Category: Technology

MUMBAI: The Competition Commission of India has sent out a clear warning that multi-system operators (MSOs) can‘t leverage their dominant presence in a particular area by bullying broadcasters.

In a landmark decision that can have grave implications in the cable TV industry, the CCI has penalised Fast Way, the first MSO to get the whip for abusing its dominant position.

The competition watchdog has imposed a fine of Rs 84 million on Fast Way Group for misusing its dominant position in Punjab and Chandigarh in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.

The order was passed pursuant to investigation carried out by the Director General of CCI on a complaint filed by Kansan News, the owner and operator of ‘Day and Night News‘, which operates in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.

The Commission held that Fast Way Group with more than 85 per cent of the total subscribers in Punjab and Chandigarh abused its market power by denying Kansan News the opportunity to transmit their channel on its network.

CCI has imposed penalty on Fast Way Group entities, Fast Way Transmission, Hathway Sukhamrit Cable & Datacom and Creative Cable Network at the rate of six per cent of their average turnover for the last three preceding financial years.

The MSO has been directed to deposit the penalty amount within 90 days.

The Commission has also directed that the entities should ‘cease and desist‘ from indulging in anti-competitive practices which have the effect of denial of market access.

MUMBAI: Al Jazeera English, Qatar government-owned news and current affairs channel, has launched on Australia‘s leading Pay-TV platform, Foxtel.

The channel is now available to Foxtel viewers on number 651.

Al Jazeera English‘s launch on Foxtel will enable the channel to reach an additional 1.6 million Australian households, taking its total reach across the country to over 2.3 million households. Globally, Al Jazeera English is available in over 260 million households across 130 different countries.

Al Jazeera has over 60 bureaus across all the continents of the world with a dedicated team of journalists reporting from the channel‘s Sydney bureau.

“I would like to welcome all our new Foxtel viewers to Al Jazeera English. Australians have been some of the keenest visitors to our website over the years, an indication of the appetite there is in the country for compelling international news and programmes,” said Al Jazeera English MD Al Anstey.

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat) will hear on 7 August, the petitions by multi-system operators Digicable Networks, Mumbai, and Delhi Distribution Company, New Delhi and others challenging the digital tariff order of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

Tdsat has issued notice to Trai and the Union of India in this connection.

Earlier, TDSAT had listed for 25 August a petition by IndusInd Media and Communications in this regard, even as it permitted News Broadcaster‘s Association (NBA) and associate channels – NDTV, Time Global Broadcasting (holding company of Times Now), India TV, TV Today, Total TV, Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), and other broadcasters to be a party to it.

Earlier, local cable operators opposed the Trai tariff order. United Cable Operator‘s Welfare Association, New Delhi, has approached the Tdsat seeking better revenue share from the MSOs and an extension in date for digitisation.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the first phase of digitisation in the four metros has already been postponed by four months to 1 November.

Also Read:

After IMCL, Digicable moves Tdsat against Trai‘s tarrif order

MUMBAI: 9X Media Group‘s Punjabi music channel 9X Tashan is now also available on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform Tata Sky on its channel No. 884.

9X Tashan was launched on 31 August last year and is available across cable and satellite homes in the Punjab Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (PHCHP) market. The channel is streamed live on the internet on the channel‘s website and is also available on various mobile platforms.

9X Tashan managing director Sandip Bansal said, “We are delighted to announce that Tata Sky subscribers can now enjoy the best Punjabi music and humorous short format shows aired on 9X Tashan.”

Tata Sky chief content and business development officer Nicola Bamford added, “Our endeavour has always been to provide the most relevant content to our growing subscriber base. Today, Tata Sky engages every member of the family with the most comprehensive range of entertainment and music content in the comfort of their homes. The launch of 9X Tashan on our platform underscores our continued commitment to add the very best to Tata Sky‘s growing portfolio of channels and further increase the entertainment value of Tata Sky to a higher level.”

MUMBAI: Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gaikai, the world‘s leading interactive cloud-based gaming company, for approximately $380 million.

Through the acquisition, SCE will establish a new cloud service, ensuring that it continues to provide users with truly innovative and immersive interactive entertainment experiences.

“By combining Gaikai‘s resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE‘s extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences,” said Sony Computer Entertainment President and Group CEO Andrew House.

“SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices.”

Established in 2008 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Gaikai has developed interactive cloud-streaming platform in the world that enables the streaming of quality games to a wide variety of devices via the internet.

With this acquisition, SCE will establish a cloud service and expand its network business by taking full advantage of Gaikai‘s revolutionary technology and infrastructure including data centers servicing dozens of countries and key partners around the world.

The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

MUMBAI: Cricket fans across the world will have the chance to decide which images will be used to decorate the team dressing room walls at the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012.

Albums of all 20 teams, 12 men’s and 8 women’s, have been uploaded onto the albums section of the ICC’s official Facebook page, www.facebook.com/cricketicc, and fans will be able to have their say on what images of their heroes and heroines should be on show at the event which runs from 18 September-7 October.

Fans are being encouraged to ‘like’ the photos that they enjoy most and the photographs that receives the most ‘likes’ during the voting period will be shown in that team’s dressing room for the group stages of the event. Voting opens today and will close at 7pm Dubai time (GMT +4) on Wednesday.

Among the shots that fans can choose from are pictures that show the three winners of the men’s event to date lifting the trophy, that include India (2007), Pakistan (2009) and England (2010). There are also a number of iconic photographs that fans can select including Mike Hussey’s celebration after his amazing innings against Pakistan in St Lucia in 2010, as well as Mahela Jayawardena celebrating his hundred in that tournament.

Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga, who is also the official event ambassador for the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012, said, “I would encourage all fans to go to the ICC’s Facebook site to help select which images should be chosen to go on the team dressing rooms at the ICC World Twenty20”.

“To have inspiring images of your own personal as well as your team’s success on the dressing room walls is something that I have personally liked at previous ICC events. It will be interesting to see which moments Sri Lanka fans choose to go on our wall for the tournament.”

MUMBAI: Canadian digital studio Rainmaker Entertainment has agreed to sell its animation studio assets to Beijing-based Xing Xing Digital through its wholly owned subsidiary Rainmaker Studios Inc. (RSI).

The assets are being acquired in consideration for the assumption of existing Rainmaker book liabilities in an approximate amount of $7 million and the assumption of all real property leases.

The transaction is conditional upon, among other things, the approval of Rainmaker‘s shareholders and the receipt of the required regulatory approvals, including any approvals required under the Investment Canada Act.

In connection with the transaction, Rainmaker has agreed to provide a loan to RSI in the aggregate principal amount of $5 million. The loan has a term of four years and will bear interest at a rate of prime plus two per cent. The loan may be prepaid at any time without penalty.

Additionally, Rainmaker shall be granted an option, exercisable during the fourth year of the loan, to convert the principal and accrued interest in respect of the loan into common shares of RSI.

Based on the starting principal amount of the loan, Rainmaker would be entitled to acquire 30 per cent of the outstanding common shares of RSI at the time of conversion. Also, during the term of the loan, Rainmaker shall be entitled to nominate one of five directors to the board of RSI.

The board of directors of Rainmaker has unanimously approved entering into the asset purchase agreement and recommends that Rainmaker shareholders approve the Transaction.

NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry feels that in the changed scenario of digitisation, the multi-system operators (MSOs) would have to be accountable for the information they provide about the progress in digitising cable services.

According to I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma, the Cable Television Networks Rules, 2012 are being amended in this regard as well as the changed scenario of the deferment of digitisation by four months.

The amendments have been sent to the Law Ministry for approval.

Following the amendments, the Ministry would be able to take action against MSOs and other stakeholders if their information on the number of set top boxes (STBs) procured and installed is found to be incorrect. Furthermore, the Ministry can also cancel the licence of the respective operator.

The Ministry also proposes to make it compulsory for all operators to provide information within a preset time-frame.

The action has been planned, sources said, because the Ministry was unable to form an opinion earlier relating to progress in feeding STBs as well as digitisation which led to deferment of the first phase from 1 July to 1 November this year.

MUMBAI: US pay TV service provider Dish will replace three AMC Networks channels — IFC, WE and AMC — tomorrow with what the company believes is stronger movie and entertainment content.

Dish will be providing HDNet Movies to replace AMC, and is offering Style and HDNet to replace WE and IFC. This follows the expiry of AMC‘s contract.

