ITV

Category: Regulators

  • CAS: Government to revert to Delhi HC next week

    CAS: Government to revert to Delhi HC next week

    NEW DELHI: The government is likely to revert to the Delhi High Court with a status report on CAS’ rollout early next week even as the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has raised several queries on addressability’s efficacy.

    “A senior official of the information and broadcasting ministry admitted that it has to go back to the court with a feedback on CAS, but said it’s timing is still not clear.

    “One month for us would be calculated from the day we received a certified copy of the court order. As on 10 March, a verbal order was passed,” the official said.
    Still, the official also added that the court would have to be apprised of
    the progress on CAS front and “it would be done.” With diverse signals emanating from the industry stakeholders, the government is slightly confused, the official said.

    However, the deluge of facts and figures relating to CAS and various time lines proposed by stakeholders also gives the government some breathing space.

    On 10 March, the Delhi High Court directed the government to implement CAS in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai within a month’s time. The judgment came on a petition filed by some MSOs, including INCablenet and Hathway.

    While a large section of the cable fraternity has been pushing for quick
    implementation of CAS, a section of broadcasters and consumer organisations want a certain comfort level before CAS is rolled out.

    IBF AGAINST PRICE CONTROL UNDER CAS

    Meanwhile, the IBF in a submission to the government has said that there should not be any price control in a CAS-enabled regime and the issue of piracy should be addressed as a priority.

    “Under the Trai (sector regulator) recommendations to government for CAS implementation, presented on 1 October, 2004, it was recommended that there should be no price control in addressable markets. In view of this, we believe that for CAS notified areas, there should be no price fixation,” the IBF letter states setting the cat amongst the pigeons (read the cable operators).

    The letter, a copy of which is available with Indiantelevision.com, drops broad hints that pay broadcasters would not give a la carte price for consumers — something that has been in demand for over a year now during confabulations on CAS.

    “Broadcasters are whole sellers to cable operators as the consumer price for cable TV is fixed by the operators,” IBF has said, adding all pending litigations and outstanding dues involving the cable industry must be resolved before CAS is rolled out.

    Hinting that the claims of MSOs and cable ops on availability of set-top boxes might be exaggerated, the IBF goes on to state that effective steps should be taken to ensure that in the notified areas, adequate number of boxes is available with MSOs and last mile operators to cater to the demand.

    “There should be no instance that consumers want to install STBs and
    MSOs/LCOs are unable to provide them. MSOs/LCOs would also need to ensure that there is proper coordination between them and their LCOs. The MSOs/LCOs should provide a detailed STB implementation plan,” the IBF letter says.

    The broadcasters have also urged the government to ban carriage fee, which is demanded by cable operators and also given by most major broadcasters whether free to air or pay.

    “The IBF members are of the view that the government should make sure that cable operators not demand carriage fee from the broadcasters… in view of the fact that they collect subscription revenue from the subscribers,” the letter states.

    Another point raised by the IBF is that since CAS is being mandated by the government, unlike in other countries where market forces bring about its rollout, other addressable systems like DTH, IPTV and broadband should also be similarly mandated to create “a level playing field” for those platforms.

  • Prasar Bharati grant down, fourfold increase in loans

    NEW DELHI: Even as the grant-in-aid to Prasar Bharati in the budgetary allocations for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for 2007-2008 has come down, there has been a more than fourfold increase in the loans to the public broadcaster over the current financial year.

    The loan to Prasar Bharati has been fixed at Rs 2,174.4 million as compared to Rs 411.1 million as sanctioned in the Revised Estimates for 2006-07. The grant-in-aid has come down further, from Rs 11,748.2 million in the Revised Estimates for 2006-7 (as compared to the Budgetary allocation of Rs 12,340.7 million) to Rs 10,639.3 million. All this is apart from the investment of Rs 2,174.4 million.
    In keeping with a decision taken with the budget for 2000-01, Prasar Bharati is being funded as a full-fledged autonomous body with effect from April 2000. The grant-in-aid is to cover the gap in resources of Prasar Bharati in meeting its revenue expenditure, while the loans are to finance the capital expenditure.

    The total budgetary allocation for the I&B Ministry for 2007-08 is Rs 16,818.4 million as compared to Rs 16,600 million in the Revised Estimates for 2006-07 (as against a Budgetary allocation of Rs 17,160 million in the Budget).

    While there is no announcement of any new programmes, the Budget document says the allocation of Rs 220.8 million for buildings and machinery includes funds for the multi-storey building of the Films Division in Mumbai, the Phase II building of the National Film Archives of India in Pune, and a mini Media Centre of the Press Information Bureau in Delhi.

  • Trai pitches for duty slash on STB components, seeks removal of entertainment tax on cable TV

     
     

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has take up the demands of stakeholders in the broadcasting industry and recommended to the Finance Ministry that there is a need for tax rationalisation. The chief amongst which is abolishing of customs duty on import of components for the local manufacture of STBs.

