ITV

Category: Cable TV

  • HVL receives NCLT nod for amalgamation of Grant Investrade

    HVL receives NCLT nod for amalgamation of Grant Investrade

    BENGALURU: Hindustan Ventures Ltd (HVL) has informed the bourses that it has received sanction from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for the scheme of amalgamation between its fully owned subsidiary and transferor company Grant Investrade Ltd (GIL) and itself (transferee company) w. e. f. 31 October 2017. HVL has said that on receipt of the certified copy of the order, it will proceed to file the necessary papers with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) to render the scheme effective. HVL further said that since GIL was its wholly owned subsidiary, no consideration would be paid, neither would any shares be issued.

    As reported by Indiantelevision.com earlier, the board of directors of HVL had approved the amalgamation scheme subject to approval from the National Company Law Tribunal. HVL has business interests in media, real estate and treasury while GIL is in the business of running channels on cable TV and treasury. Earlier, GIL housed the headend in the sky (HITS) business of HVL which has now been merged with the cable TV business under Indusind Media and Communications Limited (IMCL), which is also a subsidiary of the company.

     

  • IndiaCast, Hathway strike deal after TDSAT order

    IndiaCast, Hathway strike deal after TDSAT order

    MUMBAI: Setting aside their differences, IndiaCast Media Distribution Pvt Ltd (IndiaCast) and Hathway Digital finally came to an agreement on Wednesday and signed a deal. As a result, IndiaCast, the content monetisation arm of TV18 and Viacom18, has switched on the signals of its channels to the multi-system operator (MSO).

    The deal came to fruition after the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), on Wednesday, ordered the companies to restore signals.

    The parties have agreed to sign a one-year fixed fee deal until 31 March 2019.

    Earlier, IndiaCast channels had been pulled off from Hathway. Despite several meetings, Hathway could not fulfill the growth aspiration of IndiaCast in terms of the carriage and subscription fees. The subscription and carriage agreements between Hathway and IndiaCast had expired on 31 March 2018.

    On 1 April 2018, IndiaCast issued a 21-day public notice to Hathway to meet regulatory requirements. Earlier, reports stated that the notice was issued due to non-payment of dues, non-submission of monthly subscriber reports, under-declaration of subscribers, failure to allow an audit of systems and unauthorised retransmission of channels.

    Across the cable industry, multi-system operators (MSOs) are now doing fixed-fee deals. While all the players are waiting for the new tariff order, due to the delay in the roll out, cable operators are relying on fixed-fee deals only. To move forward with these fixed-fee deals, the parties negotiate on the last fee structure and agree on certain percentage growth.

    The disagreement between IndiaCast and Hathway came about with the renewal of these deals. As IndiaCast acquired Turner channels recently, the distribution company demanded more subscription money than ZEE.

    Though IndiaCast was due to switch off its channels on 21 April, it eventually pulled off from Hathway on 25 April. Other than the disagreement on the hike in fees, IndiaCast had also asked Hathway for a two-year commitment and was not satisfied with the format of the subscription report.

    Also Read :

    IndiaCast, Hathway fail to concur on carriage, subscription fees

    TDSAT prohibits Scod18 from relaying IndiaCast channels

     

  • Aim to take phase 3 ARPU to phase 1 value: Den Networks’ SN Sharma

    Aim to take phase 3 ARPU to phase 1 value: Den Networks’ SN Sharma

    MUMBAI: Den Networks has an ambitious plan charted out for its cable and broadband business for the coming two to three years. In an interview to Bloomberg Quint, Den Networks CEO SN Sharma highlighted the company’s plan to increase revenue and subscription.

    For the multi-system operator (MSO), digitisation of phase III in India was almost over 10 months ago and certain parts of phase IV were left by all operators. Sharma said that it may take six to eight months to wind this up. “In the last 12 months, we seeded close to five million set-top boxes (STBs) in phase III. Today, we have a tall figure of 11.5 million digital homes out of which 8.5 million are paying,” he said.

