTMA) as saying, “Cable television services are essential services and should not have 18 per cent GST, which is in effect at present.” He went on to say that he will, on behalf of the cable TV operators, present the issue to the finance minister Amit Mitra, who is a member of the GST council.

    Siticable, Manthan and GTPL-KCBPL are the main players in the West Bengal market. GST is divided into various slabs right now – 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent.

    Bengal Broadband to offer cable TV & broadband services in W Bengal

    A bumpy ride for gross billing in Kolkata

    Kolkata MSO GTPL-KCBPL applies for broadband license

  • TiVo’s next-gen solution to help cable operators retain customers

    TiVo’s next-gen solution to help cable operators retain customers

    MUMBAI: TiVo Corporation has launched Next-Gen Platform, a range of cloud-based products with a unified backend to help operators stay ahead of the game. The platform can be deployed for QAM, hybrid and IPTV to anticipate and quickly address customer needs.

    “Consumers face a fragmented, ever-changing media landscape as new services, content sources and devices continue to proliferate,” said TiVo senior vice president and general manager for user experience Michael Hawkey. “Media companies are compelled to evolve. TiVo’s Next-Gen Platform is specifically designed to meet the consumer’s insatiable desire for entertainment while enabling operators to maintain market share and remain relevant amid growing competition.”

    Customers can be assured of services like hyper-personalisation, recommendations, voice control, seamless integration of content across linear, OTT, on-demand and DVR platforms for multiscreen purposes. Content can be driven wherever it is watched such as managed set top boxes such as Linux and Android TV, unmanaged devices like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, mobile and web.

    Service providers will be able to reduce churn, boost customer engagement, capture and retain market segments, stay ahead of competition and own customer experience.

    “User experience defines the operator’s video services for consumers,” said Parks Associates senior director of research Brett Sappington. “Every pay-TV service and streaming video service is working to capture and maintain consumer attention in order to drive ongoing use and monetisation. As a result, operators need a flexible platform that allows them to innovate rapidly and meet or surpass connected experiences offered elsewhere.”

    The solution also helps operators in their transition to IPTV considering capital expenditure, networking and rights constraints of the operator while maintaining support for QAM

    Also Read :

    Japan’s KDDI adopts TiVo’s remote-recording service

    TiVo brings comprehensive personalised content discovery platform with voice search

    Turner selects TiVo to provide enhanced electronic programme services

     

  • Sidhu’s cable, DTH tax plan gets Punjab cabinet nod

    Sidhu’s cable, DTH tax plan gets Punjab cabinet nod

    MUMBAI: Entertainment lately seems to be affected the most with one tax after another — the GST and tax on watching television programmes. Now, in a ‘blow’ to local cable network companies, entertainment tax will be levied on DTH and cable connections in Punjab. DTH operators however will now have a level playing field with the cable networks. 

    State local bodies minister Navjot Singh Sidhu told the cabinet that the nominal tax would ensure accountability on the part of cable operators.

    After the introduction of GST from 1 July, 2017, the tax levied by the state government had been withdrawn. The state cabinet has however approved levying of the tax through panchayats and municipalities through an amendment proposed in the next session of the Vidhan Sabha where it has the two-thirds majority, PTI reported.

    No entertainment tax, however, has been proposed for cinemas, multiplexes and amusement parks.

    The urban and rural bodies will now be allowed to impose and collect a nominal tax of Rs 5 per DTH connection and Rs 2 per local cable connection per month with the enactment of ‘The Punjab Entertainments & Amusements Taxes (Levy & Collection by Local Bodies) Bill 2017.’

    With around 44 lakh cable connections and 16 lakh DTH in Punjab, the bodies are expected to collect Rs 450-470 million (approximately Rs 369 million and Rs 96 million, respectively).

    Sidhu had been alleging tax evasions by Fastway Network, a company linked to the previous dispensation. In August, the minister had urged the CM’s office to take a call on the recovery of allegedly evaded tax of Rs 200 billion from Fastway.

