ITV

Tag: Anil Ambani

  • BTVi abruptly suspends transmission on broadcast platforms

    BTVi abruptly suspends transmission on broadcast platforms

    MUMBAI: In what seems like a bolt from the blue, English business news channel BTVi on Saturday informed its employees of the company’s decision to abruptly ‘suspend transmission on broadcast platforms’ from midnight (31 August).

    “Over the next few days, we will communicate the future steps towards a smooth transition of our operations,” further read the HR’s communique.

    It now remains to be seen whether BTVi, owned by Anil Ambani’s Reliance ADAG, changes hands in terms of ownership or ceases to exist in all forms including digital.

    The news of BTVi shutting shop comes on the back of major financial troubles for its promoter as well as a churn in news media.

    In the last few months, several organisations have either suspended operations like Kapil Sibal-promoted Tiranga TV and India Today-owned opinion website DailyO or scaling down on resources like Scroll.

  • Big Synergy appoints Simmi Karna to produce fiction series for OTT, TV

    Big Synergy appoints Simmi Karna to produce fiction series for OTT, TV

    MUMBAI: Anil D Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment's Big Synergy, a content creation and production company, is powering its fiction content team and has appointed Simmi Karna to produce fiction series for OTT and broadcasters.    

    Karna brings to Big Synergy her vast experience of having developed and produced hundreds of hours of fiction content in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu languages and will empower the company’s ambition in both national and regional markets. She has over two decades of experience in creating long form (TV, OTT/web series) and short form content (films, documentaries).  In the past, she has worked in various capacities as a writer, producer, director, head of programming, business head, chief revenue officer and content head and has been associated with Sakal Media, Reliance Broadcasting, Balaji Telefilms, IMG and more.

    Reliance Entertainment Big Synergy CEO Rajiv Bakshi said, “Big Synergy is committed to producing the finest content across both fiction and non-fiction and across all platforms and markets. Today, we are in an ideal position to create fiction content across all genres including thriller, comedy, romcom, crime, family, mystery, women empowerment and more. The team is passionately progressing in developing multiple high-impact series, with some releases planned across platforms in 2019. With her vast experience, Simmi will further augment our strategy and boost the ambition to offer the widest variety of content and creative partnerships to our esteemed clients on both OTT & broadcast platforms."

    Big Synergy has amplified its fiction content offering over the past few years and currently produces impactful content in both genres across broadcast and OTT platforms. Some of the popular fiction web-series include Bose: Dead/Alive on ALTBalaji’s, Yo Ke Hua Bro on Voot and the new season of Savdhaan India, Savdhaan India Naya Adhyay on Star Bharat and many more.

    She said, “I am excited to join Big Synergy at this amazing time when the industry is treating content as central for growth. Having produced fiction content in over 5 languages over the last many years, I am confident of creating path-breaking, soul-touching, contemporary and entertaining content for viewers across platforms and markets.”

  • Reliance Entertainment names Shibasish Sarkar as group CEO-content, digital and gaming

    Reliance Entertainment names Shibasish Sarkar as group CEO-content, digital and gaming

    MUMBAI: Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment has announced the elevation of Shibasish Sarkar as group CEO – content, digital and gaming.

    Sarkar is a chartered accountant by training and entertainment industry professional with over 25 years of experience. He joined Reliance Entertainment in 2007 as CFO and thereafter took on a larger role as COO, developing tremendous operational and financial experience across films and TV production and distribution, digital content, gaming, etc.

    He has played a pivotal role in establishing and managing the company’s industry acknowledged joint venture business model with leading creative filmmakers, including Rohit Shetty, Imtiaz Ali, Neeraj Pandey, S Shashikant, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Madhu Mantena amongst others. In addition, he has led the company’s plans to address the growing demand for television, digital and animation content, delivering world-class originals to GEC and OTT platforms. 

    In 2018, he led the highly successful process on behalf of Reliance Entertainment for listing its UK-based gaming company, Codemasters, on the London Stock Exchange.

