ITV

Category: News Broadcasting

  • Zee News announces wrap up content for the year

    Zee News announces wrap up content for the year

    MUMBAI: Zee News bids adieu to 2006 with a set of programmes which will focus on major happenings of the year that made to the headlines.

    The year, the channel notes, has pocketed some historical moments like decisions on Jesica Lall murder case, Parliament Blast Case, Priyanka Mattoo, Rahul Mahajan and so on.

    To cherish the memories of the going year and to welcome the New Year, the channel has lined up some programmes like Naqli No.1, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Astrology Show, Ramrajya 2007 and Little Champs ka New Year. Naqli No 1 is a mimicry show where a competition of chosen mimicry artistes across the country will happen. It will be shown in two parts. Judges will select the winner, who will be called Naqli No. 1 of the year. He will be awarded with a trophy and a prize.

    Jo Jeeta Wo Siqandar is about the famous personalities of the year who, by persevering in their lives, inspires many people. There are going to 4 personalities who will be showcased namely Sourav Ganguly, Mahajan’s family, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt.

    The channel’s astrological show will have two astrologers who would predict the future of famous politicians, cricketers and film stars for 2007. Ramrajya 2007 will be a stand up comedy show by Laughter Challenge runner up Rajiv Nigam. He will present a stand up comedy on bringing Ramrajya in today’s world. To welcome 2007, Little Champs are going to sing songs with a futuristic appeal. It will also show an exclusive recording of a special Little Champs event in Mumbai.

    The programming mix of Zee News for New Year will also cover various celebration parties happening in different parts of the country on the night of 31 December

  • Red FM strengthens Delhi operations

    Red FM strengthens Delhi operations

    MUMBAI: FM radio station Red FM has appointed Akash Verma as the station head for Delhi. He joins Red FM from Coca-Cola India.

    In his career spanning over a decade he has been actively involved with business management, innovations, consumer / customer marketing, media sales and events. He has extensive experience in communication development, project management, channel marketing, P&L management, consumer promotions, alliance management & consumer insights.

    As the station head he will look into the P&L accountability for Delhi station and will also be responsible for all functions like marketing, sales, programming, scheduling, finance and HR.

  • GBN to dilute close to 15% in IPO, valuation pegged at Rs 6.5-7 billion

    MUMBAI: Global Broadcast News Ltd (GBN), which owns and operates English news channel CNN-IBN, will dilute close to 15 per cent in its intial public offering (IPO), pegging the valuation of the company at around Rs 6.5-7 billion.

    The company, which plans to raise Rs 1.05 billion in the public float sometime in January, has yet to announce the price band. The proceeds of the issue will be used to meet the company’s growth plans, which include the completion of the acquisition of Hindi channel IBN-7.TV18 Group managing director Raghav Bahl declined to comment on the extent of dilution that the IPO would involve. “We are in the process of finalising that,” he said.

    Sources, however, confirm that the company is looking at a dilution in the region of 12-15 per cent through the IPO. Indiantelevision.com had earlier reported that GBN would be raising Rs 1.05 billion.

    Bahl is also aggressively eyeing the regional news space. “We realise it is an important growth segment. But we are still examining it. We will be taking a final decision on this quickly,” he said.

    The other growth area in the broadcasting business, Bahl said, was in launching niche channels in the news space. There is no decision yet in which companies these channels will be housed.

    Growth for TV18 will come from subscription business. Pay revenues in this fiscal will rest at Rs 350 million, Bahl said. “We see the lines of distribution business maturing in the coming years. It will account for a big leap in our revenues. We will also continue to register advertising growth,” he added.

    TV18, which got re-listed on Wednesday after restructuring the different businesses, is expected to close this fiscal with a revenue of over Rs 2 billion and a net profit margin of around 35 per cent. The company houses two business channels, CNBC TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, a clutch of internet properties, financial wire service Crisil Marketwire (which was recently acquired) and an e-broking venture with partners which will get launched in 3-6 months. “TV18 is positioned as a full spectrum business news, information and transaction play company,” said Bahl.

