Category: Technology

MUMBAI: Chinese Pay-Per-View (PPV) and Video On Demand (VOD) platform You On Demand has entered into a licensing agreement with NBCUniversal International Television Distribution for the Video On Demand rights in China to a selection of current, library and upcoming NBCUniversal feature films.

The titles will be available to subscribers on both You On Demand‘s Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD) and Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) platforms.

You On Demand‘s customers will now have access to many of NBCUniversal‘s recent hits that star some of Hollywood‘s most notable names. These include ‘Despicable Me‘, ‘It‘s Complicated‘, ‘Wanted‘, ‘Couples Retreat‘ and ‘The Five Year Engagement‘.

You On Demand chairman, CEO Shane McMahon said, “NBCUniversal‘s diverse and quality films demonstrate You On Demand‘s commitment to delivering the best premium content to our customers. We are excited to have NBCUniversal‘s titles appear on the You On Demand platforms.”

MUMBAI: SES‘ subsidiary SES Platform Services has signed a multi-year contract with global television network Fashion One to broadcast the free-to-air channel in SD at the orbital position of 19.2 degrees East starting 15 October.

Broadcasting the latest in fashion, entertainment, lifestyle news, profiles of A-list celebrities, luxury brands, holiday destinations and red carpet events, Fashion One delivers a strong line-up of original programming of reality shows, documentaries, beauty tips and street styles in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

The global fashion and entertainment television network has been utilising SES capacity at the ASTRA 19.2 degrees East orbital position and will now contract the required capacity directly from SES.

With its technical facilities in Munich, SES Platform Services is well-positioned to provide turnkey broadcast services into Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa and accommodate Fashion One‘s ambitions to further expand their operations globally.

Fashion One CEO Ashley Jordan said,”We are pleased to work with SES‘ broadcasting solution and provide additional access to our viewers in Europe. Following our recent milestone of launching our recent European headquarters in Antwerp, the 19.2 degrees East orbital position will allow us to further expand with a potential reach of 110 million television households in Europe.”

SES Platform Services CEO Wilfried Urner said, “Riding on the success we have achieved in important emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and Africa, we have expanded to focus on Asia as well, and therefore welcome the opportunity to facilitate Fashion One‘s broadcasting activities across Europe. We look forward to this new partnership with Fashion One and in supporting their global aspirations.”

Fashion One is also being broadcast via the ASTRA 5 degrees East orbital position.

New transponder parameters:
Service: Fashion One, ServiceID: 4707 (0x1263)
Satellite: ASTRA 1KR, 19,2 degrees East
Transponder: 1.015
Frequency: 11420,75Mhz (horizontal polarisation)
Modulation: DVB-S, QPSK FEC 5/6

MUMBAI: BSkyB-owned pay-TV broadcaster Sky Movies has strengthened its content offering by reaching an agreement with Warner Bros to deliver its customers exclusive access to all eight Harry Potter movies from next month.

The agreement means that Sky Movies will be the only place this Christmas where film fans will be able to enjoy the most successful movie franchise in box office history, from Harry’s first outing in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to his final, epic battle with Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.

During the three months that they are showing on Sky Movies, none of the Harry Potter movies will be available on any other UK TV channel or streaming service. All eight movies will be available in HD, with each film shown ad-free and uncut.

Sky Movies customers will be able to watch all the Harry Potter films when they want on their Sky+HD box through Sky’s On Demand service. Customers will also be able to take all eight films with them while they are on the move, watching the movies on a range of internet-connected devices including iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones through Sky’s award-winning multiplatform TV service Sky Go. The last film in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, will additionally be showing on Sky 3D.
The entire Harry Potter collection of movies will also be available via the Sky Movies monthly pass on NOW TV, the internet TV service powered by Sky which offers easy and flexible access to Sky Movies across a range of internet-connected devices.

The announcement is in addition to a multi-year agreement between Warner Bros.’ and Sky unveiled last month that will see Sky Movies become the first subscription service in the UK to show current Warner Bros.’ movies such as The Dark Knight Rises, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Dark Shadows and Wrath of the Titans, as well future releases including as Man of Steel, The Hangover Part III and The Great Gatsby.

Sky Movies Director Ian Lewis said, “We’re delighted to be extending our partnership with Warner Bros to deliver Sky Movies customers exclusive access to the entire Harry Potter collection, which will not be available on any other TV channel or streaming service this Christmas. To make it even better, Sky Movies customers can also enjoy the entire series of films on demand through their Sky+HD box, or watch them while they are on the move via their smartphone or mobile tablet.”