    The average revenue per user (ARPU) for Den has gone up substantially over the last two years. Even tier I and II towns had low ARPU of Rs 120 and Rs 80-90 a year ago. Two years ago, the ARPU for tier I and II towns was Rs 60-70 and Rs 50-60, respectively. Today, the ARPU is at Rs 144 for phase I and Rs 112 for phase II. Sharma also said that the company was able to make up 50 per cent of the subscription revenue from the cable operators from phase I while this was 40-45 per cent in phase II markets.

    Phase III ARPUs are still low at Rs 76 out of the ground rate of Rs 150-175. “As we move forward, cable operators know they have to catch up with phase I ARPUs and will gradually increase it with subscription and, accordingly, the same will be shared with us,” he added.

    The aim is to take the current ARPU of phase III up to Rs 144 in two years’ time. “The phase I journey has been successful and a confident path has been set. There is no reason this Rs 76 doesn’t move to Rs 140 level in 2-2.5 years’ time,” he said adding that 50 per cent of the digital universe was phase III and IV. Phase IV ARPU stands at Rs 66.

    Den is talking to broadcasters and peers to increase subscription levels in phase I areas and Sharma said that discussions were actively progressing. “There is headroom to increase this [subscription]. You will see changes in bouquets and packages offered so overall revenue can be taken up,” he shared.

    One of the ways to do this will be by focussing on HD STBs now. The target for the next 12 months is to convert 10 per cent of its SD base into HD, which will allow the MSO to add another Rs 60-70 per box. Another way is by gradually increasing the number of boxes seeded in phase IV that is currently at the rate of 40,000-50,000 a month.

    The company has a system to ensure that all reported boxes are activated. When a box doesn’t yield payment for more than three months, it is removed out of the declaration and considered a dead box. Here, Sharma lauds the system for being as efficient as telecom operators that withdraw service  if a subscriber doesn’t pay.

    The entrance of players like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone has definitely changed the broadband game for the company and Sharma admits this. Den’s broadband ARPU is currently Rs 550 with a speed of 50 mbps and unlimited data. He compared it to telcos who offer just 1 gb data a day with best case speed of 9 mbps.

    Over the years, data consumption on its platform has increased from 20 gb two years ago to 60 gb last year and is hovering at 80 gb today. “There is a data explosion courtesy Jio, Airtel and Vodafone. We are consciously aware of it and so we talk of unlimited data in high speed,” he said.

    Much of its broadband business is concentrated in Delhi with 2 lakh subscribers. However, the tariff war pulled down its ARPU to Rs 600. But the same in Kanpur is Rs 800. The plan is to increase subscribers by 6 lakh in three years taking the total to about 8 lakh.

    Sharma is confident that the entire business needs external funding since it is witnessing healthy growth in subscription and ARPU and no subsidy is being offered on HD boxes. Even the broadband business has been fibre infrastructure. About Rs 100-120 crore will be required for the coming three years, which will be managed through internal accruals.

    Also Read :

    Subscription revenue drives up Den’s PAT

    Den Networks appoints Himanshu Jindal as CFO

    TDSAT rules in favor of DEN Networks, directs ZEE entertainment to provide channels on RIO basis

     

  • GTPL Hathway board okays additional stake buy in subsidiaries

    GTPL Hathway board okays additional stake buy in subsidiaries

    MUMBAI: The board of directors of GTPL Hathway has approved the acquisition of additional stake in subsidiaries besides the sale/transfer of shareholding and preferential shares in a subsidiary company.

    The multi-system operator (MSO) will increase its shareholding in subsidiary GTPL Space City from 61.50 per cent equity share to 74.5 per cent by acquiring additional 13 per cent equity shares. The company will also make GTPL Junagadh a wholly owned subsidiary by acquiring remaining 49 per cent stake.

    The board has also approved the sale/transfer of all 51.08 per cent shareholding comprising 16,08,000 equity shares of Rs.10 each and 11,80,840, 10 per cent cumulative convertible preference shares of Rs 10 each in GTPL Chelikam Network India aggregating to Rs 1.18 crore.

