Category: Technology

MUMBAI: Decks have been cleared for implementing digitisation in the four metros within the deadline period of 31 October as the four national multi-system operators (MSOs) have announced the much awaited channel packages to sell to their cable TV subscribers.

Hathway Cable & Datacom, Den Networks, Digicable, and Zeel-owned Siti Cable (earlier WWIL) have announced the channel packages and their rates to the consumers who will need to transition to an era away from analogue cable where they were served a fixed bouquet of channels and had to pay one rate. The new prices are exclusive of taxes.

Hathway has three packages with Basic package having 135 channels for Rs 160, Medium package offering 198 channels for Rs 220 and Premium package with 242 channels for Rs 275.

Den is offering 112 channels for Rs 180 in its Pack 1 package, 219 channels for Rs 225 for its Pack 2 offering and 235 channels for Rs 270 for its Pack 3 offering.

Digicable also has three packages – Basic, Gold and Premium – the Basic package will offer 145 channels at Rs 180, while Gold package will provide 151 channels at Rs 200. The Premium package targeted at high-end consumers will have 165 channels at a cost of Rs 250.

Apart from channel packages, Digicable also announced the Basic Service Tier (BST) consisting of at least 100 channels for Rs 100 comprising the Free-to-Air channels. As part of its offering, the MSO is offering 117 channels.

WWIL is the only MSO to have four packages which includes three city specific packages. The Janta package available for WWIL consumers in all three cities has 118 channels for Rs 100, the Popular 1 (Kolkata) package with 151 channels, Popular 2 (Mumbai) package with 153 channels, and Popular 3 (Delhi) package with 142 being offered for a flat rate of Rs 150.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that consumers will also be given the option of choosing channels from a la carte list. It also revealed that the digitisation percentage in four metro cities has gone up to 73 per cent from 68 per cent.

As per the data provided by MIB, 1.47 million set-top boxes(STBs) have already been installed in Delhi as against the target of 2.47 million with a digitisation rate of 60 per cent. The digitisation progress is 70 per cent if 877,000 lakh DTH subscribers are also taken into consideration.

Delhi has shown good pace of installation of STBs in the last one month and currently about 15000 STBs are being installed per day in the city, the MIB claimed.

The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Act 2011 has made it mandatory for switch over of the existing analogue cable TV Network to Digital Addressable System (DAS) by December 2014 in the entire country in four phases.

MUMBAI: Indian geo location based research and social marketing agency, LocoBuzz, studied user engagement across the Top 100 Global Brands on Facebook and says that it has exploded some popular myths.

According to the Buzz Report, it has been noticed that big is not necessarily better.

Very few brands who have around a million fans have an engagement ratio of one per cent and above which explains that people who follow big brands don‘t necessarily interact with them regularly, thus breaking the myth that a big Fan base results in effective brand messaging. Also, talking about a page doesn‘t at all reflect active engagements between consumers and the page.

A Facebook Brand Page is now an integral part of most marketing strategies around the world, be it Automobile, Hospitality, Mobility, FMCG and, of course, Consumer Internet. However the success and impact of a brand campaign on Facebook is no longer defined by the number of people that ‘Like‘ the page, but is now gauged by how interactive the brand is with people that like the page.

A brand can be popular but it can‘t be effective on Facebook unless it engages its fans. LocoBuzz has conducted the study based on the Talking About This score available on Facebook and combining it with the engagement formula used by AllFacebook.com

The top international brands based on their high engagement scores are MTV, Disney, Youtube, Facebook and Coca Cola. The top Indian brands are Shaadi.com, Axe Angels Club, Caf?© Coffee Day, DoCoMo, MTV India, Kingfisher, FastTrack and Vodafone ZooZoo.

The study is based on data collected for the time period 4- 10 September 2012. A LocoBuzz Social Media Analytics tool was used to collate the number of likes, comments and shares that each post from each brand received over a period of seven days. This data was further used to calculate the engagement score based on the following formula provided on AllFacebook.com:

LocoBuzz head social media analysis Vidyasagar Parivelli said, “The findings are astonishing! Brands that have over a 1,000,000 strong fan-base have a much lower engagement rate than we expected.”