    On the first day of trading in its new avataar on Wednesday, TV18 opened at Rs 600 and closed at Rs 618.35. This was much higher than the market expectation of a debut listing in the range of Rs 450.

    “The market is giving value to the internet properties. Bahl has created a perception where he will be a clear leader in this space,” an analyst at a broking firm said.

    Bahl may decide to list these internet properties (including flagship moneycontrol.com, commoditescontrol, ibnlive, compareindia, cricketnext) which are sitting inside TV18 overseas. He will be adding more sites through a string of acquisitions as well as growing them organically. “We are bullish on our internet properties. We are giving it a balance sheet and a capital structure. We will unlock value for the shareholders at the right time as they reach critical size. This can mean revenues or even critical traffic into these portals,” he said.

    Interestingly, the TV18 scrip (before the restructuring) saw a surge in quick time by Rs 300 to hover over Rs 900 on the back of the IPO floated by Naukri.com (Info Edge). Bahl has created internet assets that can rake in money as he scales up these verticals.

    TV18 shareholders will also enjoy the GBN value which will come to them via the Network18 route. Network18, which has 51 per cent stakes in both TV18 and GBN, is likely to be listed within 2-3 weeks.

    TV18 will be raising capital up to Rs 3 billion to fund its various expansion requirements. “We have made some investments in acquisitions and other areas through internal accruals and debt. We have a capital raising programme,” says Bahl.

    TV18 had earlier mandated HSBC to raise Rs 1 billion. “We will sit with them again and decide how much and when we need to raise capital,” said Bahl.

    Besides being the holding company, Network18 will also house Studio18 and Shop18. “It is positioned as a full play media company. In Studio18, we will have a presence in the movie business across the value chain of distribution, production, acquisition and content syndication. We will roll out our products in the next fiscal. We also have ambitious plans for Shop18,” says Bahl.

  • Essel Shyam wins contracts in Bangladesh, targets Rs 750 million revenue in 2006-07

    Essel Shyam wins contracts in Bangladesh, targets Rs 750 million revenue in 2006-07

    MUMBAI: Essel Shyam Communication Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Essel and Shyam Group, has bagged two turnkey projects for television channels in Bangladesh valued together at $5 million (Rs 225 million).

    Bangla Vision, a 24-hour news and entertainment channel, has used Essel Shyam’s services for integrating the complete set up starting from acquisition (studio) to transmission (teleport). Essel Shyam is doing similar work for CSB, a news and entertainment channel which is expected to launch later this month.

    The other contracts include putting up VSATs for ONGC in 154 locations across the country at a value of Rs 164 million and for ministry of defence at 97 locations in the Himalayan range for Rs 270 million.

    “With this, we are targeting a turnover of Rs 750 million for this fiscal, up from Rs 537.8 milllion a year ago. For CSB, the project includes setting up of a complete satellite channel including newsroom automation,” says Essel Shyam Communication ED and whole time director Lalit Jain.

    Essel Shyam is planning to raise Rs 600 million through an initial public offering (IPO) to fund its expansion plan. The company has filed Draft Red Herring Prospectus with SEBI (Securities Exchange Board of India) and proposes to offer 55,00,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each through the book building process.

    Essel Shyam is into the business of providing various services related to satellite communication such as VSAT, teleport, SNG/DSNG and BPO facilities. The company is providing teleport services to channels of Zee Group, Janmat, Zoom (Times Group), IBN 7, Hungama TV. Several regional channels like Shalom TV, MM TV, Sangeet Bangla, Total TV and Sudarshan TV are also using Essel Shyam’s teleport. The company has recently set up a mode

  • Lalli is new Prasar Bharati CEO

    Lalli is new Prasar Bharati CEO

    NEW DELHI: Baljit Singh Lalli, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1971 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is to take over as the new Prasar Bharati CEO.

    The post had been vacant since K S Sarma retired on 30 June after serving a term of six years. However, the post was held on a temporary basis first by Doordarshan Director General Navin Kumar until his retirement and then by All India Radio DG Brijeshwar Singh.