    Last year, too, the company turned three cable TV companies into wholly owned subsidiaries after buying remaining stake in the companies. GTPL Hathway last year increased its stake in two subsidiary companies GTPL Surat Telelink and GTPL Ahmedabad Cable Network. The company has acquired remaining 49 percent stake in GTPL Surat Telelink thereby making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

    Also read:

    GTPL Hathway pockets Rs 480-mn Gujarat govt contracts

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

  • IndiaCast, Hathway fail to concur on carriage, subscription fees

    IndiaCast, Hathway fail to concur on carriage, subscription fees

    MUMBAI:  As a result of unresolved conflict between Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd (Hathway) and IndiaCast Media Distribution Pvt Ltd (IndiaCast), all IndiaCast channels have been pulled off from the cable platform. Despite several meetings, Hathway could not fulfill the growth aspiration of IndiaCast in terms of the carriage and subscription fees, according to a source. The subscription and carriage agreements between Hathway and IndiaCast expired on 31 March 2018.

    On 1 April 2018, IndiaCast issued a 21-day public notice to Hathway to meet regulatory requirements. Earlier, reports stated that the notice was issued due to non-payment of dues, non-submission of monthly subscriber reports, under-declaration of subscribers, failure to allow an audit of systems and unauthorised retransmission of channels.

    IndiaCast did not respond to queries when Indiantelevision.com reached out to the company.

    Across the cable industry, multi-system operators (MSOs) are now doing fixed-fee deals. While all the players are waiting for the new tariff order, due to the delay in the roll out, cable operators are relying on fixed-fee deals only. To move forward with these fixed-fee deals, the parties negotiate on the last fee structure and agree on certain percentage growth.

    The disagreement between IndiaCast and Hathway came about with the renewal of these deals. As IndiaCast acquired Turner channels recently, the distribution company wanted to get more subscription money than ZEE.

    According to a source familiar to the development, Hathway, being convinced of the logic, offered a certain level of growth going beyond their means. However, IndiaCast was not happy with the offering and asked for a percentage increase more than 100 per cent. Ultimately, the parties could not reach any solution leaving the deal unresolved.

    Though IndiaCast was due to switch off its channels on 21 April, it eventually pulled off from Hathway on 25 April. Other than the disagreement on the hike in fees, IndiaCast also asked Hathway for a two-year commitment and was not satisfied with the format of the subscription report.

    This is not a new development in Indian cable history. Though broadcasters, MSOs and DTH operators speak about putting viewers’ interest first, the recent examples don’t speak in favour of that. Agreements being left to market forces lead to such stand-offs from time to time. As a result, consumers are often at the risk of missing out on watching their favourite channels.

    Also Read :

    Hathway Bhawani appoints Vatan Pathan as CEO

    TDSAT prohibits Scod18 from relaying IndiaCast channels

  • India, China to provide 50% of global pay TV subs by 2023

    India, China to provide 50% of global pay TV subs by 2023

    NEW DELHI: India and China will together provide half the world’s pay TV subscribers by 2023, according to a new global report that forecasts 95 million additional pay TV subscribers would get added between 2017 and 2023 to take the global total to 1.10 billion.

    China will continue to supply about a third of the world’s pay TV subscribers with 375 million expected by end 2023, while India will bring in another 16 per cent of the total by 2023 that translates into 180 million subs, a global report released by London-based Digital TV Research stated.

    Based on forecasts for 138 countries, the number of pay TV subscribers passed 1 billion in 2017.

    Satellite TV will grow by 31 million subs and pay DTT by 10 million. Digital cable TV will add at 61 million subs between 2017 and 2023, but analogue cable TV will lose 88 million subs – a net loss for cable, an official statement from Digital TV Research stated on Tuesday.