    Reliance Entertainment vice chairman Amitabh Jhunjhunwala said, “Shibasish has been the backbone of our leadership team for over a decade, and has demonstrated excellent organisational capabilities in establishing and scaling up new business operations. We are confident he will lead the company to new heights in the exciting entertainment landscape of the future.”

    Speaking about his elevation, Sarkar stated, “I am deeply honoured with the trust and confidence reposed in me, and I take this opportunity to thank my extraordinary team, and all partners and associates who have helped build a robust organisation. Our goal will continually be to bring entertainment and joy to global audiences across multiple platforms, thereby building great value for all stakeholders.”

  • NDTV, Reliance’s Rafale case to be heard on 22 November

    NDTV, Reliance’s Rafale case to be heard on 22 November

    MUMBAI: NDTV has challenged the jurisdiction of the Ahmedabad court where Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group sued the news broadcaster for Rs 10,000 crores over the Rafale fighter jet deal and the next hearing will be on 22 November 2018. The first hearing was on 26 October. The lawsuit is filed against NDTV's weekly show, Truth vs Hype, which aired on 29 September.

    According to NDTV, “The role of Reliance appeared to have been questioned by none other than Francois Hollande, who was the president of France when the deal was struck. The NDTV show reported all sides of the story including Dassault's denial that it had been under any pressure to select Reliance. The panellists, in a balanced discussion, examined whether issues like Reliance's vast debt and record in defence manufacturing made it a suitable choice for Dassault in India.”

    NDTV Group CEO Suparna Singh tweeted on 26 October, “NDTV challenges jurisdiction of Ahmedabad court where Anil Ambani’s Reliance group sued us for Rs 10,000 crores over our Rafale deal coverage, next hearing on Nov 22.”

    Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group has filed a defamation suit of Rs 7,000 crore against founder and editor of ‘The Citizen’, Seema Mustafa, for its reportage on the defence deal and Rs 5,000 crore against National Herald in September, saying that one of its published articles on the Rafale deal was “libellous and derogatory”.

    Also, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had issued a show cause notice to NDTV in connection with a case of forex violation it is probing against the media company on 17 October 2018. The notice has been issued for violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore.

  • Anil Ambani’s Reliance sues NDTV for Rs 10,000 cr

    Anil Ambani’s Reliance sues NDTV for Rs 10,000 cr

    MUMBAI: NDTV has been sued for Rs 10,000 crore by Anil Ambani's Reliance Group in an Ahmedabad court for its reportage on the Rafale fighter jet deal. The lawsuit is filed against NDTV's weekly show, Truth vs Hype, which aired on 29 September.

    The hearing has been listed for 26 October. NDTV Group CEO Suparna Singh tweeted on 18 October, “We will fight this brazen attempt to harassment and intimidation.”

    NDTV also mentioned that the top executives of Reliance ignored repeated, multiple and written requests to appear on the show or comment on what is being widely discussed not just in India but in France as well – whether Anil Ambani's Reliance was transparently chosen as the partner for Dassault in a deal that saw India buying 36 fighter jets.

    According to NDTV, “As the Rafale deal has become a larger news story in India, the Reliance group has been on a notice-serving spree; to sue a news company for Rs 10,000 crore in a court in Gujarat on false and frivolous charges, ignoring facts that are widely reported everywhere and not just by NDTV, can only be interpreted as an unsophisticated warning to the media to stop doing its job.”

    Also, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a show cause notice to NDTV in connection with a case of forex violation it is probing against the media company on Wednesday. The notice has been issued for violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore.

    NDTV rejected any allegations of violating FEMA regulations. NDTV said that it is being targeted for its fair and independent journalism and that its persecution is intended to signal to other media that unless they fall in line, they will face similar consequences.

  • Anil Ambani to exit telecom business; focus on real estate

    Anil Ambani to exit telecom business; focus on real estate

    MUMBAI: The 14th AGM of Reliance Communications, promoted by Anil Ambani, saw confirmed talks of Anil Ambani’s exit from the telecom business. He said that Reliance Communications will concentrate majorly on real estate in the future.

    Founded 15 years ago on 27 December 2002, Reliance Communications was referred to as the vision of Dhirubhai Ambani, the father of Anil and Mukesh Ambani.