    MSO sources tell indiantelevison.com that Trai has suggested to the ministry that it should ensure a level playing field in the interest of digitalisation of cable television, which has seen increased demand after the rollout of Cas.

    For the benefit of the consumers, Trai has also suggested that Entertainment Tax be abolished from the cable TV sector.
     

    Trai has argued, as the MSOs had desired, that this is the only industry in which both service tax and entertainment tax are levied, the latter going to the state governments, and suggested that instead of the extra entertainment tax burden, there should be evolved a system of sharing a part of the service tax with the state governments.

    These sources say also that Trai has for the first time written to the government of the reports the industry has been filing since the middle of January this year, that after Cas rollout, the interest in digitalised TV has vastly increased, and Trai says that there are requests from areas not covered under mandatory Cas for the same system being introduced.

    The issues were discussed in a roundtable between Trai, the MSOs and other stakeholders earlier this month.

    Trai has written to the government, sources requesting anonymity tell indiantelevision.com, that the stakeholders desire rationalisation of tax structure, because greater convergence in broadcast and telecommunication technologies in the near future would result in the distinction between the two services getting increasingly blurred.
     

    Hence the need for a level playing field, which in turn could not be brought about without required rationalisation of taxation in the two sectors.

    Trai feels that the current additional customs duty of 4 per cent on components of set top boxes and associated items like viewing cards should be abolished, just as has been done for the components and parts of cellular phones and mobile phones.

    The Trai wishlist sent to the MoF, sources say, recommends the complete removal of basic customs duty on imported digital headend equipment from the present 12.5 per cent, to improve penetration in the country as a whole.

    Trai says this is quite in line with the abolition of duty on import of STBs done in 2006.

    The MSOs say that they had desired that though excise duty is currently levied on the transaction value of STBs, which are sold as packaged commodity, in the same manner as mobile phones, televisions and cameras, but wherever required manufacturers may be given the option for the scheme on which excise duty is levied on the basis of MRP, with an abatement of 40 per cent.

    Presently, this is applicable to other packaged commodities, and Trai has sent this as part of the recommendation to the ministry as well.

    In consonance with the wishes of the MSOs and other stakeholders, Trai has also suggested that the telecom department has demanded reduction of excise duty on telecom equipment to 8 per cent, and this same should be applicable to manufacture of STBs.

    The stakeholders had told Trai that this would be necessary because with greater convergence of technologies, it would be tough to distinguish between the services.

    There is another tricky issue on excise duty. MSOs say that the premises of the subscriber where the set top box is deployed should be treated as the extended premises of the service provider and the STBs at the premises of the subscriber be treated as the possession of the service provider.

    This would enable them to avail a set-off of excise duty paid, against its service tax liability.
  • I&B MoS Ambareesh quits over Cauvery award

    I&B MoS Ambareesh quits over Cauvery award

    NEW DELHI: Renowned Kannada actor-turned-politician MH Ambareesh has quit as the minister of state for information and broadcasting and also his seat in the Lok Sabha protesting that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal had been ”unfair” to Karnataka in its final verdict.

    Ambareesh announced in Bangalore yesterday that he had sent his resignation both to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as well as Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, and also sent a copy to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

    However, his resignation was rejected Chatterjee on technical grounds. The Speaker’s office contended that Ambareesh had faxed the resignation, which was not the acceptable method of putting in papers, even as his fans also urged him to withdraw the resignation.

    Ambareesh announced the resignation following pressure by people in his constituency Mandya when he was gheraoed by lawyers when he came to participate in a function in the Karnataka High Court here to release a special cover and cancellation of the Postal department to commemorate the golden jubilee of the High Court.

    Holding that the Tribunal had caused “injustice” to the southern state, he complimented the lawyers for taking up the cause of the state. Congress circles in the state were caught complete unawares by his move.

    Karnataka had been witnessing widespread protests after the 5 February Tribunal award, which directed Karnataka to release 192 tmc ft of water to Tamil Nadu, pegging the state’s requirement at 270 tmc ft as against 419 tmc ft of the lower riparian state.

    The star, who was elected from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency for a third time in 2004, had led a procession of cine artistes against the award in the city yesterday.

    Meanwhile, G Made Gowda, president of the Cauvery Hitarakshana Horata Samiti, which is spearheading the agitation on the water sharing issue, termed the resignation of Ambareesh as a hasty decision and said the star should continue as a minister and fight for the water rights of the state.

  • Veteran ballet dancer, eminent medico join Prasar Bharati board

    Veteran ballet dancer, eminent medico join Prasar Bharati board

    NEW DELHI: Veteran ballet dancer Mamata Shankar, renowned cardiac surgeon Sunil Kapoor and senior journalist George Verghese have been appointed members of the Prasar Bharati Board with immediate effect.