A lot of brands that have a good ‘Talking About This‘ score, do not have any real time engagement (likes, comments shares) on their page. What is even more surprising is that matrimonial brand Shaadi.com has the highest engagement rate in the world amongst all brands. With over 25 per cent engagement ratio on Facebook and seven per cent LocoBuzz engagement rate, it appears that this is one brand that has cracked the code. LocoBuzz adds that it was surprised to find an Indian brand leading the way.

MUMBAI: With markets, providers and consumers racing to deliver multichannel video anywhere, anytime and on any device, regulatory frameworks are not keeping up.

A new Casbaa study, A Tilted Playing Field: Asia-Pacific Pay-TV and OTT, provides a comprehensive review of the gulf between pay-TV guidelines and current over-the-top (OTT) television regulations.

The findings show governments imposing heavy burdens on traditional multichannel TV content delivery systems (cable TV, DTH, “walled garden” IPTV, etc.) which must compete with largely unregulated internet-based TV services including “catch-up” TV, live streaming, “TV Everywhere” offerings, video-on-demand streaming and user-generated uploads.

Arguably, however, the most dangerous challenge comes from providers of illegal, unauthorised offshore OTT services.

Casbaa chief policy officer John Medeiros said, “The pirate video transmission business is the most international, least law-abiding, and lowest taxpaying of any segment of the global media business.

“The pirate model is now dominating the commercial conversation. Steps must be taken to block growth of the illegitimate OTT sector – to prevent offshore pirate video operators from continuing to grow business models based on misuse and theft of the legitimate industries‘ content.”

The report draws attention to the difficult task facing traditional pay-TV operators in the face of competitive challengers – legal as well as pirate – that don‘t face the same burdens from government regulation. Across the 14 markets including India covered by the CASBAA study, most Asian jurisdictions‘ OTT services remain subject only to relatively loose regulations applied to internet services.

Governments which allow this “tilted playing field and unhealthy competitive environment to persist will see their own creative industries damaged, local broadcasters weakened, and investment in networks and content impaired,” added Marcel Fenez, Chairman of CASBAA.

There will be conversation on online piracy at the CASBAA Convention in Hong Kong on 31 October. In the panel ‘After Megaupload – Online Piracy in Asia and Beyond‘ content owners and pay-TV platforms compare notes about the problem, what it‘s doing to their respective businesses, and what might be done about it.

MUMBAI: TV viewing companion zeebox has launched in the US in partnership with Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, HBO & Cinemax.

zeebox is a universal, cross-channel TV viewing companion app for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, and the Web. This marks an important beginning, with further partners expected to be invited in due course.

The company is the brainchild of former EMI executive Ernesto Schmitt and former BBC iPlayer CTO Anthony Rose. It launched in the UK last year. zeebox enables consumers to discover what to watch by browsing comprehensive TV listings, social media and personalized recommendations.

zeebox‘s cloud-based app recognises the context of what its users are watching and enhances the viewing experience with relevant content and experiences from across the Web, TV programmers, social networks and advertisers. Viewers can engage with their favorite television personalities directly through zeebox and even buy the products they see on TV. zeebox also automatically displays more in-depth information about the programmes as viewers are watching.

Through their strategic partnerships, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal are taking the lead in the TV viewing companion app market by bringing their customers and tens of millions of viewers across hundreds of channels.

zeebox CEO, co-founder Ernesto Schmitt said,”We are proud to launch with this game-changing roster of partners who recognize the importance of fully meeting web-empowered consumer expectations. As consumers continue to flock to social media and the web to experience a program beyond what is on the screen, zeebox gives content owners and programmers a direct line of communication, feedback and engagement that has never before been possible.”

As strategic launch partners, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal are backing zeebox with investments and promotional support, and are preparing to enhance hundreds of their top TV shows on zeebox, including the likes of The Voice and Notre Dame Football. zeebox‘s revolutionary OpenBox API allows content owners to enhance their shows and channels on the zeebox app in a matter of hours, distributing exclusive content to consumers, connecting directly with fans through live interactions and social engagement, and monetizing the second screen alongside TV commercials through synchronized, targeted, relevant advertising and affiliate links.

HBO is the network partner of zeebox, bringing shows such as ‘Boardwalk Empire‘ and ‘True Blood‘ to the social discovery platform.

NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said, “We‘re excited to team with zeebox on their US launch. As the Olympics demonstrated, the second screen experience has become an increasingly important platform to engage audiences. We think the zeebox technology presents tremendous opportunities for our viewers and our advertisers”.