    Siti Networks Ltd chief business transformation officer Rajesh Sethi said: “The Asia Pacific Pay TV Sector is expected to show multi-fold growth in the next five years with digital cable expected to account for half of the overall pay TV subscriber additions of 78 million. India will account for around 59 per cent of the incremental revenue growth of $2.7 billion in Asia Pacific for the said time frame, which is evidence of the strong adoption of digital distribution mediums in the country, in line with the government’s digital India initiative.”

    “We, at Siti, while being cognizant of the immense utility that this brings to our fellow citizens, are well positioned to participate in this exciting opportunity and are diligently ensuring that the digital wave in India is ubiquitous and impactful.”

    There were still 90 million analogue cable TV subscribers by end-2017. Although this figure is down from 335 million in 2010, it still represents a major hurdle for pay TV operators to convert. It is not all gloom as there will be 525 million cable TV subs (both analogue and digital) by 2023, similar to the 528 million recorded in 2010.

    Simon Murray, principal analyst at Digital TV Research, said: “It’s no secret that pay TV subscriber numbers are falling in North America. We forecast 92 million pay TV subs in the region by 2023; down by 20 million from 112 million in the peak year of 2012.”

    The number of pay TV subscribers was flat in Latin America in 2017. Fewer than five million more pay TV subscribers are expected between 2017 and 2023, bringing its total to almost 76 million.

    Eastern Europe will lose 2.4 million subscribers between 2017 and 2023, down by 2.9 per cent to 79 million. This is more to do with poor economic conditions than cord-cutting. Eastern Europe also has a legacy of low-paying analogue cable TV subscribers to convert to digital. Year 2017 was the peak year for the region. The 2017 total included 20 million analogue cable subscribers.

    According to the report, Western Europe will still gain subscribers between 2017 and 2023. Although this only represents a 2.6 per cent increase, it means nearly three million more subs to take the total to 106 million.

    Sub-Saharan Africa will climb by 74 per cent between 2017 and 2023 to 41 million pay TV subscribers. In the Middle East and North Africa, the number of pay TV homes are expected to increase by 4.5 million between 2017 and 2023 to 21 million.

    The Asia Pacific pay TV sector is vibrant with subscribers likely to rise by 78 million over the next five years to 686 million.

    Interestingly, the Global Pay TV Subscriber Forecasts report concluded that IPTV would win most of the additional subscribers, or 81 million. IPTV will overtake pay satellite TV subs in 2018. “Some operators, such as Telefonica in Spain, are encouraging subscribers to convert to IPTV from other platforms. IPTV/broadband subs are more lucrative than satellite TV ones,” Murray concluded.

    Also Read :

    Pay-TV: India among four countries which contributed $16 bn rev between ’10 & ’16

    Indian pay-TV expanding by 10.6 pc, 77 pc to be digitised, ARPUs to rise by ’22: MPA

    Only 3% of Indian households paid subs of SVoD services: Global study

    Dish TV, Hathway & Den amongst top 10 global Pay TV platforms

  • DEN expands broadband services; plans Rs 100 cr capex

    DEN expands broadband services; plans Rs 100 cr capex

    MUMBAI: DEN Broadband Pvt Ltd (DEN) has expanded its hi-speed internet services to 100 cities across India. After an encouraging response to the pilot project in five cities, DEN has already started its first phase of expansion in 15 cities.

    DEN’s expansion plan is in sync with the massive growth in the internet consumption in the country. Data usage in India has already jumped by 144 per cent (y-o-y) with average consumption per user in 4G broadband reaching 11 GB per month. The rise in data consumption has not been matched by a corresponding increase in the speed of connection. While India globally ranks 67 in fixed broadband speeds with an average download speed of 20.72 Mbps, mobile broadband speeds still lags at 109th rank with an average download speed of 9.01 Mbps, as per Ookla’s speedtest Global Index, February 2018 report.

    DEN Networks CEO SN Sharma said: “This is a game changing moment not just for DEN but also for the Internet users in the country. Our hard work and investment in transforming our Co-ax cable trunk routes into fiber optics will now yield tangible results. For DEN it will mean a minimum investment whereas for our users it will mean best in class Internet speed.”