    The new appointees are part of the six part-time members provided for under the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990 which was brought into force from September 1997.

    Chaired by senior media expert MV Kamath and executive member BS Lalli, the board includes Chitra Mudgal and Bhupen Hazarika as part-time members.

    Verghese, who has been working with news agency United News of India for the last 35 years, will be on the board for five years.

  • Hearings continue in Trai rulings validity case

    Hearings continue in Trai rulings validity case

    NEW DELHI: The hearing on the constitutional aspects of the ongoing case on whether Trai can at all fix tariffs for pay channels continued today.

    Set Discovery counsel Afpi Chinay argued that there is no law in the country that allows the operations of broadcasters to be regulated. Chinay said that neither the Telecom Regulatory Authority of Indian act nor the Cable TV act has any provision for regulating the content providers, and the orders fixing tariff were thus automatically against the laws.

    This is a case of violation of freedom or speech and expression under Article 19 1 A of the Constitution, Chinay said. He challenged the proviso to section 21 K of the Trai act which originally said that the government could at a later date include any other service under the head of ‘telecom services’ but that would not include the broadcasters. He said that the amendment of the Act in 2000 gave the Trai the powers to regulate, but this did not apply to them as they were neither licensees nor service providers under the meaning of the Act.

    Chinay also challenged the Rules as amended on July 31, 2006, which gave the government the power to regulate and fix tariff.

    Chinay held that the Cable TV Act does not have this provision, and it says that though the government could control prices of the ‘basic tier’ only, that is, the free-to-air channels, it could not do the same for the pay channels.

    Chinay held that the rules cannot take over the Act under which they exist, hence the fixing of tariff under such rules were not acceptable.

    The hearing is to continue tomorrow. The original case had been filed by Star in 2005 and later, Sony joined issue, filing a separate appeal in 2006. The HC is hearing the range of cases under this new petition (No. 16913 of 2006), which is now being treated as the main petition.

    The contention of the broadcasters is that Trai or Cable TV act does not have regulatory powers whatever, so far as the pay channels are concerned, hence any order issued on this by Trai stands automatically struck down. Earlier, Soli Sorabjee had appeared for Sony and had placed his preliminary argument.

  • Prasar Bharati moves Delhi HC against deferred live telecast

    Prasar Bharati moves Delhi HC against deferred live telecast

    NEW DELHI: A day after terrestrial broadcaster Doordarshan was granted “deferred live” telecast rights to the ongoing cricket series between India and the West Indies, Prasar Bharati approached the Delhi High Court again on the matter.

    A two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court has listed for tomorrow arguments in the appeal filed by the pubcaster against the order yesterday by a single-judge directing Nimbus, the rights holder for BCCI organized cricket events in India, to give the feed to Doordarshan with a seven-minute time lag.

    Prasar Bharati sources told Indiantelevision.com that the pubcaster’s appeal was based on the validity of the Uplink-Downlink Guidelines issued in November 2005 that perforce allows DD to get the telecast feed. The pubcaster’s argument is that the guidelines are clear that the live feed should be given to both Doordarshan and AIR and that there is “no provision (in the guidelines) for a deferred telecast.”

    Prasar Bharati has contended that viewers in the country cannot be divided into two segments and that there has to be equitable distribution of signals for all viewers, irrespective of whether they are linked to DTH, cable or non cable homes.

  • Nimbus-DD talks fail, I&B may issue ordinance

    Nimbus-DD talks fail, I&B may issue ordinance

    NEW DELHI: The information and broadcasting ministry is likely to issue an ordinance by the end of the week, making it mandatory for Neo Sports to share its cricket telecast feed with Prasar Bharati.

    Ministry sources told Indiantelevision.com that as the minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was not in Delhi, deliberations on drafting an ordinance can only commence on Tuesday.

    If an ordinance is finalized, it will be sent to the law ministry for clearance and only then referred to the union cabinet for approval. As this process is unlikely to be complete by Thursday when the cabinet meets, a special meeting may be held later to clear the ordinance.

    Negotiations had earlier broken down with Nimbus which owns Neo Sports when the private channel insisted that Doordarshan should either encrypt the channel or show the matches as a deferred telecast. After almost three days of negotiations, Prasar Bharati officials said the conditions set by Nimbus was not in conformity with the uplinking/downlinking guidelines issued by the government.

  • TDSAT adjourns Tata Sky vs Zee case

    TDSAT adjourns Tata Sky vs Zee case

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal on Friday adjourned the hearing in the appeal by Tata Sky against Zee Turner’s demand for carrying all the channels they have on offer.

    The case, which relates also to the technical issue of transponder constraint, has been adjourned till 9 February, as the counsel for Zee Turner contested the contention of Tata Sky that the regulations of Trai did not have a “must carry” provison., but just a “must provide” provision.