Warner Bros. UK, Ireland and Spain President & Managing Director Josh Berger CBE said, “The Harry Potter film franchise is a uniquely British success story, one that was conceived and produced here in the UK with a largely British cast and crew and beloved by millions of people around the world. For the first time ever, Sky Movies customers can look forward to enjoying all of the movies in this record-breaking series in one place at one time.”

NEW DELHI: Cable TV operators in Delhi have told Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Ambika Soni that the ministry’s figures on deployment of set top boxes (STBs) in the four metros are way off the mark.

The cable operators said the ministry had failed to take into account homes with more than one television connection.

In a meeting called by Soni on Monday, the operators said homes with multi TV connections generally had only one set top box which served all the TV sets under the analogue system, but this would not be possible after 31 October when the digital addressable system comes into place.

Analogue delivery of cable television will be shut from 1 November as the government has mandated compulsory switchover to digital delivery.

Although LCOs from all the metros were invited for the meeting with the minister, only some operators from Delhi attended it.

The LCOs told the minister that they wanted police protection as they feared law and order problems after 31 October. The cable operators also informed the minister that all black and white TV sets, and many colour TV sets were not enabled to support DAS.

The operators also said many far-flung areas in the capital still did not have the digital feed, and could only take analogue feed.

The cable operators led by A S Kohli of West Delhi Cable Operators Association said there was a scheme under which direct to home (DTH) operators charged less for every additional connection in the same home, and said such a scheme should also be made applicable in cable homes to encourage people to take STBs for multi-TV homes.

Meanwhile, the Cable Operators Federation of India President Roop Sharma, who is a member of the ministry’s Task Force on DAS, has told the Chairman of the Task Force in a letter that many MSOs do not have channels from all the broadcasters in their packages and therefore, consumers will face problems in getting their favourite channels even after paying for digital STBs.

For example, she said DEN does not have any channel from Indiacast (Viacom 18 and Sun), while Digicable has no Star, Zee or Sports channels. Incablenet has not specified the channels it is offering. Only Hathway has all the popular channels in its packages.

She has also pointed out that none of the MSOs have given the a la carte rates of channels to enable selection of individual channels.

MUMBAI: Sundance Channel and WE tv have secured expanded carriage in Taiwan with CNS, which launched both networks in high definition on 10 October as part of its growing IPTV service.

CNS customers may access the 24/7 linear channels in high definition, with Mandarin subtitles. Sundance Channel is available on Channel 323 and WE tv is available on Channel 314 on CNS.

AMC/Sundance Channel Global President Bruce Tuchman stated, “Today‘s news marks the continued Asian expansion for Sundance Channel and WE tv in Asia and Taiwan continues to be a significant market and a crucial part of our international growth strategy for both these networks. We‘re thrilled to launch on CNS and look forward to sharing our hit content with Taiwanese audiences.”

The company also announced the hiring of Keith Mak who will oversee affiliate distribution and marketing for Sundance Channel and WE tv in Asia. Based out of Hong Kong, Mak will report to AMC/Sundance Channel Global Executive Vice President, Global Distribution Ed Palluth.

“Keith has a tremendous amount of experience and a proven track record of expanding and developing television brands in Asia. He comes to us equipped with robust knowledge of the Asian TV market and has strong relationships throughout the region,” stated Ed Palluth.

“Keith joins AMC/Sundance Channel Global at a critical moment when we are expanding rapidly and are experiencing great momentum. We are thrilled to have him on board and are confident that he will make a strong impact on the growth of Sundance Channel and WE tv in Asia.”

MUMBAI: Only Much Louder, the organiser of music festival NH7, has launched a mobile festival guide app called ‘Festivapp’. It is currently available as a free download on the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.

The app allows one to discover a cultural, literary, music or film festival/event in India and attend them.

Only Much Louder CEO and founder Vijay Nair said, “Music should be given away for free, and bands and artists should earn through events and live shows, and that the revenue earned from music sales can be matched with a few concerts.”
 
The app includes a festival wall which offers a stream of updates being posted from that specific event. These updates include organiser announcements, updates from their friends, and event related updates syndicated from social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram. The wall also features a pull-to-refresh feature and has a countdown clock that counts down to the start of the festival in days, hours and minutes.