Comcast Cable CEO Neil Smit said, “zeebox is a really compelling second-screen companion viewing platform, and we‘re excited to join such a strong group of industry partners in its launch. Zeebox will offer a unique nationwide TV companion experience that will make viewing live TV more engaging, compelling and fun.”

HBO co-president Eric Kessler said, “Our audiences have demonstrated a clear commitment to connecting with HBO and Cinemax programming on a deeper level. Zeebox offers a unique, comprehensive platform that drives discovery, engagement and conversation around our most beloved programs and stars.”

zeebox‘s proprietary consumer research confirms that up to 70 per cent of US television viewers are interested in the unique feature set that Zeebox provides. In the past year, the market for second-screen TV apps has been evolving rapidly but remains highly fragmented. Consumers today are using different apps and web services for discovery, social engagement and interactivity. zeebox brings all these features together in a single app that drives increased viewership of programming by making the live TV experience even more compelling.

zeebox launches with features including:

– A seven-day TV program guide across all major US TV channels, enabling the configuration of customized channel line ups and booking of future TV show reminders

– Integration with Facebook and Twitter to enable social discovery of TV content, and engagement with friends and celebrities across live TV

– Information about shows, talent, topics and products mentioned on TV – synchronized second by second with the live show

– Ecommerce links to relevant digital and physical products related to shows and the content of shows, with direct links to VOD content to come in the near future

– Optimised for the new iPhone 5, four-inch Retina display and on iOS 6 including Smart App downloads within zeebox and Facebook single sign on.

MUMBAI: The US cable TV Multiple System Operators (MSOs) may generate over $7 billion in revenues in 2012 providing telecommunications services to businesses.

But they will be chasing a declining business in telecom services segment and face fierce competition from entrenched telco providers with deep pockets ready to staunchly defend their existing base.

This was the finding of a new market research study from The Insight Research Corporation.

Cable operators will gain some market share, but they will remain small players in a big industry with low margins and little cash flow, the study noted.

Insight Research‘s market analysis study, “Cable TV Enterprise Services, 2012-2017” provides a sobering view for cable providers, who have been touting the business services market as a profitable respite from their mature residential video business.

Business services is the second largest segment in the US telecommunications landscape next to wireless services. While cable operators have had some recent success in growing their single-digit share of this market, they will face major obstacles trying to take significant share in this modest growth segment.

“While their legacy in providing services to residential segments may give them confidence they can grow profitably in this adjacent segment, the cable operator‘s challenges will be steep and growth is dependent upon taking market share from entrenched players” says Fran Caulfield, Research Director at Insight Research.

“Our study concludes that despite these obstacles, cable operators will forge ahead and the entrenched telco providers will likely respond with investments, price, and improved performance to combat this threat. It should be an interesting few years,” Caulfield concluded.

“Cable TV Enterprise Services, 2012-2017” segments revenue estimates for telco and cable operators providing basic voice, data, and video services offered to the small, medium and large enterprise business segments. Detailed revenue estimates are provided for a range of business services, including ethernet, private lines, voice services, web hosting, optical transport, and video.

MUMBAI: Eutelsat Communications, one of the world‘s leading satellite operators, on Thursday announced closure of the transaction to acquire GE-23 satellite, associated customer contracts and orbital rights from GE Capital, having obtained all required regulatory approvals.

The satellite, renamed Eutelsat 172A, is now part of Eutelsat‘s fleet, with technical and commercial teams working to ensure a smooth transition for existing customers.

Commenting on the acquisition, Eutelsat Communications CEO Michel de Rosen said, “We are delighted to announce finalisation of this acquisition that brings three key assets to Eutelsat: first, a high-quality satellite equipped with a flexible payload of C and Ku-band capacity in great demand over the Asia-Pacific region. Secondly, the transaction includes orbital rights at 172° East, giving us an exceptional platform to serve dynamic markets in the region as well as headroom for further expansion.

“Thirdly, we are acquiring a portfolio of quality customer relationships that we are excited to serve. This satellite adds further ballast to Eutelsat‘s organic growth initiatives, notably our Eutelsat 70B satellite which is equipped with a dedicated Asian beam and on track for launch later this year.”

