ITV

Category: Technology

  • Stay on cable TV digitisation in Chennai no longer applicable

    Stay on cable TV digitisation in Chennai no longer applicable

    MUMBAI: The process of complete switchover to digital delivery of television channels in Chennai is now likely to begin with the Madras High Court stay on government‘s notification on digitisation no longer applicable.

    The two-member bench of Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice Aruna Jagadeesan, while postponing the hearing on a petition against digitisation by four weeks on Thursday, had declined to extend the stay on the government‘s mandate to digitise cable TV.

    "Theoretically, Chennai will have blackout of analogue signals on cable networks. But with the Jayalalithaa state government not in support of complete switchover to digital at this stage, it will be difficult to implement disgitisation. Though broadcasters have switched off analogue signals of several channels, the only way Chennai can get completely digitised now is if Sun TV, the most popular channel in the state, decides to blackout its flagship Tamil general entertainment channel," says an industry executive on condition of anonymity.

    On the suggestion by the bench, the Chennai Metro Cable Operators‘ Association (CMCOA) has filed a revised petition challenging the government‘s notification on digitisation. It had earlier only sought extension of the digitisation deadline. The Tamil Nadu Cable TV Owners Association (TANCUS) too has filed a plea against the digitisation notification.

    The government had set 1 November for switchover to digital delivery of television channels in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. Cable TV systems in Mumbai and Delhi have almost entirely switched over to digital but in Kolkata a large section of cable TV households are still receiving analogue signals.

    The Madras High Court had on 31 October stayed digitisation in Chennai till 5 November. It thereafter extended the deadline till 9 November and later till 19 November. The judges hearing the case are now new and on Thursday did not grant extension to the stay on digitisation.

    The government claimed on 1 November that Chennai has over 1 million TV households and 63 per cent of them had installed set-top boxes (STBs) needed for digital reception of television channels.

    The largest multi-system operator (MSO), Tamil Nadu government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation, does not have the STBs to install in homes of customers of cable operators. It has said it requires one million STBs but has so far placed an order for 0.2 million STBs from Pune-based Sterlite Technologies.

  • InMobi introduces Lifetime Value Platform

    InMobi introduces Lifetime Value Platform

    MUMBAI: Bangalore-based InMobi, an independent mobile ad network, has announced the private beta launch of InMobi Lifetime Value Platform (LTVP).

    The platform aims to help publishers and app developers to understand and engage their users better, thus ultimately increase revenues. It is a free-to-use platform.

    It works by identifying different in-app user groups and providing deep behaviour insight to the premium publisher or app developer. The app publisher using the InMobi platform then has the ability to rapidly modify the app’s behavior for each user segment without having to resubmit the app for approval.

    The InMobi LTVP takes a three-step approach – Insights (Gain advanced user insights across app usage, user engagement, in-app revenues, and other behaviors within the app), Segments (Define granular user segments based on behavioral attributes such as monetary value of the purchase, time spent inside the app, number of app launches, or other custom events unique to the app) and Actions (Deliver rich in-app messages and modify app behavior at a segment level using targeted actions such as selling unique virtual goods, displaying highly customised ads, rewarding power users, or cross promoting other apps).

    InMobi VP of product management Chandrashekhar Vattikuti said, "Successful app publishers understand that real value is achieved through user engagement and loyalty. We noticed a need for a platform that helps app developers and premium publishers gain detailed insights into user behavior and deliver targeted actions in real-time."

    "Early feedback has been very positive and we’re seeing that there are very clear benefits to the app developer and premium publisher community," he added.

  • Sony DADC ropes in Rajat Kakar as biz head

    Sony DADC ropes in Rajat Kakar as biz head

    MUMBAI: The home entertainment services division of Sony DADC has appointed Rajat Kakar as business head.

    Kakar will head the newest division at Sony DADC and is looking to challenge the conventional norms of the home video business.

    Kakar brings to the Sony portfolio 25 years of experience in the field of marketing and business development. He started his career in 1987 with Asian Paints and has since played significant marketing and management roles with players in the market like Procter & Gamble in diverse sales and marketing capacities in the early days of Global MNC‘s foray into India. After P&G he moved to Sony Music where he was part of the start-up team.

    Later, as the managing director at Universal Music, Kakar led the India operations for nearly a decade and was a key factor in transforming the company to embrace the challenges of the emerging environment in areas such as digital, artist management and merchandising. This was done with the endeavour to make Universal Music India a complete 360 degree media company.

    Sony DADC International EVP Chris Reiser said, "We are delighted to welcome such an experienced person as Rajat on board. With his comprehensive understanding of publisher needs and the retail landscape, he will play a major role in Sony DADC‘s move towards becoming an end to end supply chain service company."

    Kakar said, "I am more than excited to join this team and delighted to be mandated with setting up a state-of-the-art, sales, marketing and distribution entity which will maximize sales growth for the international studios as well as for local content holders."