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has announced their exclusive partnership with WhatsApp in India.

Through this partnership Reliance Communications has launched “first-of-its-kind” prepaid plan ‘WhatsApp Plan‘ for all Reliance GSM subscribers and ‘My College Plan‘ for students across the country.

Reliance GSM customers can now enjoy unlimited usage of WhatsApp and Facebook across the country at Rs 16 per month.

Facebook is bundled complimentary in this pack for a limited period and hence a customer use of WhatsApp and Facebook is absolutely free on the Reliance network. “WhatsApp Plan” is available with a validity period of 30 Days from the date of recharge and the plan is auto-renewed every 30 days unless unsubscribed.

“My College Plan” by RComm offers unlimited social media access of WhatsApp to all college students on the prepaid Reliance GSM network across the country for Rs 16 per month. This plan allows students to call and SMS within their specified group at just 5 paise and also permits a student to broadcast a juicy tidbit in the campus through a SMS to the entire college group for Rs 3 by texting the message to 51112.

“My College Plan” is available with a validity period of 30 Days from the date of recharge and the plan is auto-renewed every 30 days unless unsubscribed. This plan is available with SMS based recharge and applicable to most of the colleges across the country and students can get their college IDs from the official website of Reliance Communications.

Reliance Communications group head – brand and marketing Sanjay Behl said, “We are confident that ‘WhatsApp Plan‘ and ‘My College Plan‘ with unlimited usage of WhatsApp is set to provide a compelling new experience with incredible affordability to Smartphone users across the country on our superior network along with free Facebook surfing as an introductory offer for a limited period. We are hoping this offer to trigger a significant shift of youth customers using Smartphones to our superior network.”

WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton said, “With the rapid growth of Smartphones in India, we are delighted to partner with Reliance Communications. We are currently working with industry leaders across countries and this exclusive partnership will enable millions of Reliance customers to experience the most innovative way to send messages, music, pictures and videos to leverage the power of data through their smart communication devices.”

MUMBAI: Website and over-the-top (OTT) subscription service Hulu and US media conglomerate Viacom have announced an expansion of their content partnership that will bring Nickelodeon programming to the Hulu Plus service and its more than 2 million subscribers for the first time.

Hulu Plus subscribers can access five recent episodes of currently airing Nickelodeon live action and animated series, including ‘iCarly‘, ‘Big Time Rush‘, and ‘How to Rock‘, 21 days after the episodes air on television.

Subscribers can catch up on these and many other current series at a new Nickelodeon destination on Hulu Plus, which will feature tune-in information and promotional elements to drive viewership of Nickelodeon‘s on-air lineup.

Additionally, over the next few months, content from Viacom‘s bilingual network Tr3s will broaden the Hulu Latino selection of youth-focused content on Hulu Plus. Series include but are not limited to ‘Ninas Mal‘, ‘Quiero Mis Quinces‘ and ‘Quiero Mi Baby‘.

Under the agreement, Hulu and Viacom will also continue to make current and full episodes, and clips of ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart‘ and ‘The Colbert Report‘ available on the free ad-supported Hulu.com service and Hulu Plus. Hulu Plus subscribers will continue to get programming from BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Spike, TV Land and VH1, including a selection of current shows 21 days after they air and more than 1,500 episodes of archive programming. The availability of Viacom content on Hulu Plus varies on a show-by-show basis.

MUMBAI: Marred by unavailability of set-top boxes and the looming Durga Pooja festival, the West Bengal government has reiterated its demand of extending the deadline for digitisation of cable television.

West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firad Hakim accused the central government of pressurising the state government on the issue of digitisation and cautioned that there could be law and order problem in the state if the government sticks to digitisation deadline.

“The Centre, which put pressure on us to accept the decision on FDI in multi-brand retail trade, is now mounting pressure on us regarding the digitisation issue,” Hakim said.

According to Hakim, the state government had on 29 September written to the centre urging it to have a relook at the digitisation deadline. However, the central government is yet to respond to the letter.
“There could be law and order problem. But the Centre has not yet responded to our letter. The chief secretary will contact the Centre again on the issue,” he added.

It needs to be noted here that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Bannerjee had in her rally in New Delhi termed the government anti-poor for burdening them with an unnecessary cost of set-top boxes (STBs).

The state government has been pushing for extension in deadline since many MSOs are not ready due to unavailability of STBs and the festive season when a lot of people in the city go on holiday to their native place to celebrate Durga Pooja.