    The candidature of Lalli, who is presently the secretary in charge of border management in the union ministry of home, was selected on 21 December by a high-level committee meeting under vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The name could not be announced earlier as information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi was out of the capital.

    Under the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990, the selection of the chief executive has to be made by a high-level committee comprising the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Press Council of India Chairman (Justice G N Ray), and a nominee of the president. It is understood that S K Arora who is secretary in the I&B ministry was the third member on the committe.

    The chief executive normally has a term of six years and functions under the Prasar Bharati board that is headed by a Chairman.

    Meanwhile, AK Jain who is a 1977 batch IAS Officer has taken over as the member (Finance) of Prasar Bharati, following his appointment to the post on the recommendations of the high powered selection committee. He will hold the office of member (Finance) for a period of six years, as per the provisions of the Prasar Bharati Act.

    V. Shivakumar is the new member (Personnel) of Prasar Bharati. He is presently holding the post of director (HR) in MTNL – a board level position. The post of member (personnel) was lying vacant since the retirement of D P S Lamba.

    Jain, an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi, also holds an MBA in finance and public sector management from the University of Hull, United Kingdom. He claims to have grounding in financial management and corporate affairs and has worked in the department of public enterprises/ heavy industries and the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers in his previous postings. He acquired first hand experience in the functioning of commercial enterprises as the executive director of NAFED.

    Having served a tenure as the joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs, Jain was the principal secretary to the government of Nagaland before his new assignment.

    The appointment of a full-time member (Finance) assumes significance in view of the corporate restructuring plan being worked out for Prasar Bharati. A group of ministers is deliberating the issue.

  • WWIL announces Rs 1800 package for Cas

    WWIL announces Rs 1800 package for Cas

    NEW DELHI: Wire & Wireless India Ltd has come out with a price package that it believes will lure consumers to digital cable under Cas (conditional access system).

    The multi-system operator (MSO) is offering an own-your-own set-top box (STB) plus a year long access to at least 100 channels, a minimum of 25 of them being pay channels, for just Rs 1800. This scheme will be available only for those who are subscribing within 31 January, says WWIL CEO Jagjit Kohli.

    For those willing to settle for just the service of 100 channels, but not own the boxes, the option is to go for the Rs 600 per annum (Rs 50 per month) scheme. Rental on the boxes will be an additional cost.

    Consumers in both the schemes will have to pay taxes and Rs 77 for the free-to-air (FTA) channels.

    The bouquet, however, does not have any of the sports channels. For access to any additional pay channel the subscribers would have to pay the Trai-fixed charge of Rs 5. WWIL executive vice president Arvind Mohan of Siticable told indiantelevision.com that not even Ten Sports would shown as part of the Rs 600 bouquet.

    Asked how many of Star, Set and Zee channels respectively would form the bouquet, Mohan said that the details were being worked out.

    WWIL is also immediately launching its Cas-enabled GalaxZee boxes in non-Cas cities.

    “There is a feeling that the analogue will stay for a long time in India. The popular perception is that India being a poor country and technologically backward, so digital would take a long time to take off. But even we are surprised to see at what massive pace digital is taking off in the country,” Kohli said.

    Bangalore, Hyderabad and other cities are witnessing the highest demand for digital services, he added. In these cities, physical headends would be set up for the box operations even before HITS arrives.

    The special GalaxZee STBs have on offer various facilities, apart from the normal TV services, and updated boxes with facilities matching those offered by any DTH service provider. The updated boxes would cost Rs 1,499, but the customer can exchange the old boxes for the new paying the additional cost of Rs 299.

    GalaxZee is using digital technology of Scopus for its digital headends, encryption technology from Conax and STB from Handan.

    “We are aware that the average Indian user is not tech-savvy, so we told the architects of the boxes to make them user-friendly,” Kohli said.