Built by Thales Alenia Space, the satellite was launched in December 2005 with expected performance for 15 years. From geostationary orbit at 172° East, it offers unique coverage over the Asia-Pacific region via a payload of 20 Ku-band transponders accessing five interconnecting beams and 18 C-band transponders connected to a trans-Pacific beam.

Leveraging its comprehensive coverage and high-bandwidth capability, Eutelsat 172A already offers a broad range of telecom services to a diverse base of blue chip customers.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today said that the auction route is not the only method for allocating natural resources like spectrum.

Responding to a Presidential Reference following the verdict on the 2G spectrum allocation earlier this year, the five-judge apex court bench headed by Chief Justice S H Kapadia said auction could be a better option where the aim is maximisation of revenue, but then “every method other than auction of natural resources cannot be shut down”.

Justice D K Jain said “auction could not be elevated as a constitutional mandate”.

However, the Court said it cannot go into the wisdom of the executive in policy matters and decide on which is the most suitable method of allocating natural resources. The court said it does not have the expertise to decide which method is suitable for the disposal of a particular natural resource.

The economic policy of the government can only be struck down if it is found to be arbitrary and capricious, the court said.
In a separate but concurring judgment, Justice J S Kehar gave his additional reasons in respect on question one and four of the presidential reference.

The court did not answer three questions relating to the 2G verdict of February 2012 by which it had cancelled 121 2G licences.

Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said later that the apex court has brought “constitutional clarity” on the issue.

Institutions like CAG “might have perhaps unwittingly, erroneously interpreted the S C judgment relating to the 2G case and thought that all natural resources must be auctioned,” he said. “The SC has provided constitutional clarity today and we welcome it.”

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the judgment “vindicates” the position that the government had taken. “When a state has to take decisions, public good has to be kept in mind… The SC has also upheld, that it is public good which is important, and revenue maximisation is subservient to that, not the other way round,” he said. “And all national resources (are) not meant to be auctioned.”

The presidential reference on the judgment of of 2 February was filed on 12 April and hearing on it began on 11 May.

Of the 12 questions raised in the reference, the government sought the court‘s opinion on whether auctioning was the only permissible method for the disposal of all natural resources.

The reference asked whether following the auction route for the disposal of natural resources was not contrary to earlier judgments of the Supreme Court.

In the 2 February judgment canceling 122 licences issues by then Telecom Minister A Raja, the apex court had said if scarce natural resources like spectrum were to be alienated by the state, then the only legal method was transparent public auction. The apex court, while holding that ‘first come, first served‘ policy was flawed, cancelled the licences.

FICCI welcomed the Judgment on the Presidential Reference. FICCI Vice President Sidharth Birla said, “While we have yet to read the full Judgment, prima facie FICCI‘s stand on allocation of natural resources is today vindicated by the Supreme Court. We are now looking forward to a more predictable policy environment for allocation of natural resources as many projects were pending for the want of clear direction on allocation principles for natural resources in the wake of this Judgment”

In the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, FICCI had submitted that auctions can play a valuable role in the price discovery process when price discovery is the sole consideration in making such sale of resources. “However, we had also said that while auctions are indeed a valuable method of allocating natural resources but they are not the only methods and can be complemented with various other allocation methods”, said Birla.

“We hope that subsequent to this Judgment, irrespective of the method followed, essential criteria namely transparency, clear regulatory and licensing framework, non-discretionary procedures are adhered to so as to obtain the maximum benefit arising from the allocation of nation‘s wealth of natural resources”, said Birla.

NEW DELHI: Condemning ‘in the strongest of terms’ the making of an offensive anti-Islam video and its dissemination through social media, President Pranab Mukherjee said Thursday the External Affairs Ministry is in touch with US officials who share Indian concerns on the matter. “Google India has, in compliance with Indian law, blocked access to the offensive material,” he said.

Mukherjee also said India can never condone any act which disparages religious sentiments or hurts religious feelings.

The President’s remarks came during a media interaction during his visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

However, Google has said it will not remove the YouTube video that has been cited as the spark for demonstrations raging across the Middle East and North Africa.
 
The decision came following a White House request for the trailer for ‘Innocence of Muslims’ to be reviewed under the company’s policies.

However, Google has restricted access of the video to some countries which have found it offensive or where it has led to violence. These include India and Indonesia, as well as “Libya and Egypt given the very sensitive situations in these two countries,” a Google spokesperson said.