It is the festive season that also has the MSOs worried since they will also face a shortfall of manpower for installing STBs.

Siti Cable Kolkata Director Suresh Sethia, however, asserted that the MSO was fully geared up for digitisation. He also said that the industry has factored in 10-15 days of crisis period post digitisation.

Sethia, though, expressed solidarity with the state government saying that it was concerned about the fallout of digitisation process in case a large number of homes go dark and the festive season when the deployment of STBs is expected to slow down.

“The state government had recently held a meeting with the MSOs and LCOs wherein we discussed the situation in Kolkata. We will get a clear picture in the next few days when the state government officials meet with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” Sethia said.

Sethia also said that the state government needs to come up with a clear time frame when it expects to complete the digitisation process if it gets extended.

A senior executive from a leading MSO said that the state government is not willing to take any chances since it will lead to law and order problems. The official said that the state government has done its own which reveals that only 30-35 per cent of homes have been digitised.

This is a far cry from what the MIB recently stated that 73 per cent homes in Kolkata have been digitised.

“The set-top boxes are not available since there is problem of delivery from China. Many MSOs have booked STBs but are waiting for 2-3 months for the delivery. The government should have created domestic manufacturing units for supply of STBs to avoid this situation,” the executive said.

He also said that at least 50 per cent of people in the city go out on holidays which will mean that a lot of homes will remain locked. There would also be a shortage of manpower during Durga Puja due to exodus of workers to their hometowns.

NEW DELHI: A technical expert body should be set up or the mandate and infrastructure of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India should be widened for handling the issues of technological nature with the regard to the cable television industry in the country, according to a Parliamentary Committee.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology said in a recent report that the Secretary in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had himself apprised the Committee about the constraints being faced in handling the issues of technological nature. The Secretary had acknowledged the need to set up Expert Bodies to ‘really advise and guide the Ministry on the matter’.

The Committee observed that with multiple transformations all over the world in the technologies available in the media and entertainment sector, there is an urgent need to have expertise to assist and advise the Ministry in handling the issues related to emerging technologies.

In a report for examining the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) (Second Amendment) aimed at checking telecast of illegal channels, the committee also strongly recommended that there is an urgent need to have some structured mechanism to have inter-Ministerial consultations and coordination between the various Ministries/Agencies dealing with technological issues related to media transmission.

The proposed amendment to the cable act seeks to check transmission of illegal channels by cable operators in spite of various measures taken within the ambit of the extant law to stop carriage of these illegal channels. The amendment aims to make the provisions more stringent and also to enhance the punishment, in order to have the necessary deterrent effect.

The Committee noted that the administrative Ministry for legislative framework with regard to Internet is the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, while the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is the nodal Ministry for media.

Internet plays an important role and in the context of the present legislation one of the medium for watching TV is internet, the Committee said, expressing constraint that ‘there is no mechanism to have inter-Ministerial coordination between the various related Ministries – the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, the Department of Telecommunications etc.

The Committee also said there is urgent need to involve the consumer/subscriber in the whole process of implementation of the provisions made under the Cable Act. The involvement of the elected representatives would also address the constraints being faced in implementation of the provisions made under the Cable Act.

There was an urgent need to create awareness about the provisions made in the Cable Act that prohibit the cable operator to show the illegal channels.

Noting that information relating to registered channels is available on the website of the Ministry, the Committee said it may be difficult for agencies involved as well as the public at large in view of the poor broadband connectivity in border areas.

The Committee recommended that pamphlets containing the information should be made available to the agencies involved in enforcement of the provisions of the Cable Act. For wider dissemination, the local bodies should also be supplied copies of the pamphlets and made aware about the positions in this regard.

The Committee are of the firm view that the issue of showing illegal channels by cable operators can be addressed by taking certain pro active initiatives.

The Secretary himself acknowledged that while the problem has been very real in a large number of cases, there has been reluctance on the part of local administration to act against such cable operators. In some cases, action by the local administration raised such a socio-political crisis that the action was withdrawn.

The Committee was told that individual subscribers can lodge complaints in this regard to Authorized Officer or report the matter to District/State Level Monitoring Committees.

The Committee recommended toll free helplines to help the consumers to lodge the complaint in this regard to the Authorized Officer or report to State/District Level Monitoring Committee. Besides, a National Helpline should also be set up to facilitate lodging of complaint by the individual consumer/subscriber from all over the country.