    It is much cheaper than the DTH boxes, he stressed and added: “Whatever channels DTH operators offer are fixed for across the country. We, however, have the option of adding whatever channels we want to depending on which city we are operating in, especially the popular regional language channels and also the local cable channels. And even the local channels would be digital.”

    Besides, for multiple TV sets in one household, GalaxZee is offering FTA in all the additional sets at no extra cost, “but in DTH system you would have to pay for every additional TV set”.

    The value added boxes, which are likely to come after a few months, will have internet, online games and phone on demand. GalaxZee will also offer DVR (digital video recording).

  • FCC releases report on cable prices

    FCC releases report on cable prices

    MUMBAI: US media regulatory body The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released its annual report on cable industry prices for 2005.

    The report shows that average monthly rates for cable service — including basic and expanded basic cable programming services — increased by 5.2 per cent over the 12-month period ending 1 January 2005, from $40.91 to $43.04, and by 93 per cent since the period immediately prior to Congress’s enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

    Specifically, the average monthly charge for basic service increased by 3.3 percent, rising from $13.84 on 1 January 2004 to $14.30 a year later. Over the same period, the average charge for expanded basic service rose from $27.07 to $28.74, an increase of 6.2 per cent — more than 84 per cent of cable consumers subscribe to the expanded basic service.

    The report finds that for the 12-month period ending 1 January, the average monthly rate for basic and expanded basic cable programming services increased by 4.9 per cent for the group of cable operators in communities relieved from basic tier rate regulation (the “effective competition group”) and by 5.2 per cent for the group of cable operators without a finding of effective competition (the “noncompetitive group”).

    As of 1 January 2005, cable operators without a finding of effective competition charged an average of $43.33 per month for basic and expanded basic programming, which was 7.9 per cent more than the $40.15 charged by the group of operators with a finding of effective competition. The degree of difference, however, varied by subgroup, with the highest percentage differential associated with the subgroup of cable operators for which relief from rate regulation was based on a second cable operator.

    Prices charged by cable operators in these communities were 17 per cent lower than in communities without a finding of effective competition. DBS competition, however, does not appear to constrain cable prices – average prices were the same as or slightly higher in communities where DBS was the basis for relieving a cable operator from rate regulation than in non competitive communities.

    The FCC also collected information on the prices charged for the most highly subscribed digital tier plus equipment consisting of a digital set-top converter and remote control unit. For all communities sampled, over the 12 months ending 1 January 2005, the price for this tier and equipment increased by 1.2 per cent, to $12.99. Of the 98 per cent of all cable subscribers served by systems that offered digital video service, 37 per cent subscribe to the digital tier.

    The report also provides information on the average capacity of cable systems and the percentage of cable subscribers that are offered advanced services such as digital service, internet access, and telephone service. As of 1 January 2005, approximately 87 per cent of all cable subscribers were served by systems that had been upgraded to a capacity of at least 750 MHz. Also, 96 per cent of all cable subscribers were served by systems that offered Internet access. In addition, 42 percent of subscribers were offered telephone service by their cable operator.

    There was very little variation between the groups (those with and without a finding of effective competition) in terms of system capacity or the percentage of subscribers offered advanced services.

  • Al Jazeera to launch documentary channel on 1 January

    Al Jazeera to launch documentary channel on 1 January

    MUMBAI: Middle East broadcaster Al Jazeera Network has announced that it will launch its documentary channel on 1 January.

    The broadcaster is looking at the channel to champion the promotion of documentary culture in the Arabic world and beyond. From its unique position, Al Jazeera Documentary will pay particular attention to the Middle East with a special focus on the cultural diversity of its societies.

    As the first service of its kind in the region, Al Jazeera Documentary will broadcast programmes focussed on different aspects of human activity including social, political, cultural, scientific, historical, and environmental.

    The channel, which will broadcast in Arabic, will sponsor talent and work in partnership with the documentary industry and filmmakers across the world to develop programmes.