  • Bindass to telecast ‘Big Switch Season 4’ from 13 January

    Bindass to telecast ‘Big Switch Season 4’ from 13 January

    MUMBAI: Youth entertainment channel Bindass is bringing back its popular property ‘Big Switch‘.


    The fourth season of the reality show will launch on 13 January. The airing time of the reality show, however, has yet not been finalised.


    Big Switch Season 4 will be hosted by actor Gaurav Chopra.


    The show will see participation of a certain number of youngsters who get a chance to reform themselves and make themselves worthy of the luxuries without their parents‘ money.


    The contestants would have to survive in a house and be responsible for working and earning a living by doing various tasks.


    The channel is expected to bring some changes in the format to make it tougher for the contestants.

  • Twitter partners with Komli Media

    Twitter partners with Komli Media

    MUMBAI: Digital media technology platform Komli Media has signed a partnership agreement with Twitter for Southeast Asia.

    The partnership aims to expand the availability of Twitter’s Promoted Products suite of advertising products to marketers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

    Under the partnership, Komli will manage all Southeast Asia sales of Twitter. It will also help develop the regional market for Twitter and its Promoted Products through education and training programs for agencies and advertisers.

    Komli Engage sales team specialising in Twitter’s advertising products will be offering advertising solutions including promoted tweets, promoted accounts, and promoted trends which are currently available to marketers in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Latin America.

    Twitter vice president of international revenue Shailesh Rao said, “We‘re really excited to be working with Komli as we enter into Southeast Asia, which is one of Twitter’s fastest-growing markets. We are seeing significant interest from marketers who want to use our Promoted Products to build their businesses and connect with consumers, and working with Komli, and its management team, gives Twitter a strong partner with a footprint throughout the region."

    Komli Media VP International and managing director – SEA Akshay Garg said, “We are really excited to partner with Twitter. Together, we will offer marketers new and relevant opportunities to engage audiences in SEA and drive brand value. Social media growth in this region is among the highest in the world, and Twitter is one of the most recognized and utilized platforms in our region.”

  • Vedanta-owned Sterlite bags order to provide STBs to Arasu Cable

    Vedanta-owned Sterlite bags order to provide STBs to Arasu Cable

    MUMBAI: Pune-based Sterlite Technologies has got the order for supplying two lakh set-top boxes to Tamil Nadu government-owned Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (ACTCL), according to a top executive.

    Sterlite Technologies, a leading global provider of transmission solutions for the power and telecom industries, is part of the Vedanta Group which has interests in aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, silver, iron ore, oil and gas and power.

    ACTCL had floated a global tender for the process of procuring STBs which also saw the participation of Wipro and Shaf Broadcast among others.
    The multi-system operator (MSO), which is yet to receive a DAS licence, needs one million STBs for digitisation.

    "Sterlite Technologies has got the contract for supplying two lakh boxes. We had advertised for one million boxes," ACTCL managing director D Vivekanandan confirmed to Indiantelevision.com.

    Vivekanandan said that the decision whether to order more boxes from Sterlite or some other company would be taken depending upon the speed of supply.

    The state-run Arasu is expecting to receive the DAS licence, for which it had applied on 5 July, soon. "It is only about time that we will get the licence. We hope to get it soon," Vivekanandan affirmed.

    However, the I&B ministry is mulling whether state-owned cable networks should be given licence to operate.

    Vivekanandan, though, has a different take on the matter. "As of now there is no rule to bar Arasu from having a licence," he said.

    Arasu, which has a firm grip on cable distribution across Tamil Nadu, had extended its cable TV services to the metro on 20 October. ACTCL had said that it would offer 200 channels to the viewers in Chennai.

    The cable TV corporation had also placed ads in in the run up to digitisation urging people to register for STBs through an advance payment of Rs 500 per STB.

    "We have received advance payments for 30,000 boxes while LCOs have requested for about nine lakh boxes. The response has been good," Vivekanandan noted.

    Earlier, Arasu Cable had floated a tender for providing digital head-ends, STBs, encryption solutions and subscriber management system (SMS) but cancelled it because it found the costs too high.

    As per data provided by the Information and Broadcasting ministry, the digital cable penetration in Chennai with 0.7 million subscribes stands at 63 per cent.

    The implementation of digitisation has been put on hold due to a stay order from Madras High Court on a petition filed by cable operators. The case is pending in the Court and will next come up for hearing on 28 December.

  • SC asks for explanation over arrest of Facebook users

    SC asks for explanation over arrest of Facebook users

    MUMBAI: The arrest of two girls over Facebook posts following Bal Thackeray‘s death raised a hue and cry. Now the Supreme Court has asked the government to explain why the girls were arrested.

    The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Union government and Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi and Puducherry.
    An aspiring Delhi University law student Shreya Singhal filed a PIL before SC stating that Section 66(A) of the IT Act be modified.

    The court has asked Maharashtra to explain the arrest of the girls over Facebook comments on Bal Thackeray.

    The Attorney General, in his response to the petition, told the apex court that the arrest of the girls was unjustified. The Attorney General said the arrests were wrong, but Section 66(A) of the IT Act need not be scrapped.