    The company intends to tap this high-potential market by capitalising on its existing cable TV infrastructure and providing hi-speed fixed broadband internet. With speeds upto 1Gbps at affordable prices, DEN Broadband will cater to the future needs of Internet while penetrating further into the untapped markets.

    DEN’s fibre cable infrastructure is already present across 13 states. The company plans to roll out through a franchisee model, which will leverage its strength as a leading national MSO with an established on-ground Cable LMO network to usher in a broadband revolution in the entire country. Its 14,000 plus LMO network would use its technology while adhering to the operational standards set by DEN. Being the franchisor, DEN will bill the subscribers directly and collect tariffs from them directly. The franchisee would get paid based on their agreement and size of their investment.

    The MSO’s fixed broadband infrastructure is being built using a mix of GPON/FTTX and metro ethernet technologies enabling download speeds from 20 Mbps till 1 Gbps. It estimates a capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore over the next three years. This expansion plan is targeted towards 100 cities across states where DEN has a strong foothold such as UP, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

  • Den Networks appoints Himanshu Jindal as CFO

    Den Networks appoints Himanshu Jindal as CFO

    MUMBAI: Den Networks has appointed Himanshu Jindal as chief financial officer with immediate effect.

    Jindal is a chartered accountant with more than 15 years of experience spanning across sectors like consulting, pharmaceuticals, commodity trading and cement manufacturing industries. 

    His last assignment was with Heidelberg Cement India Ltd March 2007 till March 2018 and was responsible for treasury, corporate finance, risk management, internal audit and controls, corporate communication, investor relations and management reporting. Prior to Heidelberg, he has worked with Cargill, Cipla and Pfizer Limited.

    “Rajesh Kaushall has resigned as CFO of the company. The management appreciated the work done by him towards growth of the company. He will continue to act as an advisor to the company,” DEN stated in a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange.

    Also Read:

    Hathway Bhawani appoints Vatan Pathan as CEO

    BCCI strengthens IPL ACU, appoints Ajit Singh as head

  • Hathway Bhawani appoints Vatan Pathan as CEO

    Hathway Bhawani appoints Vatan Pathan as CEO

    MUMBAI: Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom ‍(Hathway Bhawani) has approved the appointment of Vatan Pathan​ as CEO with immediate effect. Pathan has been the additional director at Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom Ltd since 7 November 2017.

    Hathway Bhawani’s release to the BSE stated, “ We would like to inform you that at the meeting of the board of directors of the company held today that the board of directors has approved the appointment of Vatan Pathan, director, as a chief executive officer of the company with immediate effect.”

    Recently, Vineet Garg resigned as the director from the board of Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom with effect from 30 March 2018. He also resigned as the chief financial officer (CFO) effective 15 May 2018.

    Also Read:

    Hathway CFO Vineet Garg resigns

    Hathway reports improved standalone Q3 results

  • Hathway CFO Vineet Garg resigns

    Hathway CFO Vineet Garg resigns

    MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom chief financial officer (CFO) Vineet Garg has resigned effective 15 May 2018. He has also resigned as a director from the board of Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacom.

    “We wish to inform you that Vineet Garg, director, has tendered his resignation with immediate effect i.e. from 30 March 2018,” Hathway Bhawani said in a filing to the BSE.

    Hathway’s release to the BSE stated: “Pursuant to Regulation 30 (6) of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 read with Part A of Schedule III, we wish to inform your kind office that Vineet Garg-chief financial officer (key managerial personnel) of the company has tendered his resignation and his resignation shall be effective from 15 May 2018.”

    Garg had joined Hathway in June 2014. He was promoted to CFO in February 2016 following the exit of G Subramaniam. Prior to Hathway, Garg was with Reliance Communications as national head lifecycle management – wireless operations. His career spans more than 21 years in the telecom and media industry.

    Also Read:

    Hathway reports improved standalone Q3 results

    Hathway leads the way in wireline net subs addition in Q3