MUMBAI: Zee Telugu has strengthened its presence in the US market. Already available in the Over The Top (OTT) platform, the broadcaster has just launched on leading US pay-TV platform Dish.

“There are more than 15 million patrons to Zee Telugu across the globe. Dish dominates the South Asian market in the U.S., and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Telugu content to an even wider audience,” said Asia TV USA CEO Suresh Bala.

Zee Telugu will be available on channel 592 in Dish‘s Telugu Pack for $34.99 per month.

“We are pleased to add a premiere South Asian channel like Zee Telugu for our customers interested in Telugu-language programming,” said Chris Dish‘s vice president of International Programming Kuelling.

“Dish is a leader in delivering TV channels from across India to those in the U.S. seeking news, sports and entertainment from their home country. The addition of these channels shows our continued commitment to serve the South Asian community.”

With content ranging from gripping dramas and timely news bulletins to engaging reality shows and chart-topping music, Zee Telugu offers a variety of Telugu-language programming including Radha Kalyanam, Punarvivaham, Mahadevi and Pournami.

MUMBAI: For Tata Sky, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Rupert Murdoch‘s Star TV, the turnaround story is not far away. The DTH television services provider has narrowed its net loss in the year ended 31 March 2012 from a year earlier, on increasing subscriber numbers.

Tata Sky’s net loss in 2011-12 was Rs 2.98 billion, 36 per cent less than Rs 4.7 billion a year earlier. The company, privately held, does not disclose its financials.

The company‘s net sales were up 18 per cent to Rs 15.9 billion from Rs 13.5 billion a year earlier.

The company‘s net loss in 2009-10 was Rs 6.26 billion on total income of Rs 11.10 billion.
The continuing losses have resulted in piling up of accumulated losses. Tata Sky‘s accumulated losses as on 31 March 2012 would amount to Rs 43.03 billion with the addition of loss in 2011-12 to the accumulated losses of Rs 40.05 billion as on 31 March 2011.

Tata Sky’s current subscriber base, according to industry estimates, is around 10 million, up from around 8.5 million in the previous fiscal.

The company is raising Rs 1.6 billion through issue of five-year non-convertible debentures, amid increased sales effort in the four metros where carriage of all television channels will be shifted to digital mode from the current analogue from 1 November.

This will add to the company’s debt (loans and other facilities from banks) of Rs 17.01 billion.

The debenture issue has been rated A/Stable by ratings agency CRISIL. In its ratings rationale, CRISIL said Tata Sky will continue to invest in expanding its subscriber base over medium to long term. Tata Sky’s financial risk profile, marked by poor debt protection metrics, is expected to remain weak, given its large accumulated losses.

CRISIL ratings continue to reflect the financial and managerial support Tata Sky receives from its majority shareholder, Tata Sons Ltd.

The ratings also factor in Tata Sky’s healthy revenue growth, driven by an increasing subscriber base in the DTH market. These rating strengths are partially offset by Tata Sky’s exposure to intense industry competition, and the company’s significant establishment and operating expenses, resulting in large losses, and weak financial risk profile.

Dish TV is the market leader in DTH services, followed by Tata Sky and Airtel Digital. The other private DTH service providers are Sun Direct, Videocon d2h and Big TV.

CRISIL, however, believes that Tata Sky will continue to benefit from managerial and financial support from Tata Sons and funding support from other shareholders. The outlook may be revised to ‘Positive’ if Tata Sky increases its subscriber base and average revenue per user (ARPU) to more-than-expected levels, or achieves break-even earlier than expected. Conversely, the outlook may be revised to ‘Negative’ if Tata Sky continues to incur losses for a period longer than expected, faces delays in achieving break-even, or suffers from adverse regulatory changes, the ratings agency said.

Tata Sky (formerly Space TV Ltd) commenced operations in 2004 as 80:20 joint venture between Tata Sons and National Digital Distribution Services FZ LLC (NDDS), owned by Newscorp of the Star Network group. In 2007-08, Bay Tree Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd (Bay Tree), part of Temasek Holdings (owned by the Ministry of Finance, Singapore), acquired 10 per cent of Tata Sky’s equity shares. As on March 31 2012, Tata Sons owned 60 per cent of Tata Sky, NDDS (News Corp) 30 per cent, and Bay Tree (directly/indirectly) 10 per cent. Tata Sky commenced DTH operations in August 2006.