  • Casbaa launches online directory of digital content in Singapore

    Casbaa launches online directory of digital content in Singapore

    MUMBAI: Casbaa and international media and technology law firm Olswang have launched Singapore‘s first online directory of digital content available from legitimate sources. The pilot directory is available to all at finddigitaltv.com and allows users to search for content by genre, device or just search for content that is free.

    The directory is being launched in tandem with "Digital, Legal and Anywhere – TV in Singapore Today", a new report showcasing the varied and abundant audio-visual content available through non-traditional media platforms and delivery mechanisms in Singapore.

    In the course of researching the report, Olswang found that the offerings were far more prolific and advanced than many were aware. A key problem, however, appeared to be consumer awareness of this, and the directory is therefore hoped to be a first step towards addressing this problem.

    Olswang partner Elle Todd said, "We hope that Singaporean consumers will be pleasantly surprised at the variety and richness of legitimate services that are now available".

    The report observes that multi-screen, multi-platform offerings of legitimate programming are rapidly multiplying in the city-state. The vast majority are coming from established content providers and pay-TV platforms such as StarHub and SingTel‘s mio TV – sometimes separately and sometimes in partnership – while options not connected with existing players are still few. The other good news for consumers is that 44 per cent of the offerings covered in the report and which appear in the directory are available free of charge.

    Casbaa chief policy officer John Medeiros said, "Viewers are increasingly consuming TV content in new and non-traditional ways prompted by increasing technology ownership and the proliferation of internet connected devices. Singapore‘s combination of high broadband connectivity, affluence and multi-lingual population creates a particularly ripe environment for such new content choices."

    But the report notes that while Singapore offers great opportunities as a market for such services, this growth and response to consumer demand comes with its own set of challenges.

    The main challenge is the prevalence of Singaporean consumers using illegitimate video services. Although Singapore has a small population, it has the highest per capita incidence of peer-to-peer infringement of English-language TV shows in the Asia-Pacific region. Such piracy makes it difficult for new content players to enter the market, and for existing players to justify investments in new platforms.

    Another issue is the regulatory ‘tilted playing field‘ which favours foreign and illegitimate offerings over domestic options. In particular, domestic providers need to comply with various censorship rules which mean that, even when consumers can obtain the same content at the same time from Singapore-based providers, they are choosing to access uncut versions through other sources.

  • HC postpones digitisation hearing by 4 weeks

    HC postpones digitisation hearing by 4 weeks

    MUMBAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday postponed hearing on a petition by Chennai Metro Cable Operators‘ Association (CMCOA) by another four weeks, keeping the cable TV industry guessing about the fate of government mandated digitisation process in Chennai.

    CMCOA had last week filed a fresh petition challenging the government notification of Cable Television Networks Rules, 2012 that paved the way for digitisation of the cable TV services.

    Earlier, the two-member bench of Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Aruna Jagadeesan had adjourned the matter till Thursday following requests by petitioners as well respondents for more time.

    There are 18 respondents in the petition which include the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the Multi System Operators (MSOs) from Chennai.

    The CMCOA had earlier filed a petition seeking postponement of cable digitisation in Chennai by at least three months following which the DAS implementation was stayed by the Court.

    The cable operators argue that if digitisation is allowed to roll-out, it will create chaos since the MSOs don‘t have enough STBs. According to CMCOA, there are an estimated 4 million homes in Chennai metropolitan region.

    The deadline for the first phase of digitisation in the four metro cities was 1 November. Digitisation has taken effect in the other three metros of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. The Madras High Court had on 31 October stayed the digitisation in Chennai till 5 November. The Court again extended the deadline till 9 November following which it was put off till 19 November.

    According to the I&B Ministry, 63 per cent television households in Chennai have been digitized, a claim the local cable operators have disputed.

  • Kerala cable operators resume Asianet channels

    Kerala cable operators resume Asianet channels

    BANGALORE: The recent deadlock between the Cable Operators Association (COA) Kerala and Media Pro over the Asianet bouquet in Kerala has been resolved with the former agreeing to clear the outstanding amount.

    “The ongoing deadlock between the Kerala cable Operators and Asianet has been successfully resolved. At a meeting conducted in Trivandrum on Saturday with Kerala Cable operators, the issue was discussed in detail and understandings between the parties concerned were reached. All the channels of Asianet have been activated,” said Asianet business head John Brittas.

    Earlier this month, Asianet signals had been stopped due to differences between Media Pro and the Kerala Cable Operators over subscription charges. The cable operators contended Media Pro was charging far more than the reasonable decided subscription fees.

    During mid-2012 too, cable operators under MCOA (Media and Cable Operators Association) in Kerala had contended that the Trai website showed Asianet Plus as a FTA channel and had not paid any subscription charges for over 18 months, Media Pro claimed at that time.

    The current spat seems to be a spillover from the earlier issue, except that Media Pro now claims that a number of cable operators have not paid subscription dues for about 12 months.