    At the 14th annual general meeting, Anil said that the first priority for RCom, credited for democratising telecom services through cheaper offers in the early 2000s, was to resolve its debt worth over Rs 40,000 crore.

    Pointing to the 133-acre Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC), the headquarters of Reliance Communications, on the outskirts of Navi Mumbai, Ambani said that there was a huge realty play opportunity that erstwhile corporate headquarters possesses.

    He pegged the potential value creation from such sites at Rs 25,000 crores.

    According to the reports, Ambani said, “We have decided that we will not proceed in this sector. And many other companies have taken a similar call. This is very much writing on the wall. As we have moved out of the mobile sector, we will monetise at an appropriate stage our enterprise business. Reliance Realty will be the engine of growth for the future of this company.”

    Looking at the telecom sector, he said that there has been a “creative destruction” of the telecom sector that has resulted in creation of oligopoly, which is going towards a duopoly and maybe even a “monopoly in the future”. Banks are saddled with over Rs 7.7 lakh crore in debt and the financial troubles of operators have resulted in over 20 lakh job losses, he said.

    Post discontinuation of the telecom business, Ambani said the residual business would be the enterprise, data centres, undersea cables and international voice calling verticals etc that are expected to serve some 35,000 businesses. He said half of the revenues from this line of activity will be from overseas. But Ambani said that his company was “committed” to exit even those verticals, to pay-off banks. A decision in this regard will be taken “at an appropriate time,” Ambani said.

  • RCom sells assets worth Rs 2000 crore to Reliance Jio

    RCom sells assets worth Rs 2000 crore to Reliance Jio

    MUMBAI: Reliance Communications has completed the sale of its media convergence nodes (MCNs) and related infrastructure assets worth RS 2000 crore to Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio). The received amount will be the first tranche of payment in the Anil Ambani-owned operator’s asset sale which is sinking in debt of Rs 46,000 crore.

    Following the completion of MCN monetisation transaction, 248 MCNs covering 5 million sq ft of area used for hosting the telecom infrastructure were transferred to Jio. During early trade, shares of RCom were up by 1.97 per cent at Rs 19.14 on BSE.

    The debt-laden company expects to raise about Rs 18,000 crore by selling the wireless assets to Jio and real estate assets to Canada’s Brookfield. The company also said that it would sell an additional 65 MHz spectrum in the 800 MHz band to Jio for Rs 3,500-3,700 crore. Last year, the company shut down its wireless services.

    Back in May, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) cleared the proposals for the sale of assets of Reliance Communications Ltd to Jio.

  • RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    RCom replenishes bank guarantees of Rs 774 cr with DoT

    MUMBAI: Four weeks ahead of telecom tribunal’s deadline, Reliance Communications (RCom) and its subsidiaries have reinstated bank guarantees (BGs) aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) while the deadline was of 10 September.

    The issue stems from the time when DoT issued two show-cause notices to RCom. DoT threatened to cancel its licences in 14 circles and revoke spectrum allotted in 2013 and 2015. The latest move has ensured the non-cancellation of license and spectrum. Following the reinstating, the RCom stock was up 2.3 per cent at Rs 19.94 on the BSE at midday trade Monday.

    “RCom and its subsidiary, Reliance Telecom Ltd, have today reinstated bank guarantees aggregating Rs 774 crore with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), four weeks ahead of the last date of10 Sep 2018 as granted by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT),” said the telco in a regulatory filing on Monday.

    “The reinstatement of the BGs ensures that RCom’s licence and spectrum value of Rs 11,300 crore stands fully protected, and RCom is fully compliant with the guidelines of NIA 2013 and NIA 2015,” the telco added.

    Earlier RCom moved TDSAT against DoT’s notices and told the tribunal in prior hearings that cancelling licences would push the telco back into insolvency as it would not be able to complete deal with Jio. However, RCom expects to raise Rs 18,000 crore from the deal with Jio.