    Also Read:

    Probe Punjab ‘cable mafia,’ demands minister, Fastway refutes charges

    Punjab Govt falters in first leg of breaking cable monopoly

    Punjab govt. studying Arasu & other regulatory models on distribution 

  • TN advisory: LCO licences may be cancelled if they bully Arasu subs into buying STBs

    TN advisory: LCO licences may be cancelled if they bully Arasu subs into buying STBs

    MUMBAI: A Tamil Nadu state advisory has informed subscribers of Arasu Cable not to pay money to the local cable operators (LCOs) for set-top boxes (STBs) which are actually being provided to all for free.

    Arasu Cable, as per a state government statement, is the only state-owned undertaking in the country to offer free STBs combined with internet services and digital cable TV, and a three-year warranty.

    Indiantelevision.com had reported that Arasu Cable (TACTV), which had early in September, claimed to have gone digital, was on 25 September asked to “confirm that you have already switched off analogue signals and are carrying only digital encrypted signals on your cable TV network.” In a letter to TACTV, sent by the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB), the multi-system operator (MSO) was asked to reply within 10 days of issuance of the letter, “failing which your registration is likely to be suspended/revoked.”

    The state advisory, meantime, now has also cautioned subscribers of Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV) against buying the STB from private dealers, the Times of India reported. If the LCOs were found to be bullying subscribers into paying for STBs, their licence could be cancelled, the state government has warned.

    The advisory has urged subscribers to report cases where LCOs had asked them to buy STBs from private dealers through the Arasu cable helpline.

    The state government had, a month ago, begun distribution of free STBs among Arasu subscribers. Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had launched the service through the government-owned enterprise after inaugurating MPEG-4 upgraded control room for digital signal transmission.

    Arasu’s approximately 70 lakh subscribers would have access to around 180 channels in digital mode. There will be four packages with monthly subscription between Rs 125 and Rs 275 with option of both free and paid channels.

  • Supreme Court stays order on entertainment tax by LCOs

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today stayed an order of the Entertainment Department of Delhi Government that entertainment tax should be paid by local cable operators with effect from 1 April 2013.

    The division bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Navin Sinha issued notice to multi-system operators and the Delhi Government to file their replies and listed the matter to come up on 1 September 2017.

    It was alleged by some associations of local cable operators – All Local Cable Operators Assciation, All Delhi Local Cable Operator Association, Cable Operators Welfare Association and Walled City Cable Operators Association — that they had earlier been paying entertainment tax to the MSOs but this had not been deposited with the Delhi Government.

    Meanwhile, some MSOs had approached the Delhi High Court challenging a directive of the Government of 17 December 2012 relating to DAS. In its ex-parte order, the Court on 9 March this year said that MSOs who had subscribers directly linked to them would pay the tax while the LCOs would pay for the subscribers linked to them.

    Consequently the Delhi Government had issued notices to the LCOs to deposit the tax from 1 April 2013 onwards.

    The LCOs thus alleged that this amounted to double taxation as they had already paid the entertainment tax to some of the MSOs who allegedly did not pay to the Government.

    Until 1997, the LCOs had been paying the tax but later this was passed on to MSOs to be paid. Later the Aam Aadmi Party government had doubled the tax from Rs 20 to Rs 40 in 2014.

  • Fox’s Asia SVP Joe Welch named CASBAA board chairman

    MUMBAI: CASBAA, Asia’s media association serving the multichannel audio-visual content creation and distribution industry, has announced that Joe Welch has been named as the chairman of its board of directors.

    Welch is 21st Century Fox’s senior vice-president of government relations for the Asia-Pacific region. He is responsible for supporting the public policy and regulatory advocacy efforts of 21st Century Fox’s business units across the region.

    Previously, Welch served as MCI WorldCom’s Asia director of government affairs, and earlier was an attorney at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C.

    “I’m taking on this role at a time when we have a set of positive options at hand, many now in progress, that will make CASBAA sustainable and relevant for the long term,” Welch said. “For some time now, CASBAA has been moving to secure the ability to deliver ‘twin pillar’ services for members: advocacy and anti-piracy. I look forward to working together with the Board and the Executive Office in driving an effective delivery of these pillars while continuing our mission to inform and connect our members.”

    Welch replaces outgoing director Jonathan Spink of HBO Asia. Spink was elected the chairman of the board in December 2016, but stepped down recently, at the time stating “…a new vision for CASBAA is needed.” HBO remains a patron member of the association, and Spink expressed confidence that its new direction would “…fit in with the desires and requirements of our industry.”