Dish had argued that AMC was asking for a high renewal
rate.

Dish senior VP of programming Dave Shull said, “HDNet Movies and HDNet are exciting offerings for our customers. These are networks that will bring great entertainment, including first-run, commercial-free movies in high definition to our customers. DISH is the only pay-TV provider that did not raise its core package prices in 2012. We will continue to fight hard for choice, control, and value in home entertainment.”

Dish notified AMC Networks earlier in the year of its decision not to renew its contract due to the channels‘ high costs compared to their relatively low viewership.

Dish‘s actions come as AT&T and AMC Networks negotiate over what AT&T this week called an “excessive rate increase.”

“A significant portion of any pay-TV bill goes to fees for content providers like AMC Networks. “AMC Networks requires us to carry low-rated channels like IFC and WE to access a few popular AMC shows.

The math is simple: it‘s not a good value for our customers,” added Shull.

AMC Networks has further devalued its programming by making its handful of shows available to consumers via iTunes, Netflix and Amazon.com.

“One of AMC‘s biggest historical draws has been movies. However, their performance has been trumped by other DISH movie offerings, including the many thousands of titles available on Blockbuster @Home and from top-quality providers such as HBO, Showtime, Starz, EPIX, MGM HD, IndiePlex, and RetroPlex,” Shull said.

MUMBAI: BBC Three has announced seven new web exclusive comedies produced for bbc.co.uk/bbcthree.

The seven web exclusives will be available on the BBC Three site from 2 July. Feed My Funny exclusives extend BBC Three’s reputation for breaking new comedy talent on TV to the web.

From new sketch show formats like ‘For The Win‘ and ‘Dawson Bros Funtime‘, to hidden camera stunts in ‘Impractical Jokers‘, a mockumentary about a pirate radio station in ‘People Just Do Nothing‘, a vehicle for exciting new stand up Imran Yusuf, Alison Jackson’s spoof celebrity gossip show Celebrity Bitchslap News and surreal silent comedy from ‘The TapeFace Tapes‘, this is British comedy only available online.

Impractical Jokers is the hilarious show in which four friends compete in unbelievably awkward scenarios – all recorded by hidden cameras. But in this show, winning doesn’t matter – it’s the loser who counts, because whoever loses gets punished in the most mortifying challenge ever!

For The Win is a surreal sketch show taking a sideways glance at the lives of four friends, featuring a human python, the resurgence of bum-bags, and a talking third nipple called Reg. Featuring The Mighty Boosh’s Rich Fulcher, it is produced by Matt Stronge, directed by John Hopkins and executive produced by Stephen McCrum.

Dawson Bros Funtime is a sketch show from Steve and Andrew Dawson and Tim Inman, with an exciting new cast pulled together from YouTube and the live comedy circuit, including Mike Wozniak, Cariad Lloyd, Jenny Bede and Chris Kendall. The first sketch from the show, Horse Ipad is already on YouTube, where it has notched up over 350,000 views. Dawson Bros Funtime has been produced by Will Saunders and executive produced by Jo Sargent.

Celebrity Bitchslap News is a spoof celebrity-gossip show that brings you the ‘real stories’ behind the headlines. Footage captured by members of the public on their camera phones, recorded on CCTV cameras and leaked by indiscreet staff, this is every celeb PR’s worst nightmare – all as imagined by BAFTA winner Alison Jackson.

People Just Do Nothing is a mockumentary that goes behind the microphone of Kurupt FM – the second most popular pirate radio station in West London, receiving up to eight texts per show and playing the finest in UK garage and drum ‘n’ bass. Co-founded by the MC Sniper and DJ Beats in 2002, the station has now built up a following of over a hundred people and has attracted the attention of the BBC who are making a documentary about the lives of those behind Kurupt FM.

The Tapeface Tapes is a show from the Edinburgh Comedy Award nominated mime act. The Boy, real name Sam Wills, performs in the pilot with his trademark tape over his mouth and brings his own special brand of surreal silent comedy to BBC Three.

The Imran Yusuf Show is a mix of stand-up and sketches starring Imran Yusuf, a rising star on the British comedy scene. With appearances on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and an Edinburgh Comedy Award nomination to his name, Imran now brings his unique views on life, dating and people talking in the cinema to life in his very own comedy special.