    The Zee Turner counsel said that there exist two specific Trai-issued documents that could be placed in the court right away, or later, as the court thought fit, which show that Trai regulations carry a “must carry” provision. The court finally fixed 9 February as the date for filing those documents with a note from the Zee counsel.

    Reading out the affidavit to seek to prove his point, the Tata Sky counsel said that Trai had made four points in the affidavit: first, that it was considering the issue and consultative paper would be issued, without fixing a timeframe for that; secondly, that the affidavit does say that there are capacity constraints on the transponders; thirdly, that DTH is at par with the cable operations, being an addressable system; and finally, that Trai says its regulations did have a “must provide”, but not a “must carry” provision.

    Tata Sky’s argument was that since the regulations did not enforce any “must carry” provision, the DTH operator was not bound to carry all the channels provided as package/s by a broadcaster.

    To this, however, the Zee counsel asserted that there were two earlier documents by Trai that specifically assert a “must carry” provision, and these could be produced in the court.
    Part of the dispute between Tata Sky and Zee Turner rests on the fact that the latter has been insisting that the DTH operator carry all its channels and could not “pick and chose” from them.

    The former had argued that the transponder constraint does not allow them to run each and every channel from a broadcaster they take signals from.

    In this context, in the earlier hearing on 2 January, Tdsat had asked Trai to look into the transponder issue as well as other issues. Trai has said today that transponder constraint is a reality.

    On this, Tata Sky today pleaded that since Trai was considering issuing a consultation paper, and yet, not fixed a date for that, Tdsat may ask Trai to fix a date and issue an interim order to that effect.

    However, the proceedings took a different turn with the Zee Turner counsel bringing up the issue of Trai documents mandating a “must carry” provision.

  • Trai slashes Nimbus bouquet price by Rs 21.25

    Trai slashes Nimbus bouquet price by Rs 21.25

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed Nimbus Sports Broadcast Pvt Ltd to reduce the price of its two channels by Rs 21.25 to Rs 37.25. Nimbus had priced the bouquet at Rs 58.50.

    The regulator has asked Nimbus to furnish a report of compliance within seven days from the date of receipt of this direction. The directive was issued yesterday.

    Reacting to the decision, Nimbus officials have told Indiantelevision.com that they would be filing a challenge to Trai’s directive before the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

    Trai ordered this in relation to a complaint filed by Cable Operators’ Federation of India, after reviewing the prices charged by other broadcasters in the the same genre, that is, sport.

    In the Cas (Conditional access system) areas, Nimbus will have to stick to Trai’s tariff order where a la carte channels can be priced at a maximum of Rs 5.

    A clearly jubilant Cable Operators’ Federation of India president Roop Sharma told Indiantelevision.com that “this was a great decision as customers were being fleeced.”

    Trai has held that the decision was based on Clause 3 of its principal Tariff Order relating to charges, and said that Nimbus’ contentions were irrelevant especially because review of the prices charged by channels of the same genre showed that these are much less.

    Nimbus had argued that the prices for its two channels, Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus, were higher than those of other sports channels because their content, composition and structure were different than such other rival sports channels.

    Trai in its decision observed that clause 3 of the principal Tariff Order specifies that the charges, excluding taxes, payable by (a) Cable subscribers to cable operator; (b) Cable Operators to multi system operators / broadcasters (including their authorised distribution agencies); and (c) Multi System operators to broadcasters(including their authorised distribution agencies) prevalent as on the 26th December 2003 shall be the ceiling with respect to both free-to-air and pay channels.

    Tra said that basically, channels of the same genre are required to charge the same price and this is a reasonable basic for fixing of prices.

    But the “thrust of the arguments of Nimbus does not bring out facts, which would justify a higher price being charged by them for its said sports channels as compared with other similar channels of the same genre”, Trai observed.

    The regulator compared the prices charged by Star Sports and ESPN and said that after due consideration, it has decided that Nimbus would have to slash the rate by Rs 21.25.

    Trai said that the argument that the prices charged were based on composition, content and structure of a sports channel did not hold ground.

    “Being business decisions, these may undergo a change in view of changing perception of the market and other perceptions, and such changes will not have a bearing on deciding the similarity of channels, as required under clause 3B, so long as the genre of the channel does not get altered on account of such changes,” Trai said.

    Trai observed that even in the case of Nimbus’ own two channels, Neo Sports and Neo Sports Plus, which were different in their respective compositions, contents and structures “both the said sports channels are having the same price”.

    “This shows that the broadcaster has not resorted to differential pricing even where composition, content and structure are different,” Trai observed.

    Commenting on the Trai directive WWIL senior executive vice president Arvind Mohanl said, “This is a seminal order and will go a long way to ease the burden on consumers.”