ITV

Tag: Anshuman Mishra

  • Star applies for DTH licence? Altaf Ali Mohammed says no

    Star applies for DTH licence? Altaf Ali Mohammed says no

    The past few weeks have witnessed some hectic lobbying for easing up of the bug bear clauses as far as DTH regulations are concerned. Star TV Asia chairman James Murdoch, and News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch have made whistlestop visits to India for meetings with information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj. Murdoch Jr in fact in a public address at Ficci Frames blasted any move to legislate conditional access, and privately made a pitch for DTH with Swaraj.

    At around the same time there was also the buzz that Zee TV was considering a joint DTH venture with AOL Time Warner, which was denied later by both its Turner India boss Anshuman Mishra and Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra.

    Now the unconfirmed news emanating from Delhi is that Star India has applied for a DTH licence (or is seeking to do so in the very near future) through a company called Space TV. The fact that Star India is indeed thinking of such an initiative is an indicator that the government may be backtracking on its tough stance on quantum of foreign equity permitted, and cross media restrictions in DTH ventures. Star India was the first mover in DTH in India through ISkyB in 1997 but had its foray scuttled by a skittish government and rivals. The government issued a ban on distribution of Ku-band reception equipment and the regulations were eased up only a year and a half ago when it issued DTH guidelines which placed a cap on foreign equity and cross media equity of 20 per cent. No one applied for a licence, because TV companies and others found the DTH guidelines too draconian.

    When contacted Star India denied that it had made any move in recent times on its part to apply for a DTH licence. Altaf Ali Mohammed, president digital platforms group, who oversees its DTH project and is currently operating out of Dubai, said: “We continue to explore the DTH option but we have made no firm decisions on that score.”

    Market sources insist otherwise. “The reason Star wants to clam up on its decision is because it does not want a repeat of the ISkyB disaster of 1997,” says an industry observer.

    Watch this space to find out more.

  • ‘CNN working to build India content’

    ‘CNN working to build India content’

    CNN International, which lags far behind other international news channels like CNBC and the BBC World in India, aims to expand its coverage of the subcontinent, Anshuman Mishra, managing director of Turner International India, has said.

     

    He made his comments while attending the ‘Eureka 2001’ awards ceremony in Mumbai on Monday organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, in association with CNN and Avendus.

     

    Responding to queries on why the ratings of CNN had failed to pick up in comparison to CNBC and BBC, he said he had yet to go through the details of the rating. “But we are working to built the Indian content. Other channels like TCM Cartoon Network are doing well,” Mishra said, indicating that at this juncture the ratings issue was no paramount to CNN’s opeartions.

     

    Ranjita Menon, marketing communication manager, South Asia, while echoing Mishra on the rartings issue, said shows like Q & A at prime time were doing extremely well. “We get responses from all parts India. The special show for the Gujarat earthquake was well received. Other India related programes like CNN India dotcom and Style South Asia are also doing well. We are looking forward to more India related programmes,” Menon said.

     

    On the issue of outsourcing of content from Indian producers like Bharat Bala Productions, Menon said that for now they were providing fillers only.

     

    “We reach around 5 million homes in India, while we are the leader in Asia”, Menon said. Quoting figures from The Asian Target Market Survey 2000 (ATMS) conducted by AC Nielsen, Menon said CNN International reaches 38 per cent of upscale business people in Asia on a monthly basis compared to CNBC’s 20 per cent and BBC World’s 19 per cent.

     

    The association with Eureka 2001 is the first major on-ground initiative by CNN in India. “We are looking forward to supporting budding entrepreneurs in India. These awards are just one step in that direction. The winners will be taken to Silicon Vally where they will actually be presenting their products to prospective investors,” Menon said.