    Al Jazeera Network DG Wadah Khanfar said, “Building on the spirit of Al Jazeera, the Documentary Channel will focus on under-reported stories in the region and elsewhere. It will open a new window on the human experience wherever it might be, and provide another avenue for mutual understanding between peoples and cultures. As a natural evolutionary step for the Network, the Documentary Channel will extend the vision and mission of Al Jazeera and complement what we have accomplished over the last ten years.”

    Al Jazeera Documentary will present the other side of reality, the side that transcends the immediacy of news coverage and digs deep into the heart of human stories. Its informative and educational approach will be driven by hope and the broader human horizon focusing on issues that are usually marginalised and ignored.

  • Rajshri.com launches pay downloads

    Rajshri.com launches pay downloads

    NEW DELHI: With 10 million video streams across its site in its first month, Rrajshri.com has introduced pay media.

    Viewers are now able to download and own any of the movie content available on the site for their personal consumption, starting last weekend. And coming up is download-for-keeps for their entire music content as well. Prior to this, films could be downloaded on payment but for a limited period of 72 hours.

    “We have ensured that the price points are very aggressive and have chosen to offer downloads without DRM,” Rajshri Media (P) Limited VP sales William D’souza tells indiantelevision.com.

    “Over the past month, we have received huge requests from viewers asking for downloads of the content,” he says, adding, “We are also at the final stage of introducing our ad-supported platform, through which we will soon integrate video ads and rich media banner ads on our site.”

    This has been done at the “constant behest of advertisers, who see www.rajshri.com as an ideal destination to reach out to a global audience interested in Indian entertainment,” says D’Souza.

    Regarding other services on the site, D’souza says they have bagged the famous GaneshaSpeaks Bejan Daruwala’s astro service, and Sanjay Jumaani, numerologist, to provide that genre of content for them.

    “Besides generic advice and predictions, we plan to offer personalised video consultations to consumers worldwide,” he says.

    “The online ad campaign is currently ongoing and our communication will constantly keep changing as we continue to add newer and better features, categories and services to the website,” D’souza adds.

    Asked about the new alliances they are looking at, D’souza said: “The biggest names in the business are working with us. Many more alliances are at an advanced stage of negotiation and will be announced shortly. Some of our current partners include Sony BMG , Universal Music, T-Series, Mattel Toys, B R TV, Saregama HMV, Music Today, Films Division of India, Osho International Foundation, Baba Ramdev and others.”

    However the company has no alliances in the UK as of now. “While we have no alliance with any UK-based company, Rajshri.com has alliances with two US companies: Limelight Networks, the worlds leading content delivery network for digital media; and Brightcove, an internet TV service that empowers video producers and programmers to build broadband businesses while giving viewers more choices and control over their use of video and television,” D’souza clarifies.

  • Shyam Equities takes 20% stake in Rajat Sharma’s INS for Rs 1 billion

    Shyam Equities takes 20% stake in Rajat Sharma’s INS for Rs 1 billion

    MUMBAI: Rajat Sharma’s Independent News Service Private Limited (INS), the holding company of India TV, has announced the offloading of 20 per cent stake to Bangalore-based Shyam Equities Private Limited. Shyam Equities is paying Rs 1 billion for the stake, which gives INS an enterprise valuation of Rs 5 billion.

    According to a company release, INS’s enterprise valuation is up a whopping 86 per cent from Rs 2.7 bilion nine months ago.

    Since Shyam Equities is a 100 per cent Indian entity, the foreign individual, foreign company, NRI, OCB, FII and PIO holding in INS remains unchanged.

    The investment information has been filed with the information and broadcasting ministry.

    Sharma expressed “excitement over the strategic growth blue print that will be executed 2008”. The blue print, Sharma said, includes large investments in key strategic areas beyond India TV. This includes a bouquet of channels, a distribution blitz in key international markets, and a significant entry into non-news and non-television media.

    In March last year Fuse+ Media, an entity of ComVentures, a leading Silicon Valley-based venture capital and private equity group with over $1.5 billion of assets under management, had placed an equivalent of Rs 509 million of FDI in INS for a 19.17 per cent stake.