  • Hathway leads the way in wireline net subs addition in Q3

    Hathway leads the way in wireline net subs addition in Q3

    BENGALURU: Over the past few years, multi-system operators, or MSOs, and cable television operators have been trying to enhance revenue by offering broadband internet services riding piggyback on their cable TV network wires. The second largest—considering that Atria Convergence Technologies is also an MSO and has far more broadband subscribers— cable television-wired broadband internet services provider, Hathway Cable & Datacom Services Ltd (Hathway) added more subscribers than any other wired internet service provider between October 2017 and December 2017. Going by data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Hathway added 60,000 subscribers in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 (FY 2018) or the last quarter of calendar year 2017 (CY-2107). The TRAI report indicated that Hathway added 40,000 subscribers in Dec-17, the highest by any of top five wireline broadband internet services providers in the country. Since Sep-17 Hathway is the fifth largest wired broadband internet services provider in India.

    In its investor presentation, the now pure broadband internet services provider, Hathway, says that it added net 50,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers in Q3 2018. In the same investor presentation, Hathway claims that it has added 1.5 lakh broadband internet subscribers in CY-17–its subscriber base grew from 6 lakh at the end of December 2016 to 7.5 lakh as on 31 December 2018. TRAI data pegs Hathway’s subscriber base at 7.3 lakh as on the same date.

    It may be noted that both ACT and Hathway started off as MSOs, but now their core business focus is on wireline broadband internet services. In the case of Hathway, after restructuring, it is now a pure wired broad internet services provider, with its cable TV operations now under Hathway Digital Pvt Ltd. While ACT has continued to service its existing cable TV subscribers in the limited territory that it operates – South India mostly – its wireline broadband internet subscriber base has grown quite remarkably notwithstanding its geographical limitations. ACT added 1.6 lakh wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-17 and 40,000 in Q3 2018. In Dec-17, ACT added 10,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers. ACT is the third largest wired broadband internet service providers in terms of number of subscribers in India with a subscriber base of 12.8 lakh. ACT is probably the largest private wireline broadband internet services provider in South India.

    TRAI provides data in units of million up to 2 fractions and hence the subscription numbers mentioned in this report are accurate to the nearest 10,000.

    The largest wireline broadband internet services provider in the country – the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lost 5.7 lakh wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-17 and 1.6 lakh in Q3-2018. In Dec-17, the public sector internet and telephony services provider bled 50,000 subscribers. It closed CY-17 or Dec-17 with a wired broadband internet subscriber base of 93.8 lakh.

    Indian telephone major Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) is the second largest wired broadband internet services provider in India – it closed Dec-17 with 21.5 lakh subscribers. Airtel added 1.1 lakh wired broadband internet subscribers in CY-17, 30,000 in Q3-2018 and 10,000 in Dec-17.

    The public sector Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) was once the third largest wired broadband internet services providers in the country, until it was replaced by ACT. MTNL lost 1.3 lakh wired broadband internet subscribers in CY-17, lost 40,000 subscribers in Q3 2018 and lost 10,000 subscribers in Dec-17. The company closed CY-17 with a wired broadband internet subscriber base of 9.1 lakh.

    Overall, the wireline broadband subscriber base in India declined by 2.8 lakh in CY-17, by 1.8 lakh in Q3 2018, but increased by 10,000 in Dec-17. The share of subscribers of the top five wired broadband internet service providers fell from 81.31 per cent as at the end of Dec-16 to 80.91 per cent at the end of Dec-17.

    The combined total number of subscribers of the top five broadband internet services in the country reduced by 3 lakh in CY-2017, reduced by 70,000 in Q3-2018 and remained the same in Dec-17 as in Nov-17 (144.5 lakh). It is quite obvious that the largest subscriber losses were by the public sector BSNL and MTNL. However, some MSOs such as Siti Networks Limited and regional player Ortel Communications had reported wireline broadband internet subscriber declines during CY-2017.

    Top 5 wireless broadband internet service providers

    As on 31 December 2017, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (16.009 crore) followed by Bharti Airtel (6.894 crore), Vodafone (5.243 crore), Idea Cellular (3.480 crore) and BSNL (1.257 crore).

    Overall broadband internet subscription

    A majority of the 36.287 crore internet subscribers in India subscribe to wireless internet services through mobile phones and dongles – the number grew from 33.24 crore in Nov-17 to 34.457 crore in Dec-17. Fixed wireless subscribers –  (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-Point Radio & VSAT) declined to 4.4 lakh in Dec-17 from 4.5 lakh in Nov-17. As mentioned above, wired broadband internet subscribers grew by 10,000 from 178.5 lakh in Nov-17 to 178.6 lakh in Dec-17.

    The top five service providers constituted 93.80 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Dec-17. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd (16.009 crore), Bharti Airtel (7.109 crore), Vodafone (5.244 crore), Idea Cellular (3.481 crore) and BSNL (2.195 crore).

    Other broadband internet service providers

    As also mentioned above, MSOs and LCOs or cable video service providers also provide wired broadband internet services in the country. These cable service providers have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence, broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger than the numbers of some of the wired internet services providers mentioned above.

    Also Read :

    Nov 2017: Wireline internet bleeds subscribers

    Jio continues leading broadband subs addition while wireline internet loses subs in Oct

    RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff

  • Nov 2017: Wireline internet bleeds subscribers

    Nov 2017: Wireline internet bleeds subscribers

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Infocomm Limited (Jio) closed the month of November 2017 (Nov-17, month ended 30 November 2017) with 152.08 million wireless broadband subscribers having added 6.12 million subscribers (grown by 4.19 percent). As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data, the number of wireline broadband internet subscribers in India has declined 0.13 million from 17.98 million in Oct-17 to 17.85 million in Nov-17. This decline in wireline broadband internet subscribers is more than the 0.06 million decline in Oct-17 and the decline of 0.07 million subscribers in Sep-17.

    Overall broadband internet service providers

    The top five service providers constituted 92.92 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers (wired, mobile wireless, fixed wireless) at the end of Nov-17. These service providers were Jio (152.08 million), Bharti Airtel (69.38 million), Vodafone (50.16 million), Idea Cellular (32.90 million) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL (21.37 million).

    Wireless broadband internet service providers

    The fastest growth rate in mobile wireless internet subscribers was by Idea Cellular – its subscriber base increased by 6.03 percent (grew 1.87 million) in Nov-17. Jio had the second fastest growth as per the numbers mentioned above followed by Bharti Airtel Limited that grew 3.77 percent (added 2.44 million subscribers) in Nov-17, followed by Vodafone India. Vodafone’s wireless internet subscribers grew 3.59 percent or by 1.74 million. With the exit of Reliance Infocomm due to restructuring, BSNL entered the top five wireless broadband internet list in Nov-17. The public sector telecom player had 11.94 million broadband internet subscribers at the end of Nov-17.

    Top five wireline broadband internet service providers

    As on 30 November 2017, the top five Wired Broadband Service providers were BSNL (9.43 million), Airtel (2.14 million), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT(1.27 million), Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited or MTNL (0.94 million) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (0.69 million). Airtel, ACT and Hathway gained 0.01 million subscribers each in Nov-17, while the public sector BSNL and MTNL lost 0.05 million and 0.2 million subscribers respectively.

    Overall, the combined subscriber base of the top five wireline broadband internet service providers lost 0.04 million subscribers in Nov-15. This means that the rest of the players besides the top five players lost another 0.09 million subscribers.

    Other broadband internet service providers

    MSOs and cable video service providers (LCOs) also provide wired broadband internet services in the country. These cable service providers have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger than the numbers of some of the wired internet services providers mentioned above. However, it must be noted that some of these MSOs and LCOs could have lost subscribers in November 2017, considering the fact that the top five wired broadband internet services providers have lost only 0.04 million of the 0.13 million wireline internet subscribers in November 2017.

    Notes: (1) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.51 million (5.1 lakh) subscribers for You BB for Dec-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.

    Also Read:

    Jio continues leading broadband subs addition while wireline internet loses subs in Oct

    Wireline broadband subs base falls, overall broadband subs base grows

    Aug-17:Jio leads broadband subscriber growth, BSNL leads wireline subscriber decline