ITV

Tag: broadcaster

  • TDSAT recalls order asking Taj TV to continue signals to UCN Cable

    TDSAT recalls order asking Taj TV to continue signals to UCN Cable

    NEW DEHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has recalled its order of 9 June last year asking Taj Television to continue its signals to UCN Cable Networks Pvt Ltd holding the “view that the petitioner no longer deserves any indulgence by the Tribunal.”

    While passing its interim order last year, the Tribunal had said the multi-satellite operator should deposit a sum of Rs. 1.5 crore within a week and another sum of Rs. 1.5 crorewithin four weeks from the date of the first payment.

    However, the Tribunal in its order on 3 June noted that Taj TV counsel Tejveer Singh Bhatia had now said that the outstanding dues against the MSO now stood at Rs 4.5 crores.

    Noting that no one had appeared for the MSO, the Tribunal also observed the matter had been referred to the Mediation Centre where also “there was no regular appearance on behalf of the petitioner.”

    The Tribnal listed the matter for 28 July but said “In case no one appears for the petitioner on the next date, the petition may be dismissed for non–prosecution without prejudice to any claim of the respondent.”

    The petition by UCN Cable had been filed last year against the disconnection notices but according to the notices by Taj TV, the dues against UCN Cable for DAS and non-DAS areas amounted to Rs 4,40,36,870 as on 20 April 2015. In pursuance of the notices, the respondent had disconnected the supply of its signals to the petitioner on 27 May 2015.

    UCN Cable had also been asked in June last year to pay to Taj TV monthly subscription fees according to the invoices raised by Taj TV and told that in case of default in payment of the installments and / or monthly subscription fees as per the invoices of Taj TV, it will be open to the broadcaster to disconnect the supply of its signals without any further orders from the Tribunal.

    As per information provided on Taj Television’s website, the company distributes a suite of 49 leading television channels belonging to ZEEL, Zee Media Corporation Limited and Turner International India Private Limited.

  • Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT to sign an MOU with Doordarshan for content collaboration

    Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT to sign an MOU with Doordarshan for content collaboration

    MUMBAI: For the  first time, a large  official delegation of Turkish companies led by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Tourism attended FICCI Frames 2016 in Mumbai which started on 30 March and will conclude on April 1 to promote collaboration in the cinema and television sector between India and Turkey. To mark the event, Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT had a meeting with Doordarshan and both state owned companies are set to sign an MOU for future content collaboration.

    The ambassador of Turkey to India,  Burak Akçapar announced, “TheTurkish delegation is very encouraged with the initial response at the 3-day conclave and Turkey is predicting content exports of USD 20 million to India by 2018.”

    The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce brought together Turkey’s leading content industry representatives to meet the Indian media and entertainment industry at the “Turkey Home of Content” booth at FICCI FRAMES 2016 with the valuable support of the Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and with the precious collaboration of the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi and Turkish Consul General in Mumbai.Founded in 1882, The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce today is the third largest Chamber in the world.
     
    With a high powered delegation, and wholehearted support from the Government, Turkey is actively seeking collaborations with Indian media and entertainment companies in the areas of filmed and television content.The leading Turkish companies participating in the delegation were Ayyapim, Kadraj, Kanal 7, Outline Ajans, Pana Film, Tac Medya, TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation), ULKE TV.

    In an effort to further strengthen its ties with the city of Mumbai and Bollywood, Turkish delegations had a meeting with the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI). Turkey is in talk with the organisers of MAMI film festival to showcase Turkish cinema at the festival in October this year.

    Turkey’s first television export to India, Feriha on Zee – Zindagi has been well received by the Indian audiences and an average of 36 million viewers in India each week. Encouraged by its success, many Indian networks including the leading GEC’s are in talks with Turkish content providers to roll out more Turkish serials on Indian television says an official release.

  • Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT to sign an MOU with Doordarshan for content collaboration

    Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT to sign an MOU with Doordarshan for content collaboration

    MUMBAI: For the  first time, a large  official delegation of Turkish companies led by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Tourism attended FICCI Frames 2016 in Mumbai which started on 30 March and will conclude on April 1 to promote collaboration in the cinema and television sector between India and Turkey. To mark the event, Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT had a meeting with Doordarshan and both state owned companies are set to sign an MOU for future content collaboration.

    The ambassador of Turkey to India,  Burak Akçapar announced, “TheTurkish delegation is very encouraged with the initial response at the 3-day conclave and Turkey is predicting content exports of USD 20 million to India by 2018.”

    The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce brought together Turkey’s leading content industry representatives to meet the Indian media and entertainment industry at the “Turkey Home of Content” booth at FICCI FRAMES 2016 with the valuable support of the Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and with the precious collaboration of the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi and Turkish Consul General in Mumbai.Founded in 1882, The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce today is the third largest Chamber in the world.
     
    With a high powered delegation, and wholehearted support from the Government, Turkey is actively seeking collaborations with Indian media and entertainment companies in the areas of filmed and television content.The leading Turkish companies participating in the delegation were Ayyapim, Kadraj, Kanal 7, Outline Ajans, Pana Film, Tac Medya, TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Corporation), ULKE TV.

    In an effort to further strengthen its ties with the city of Mumbai and Bollywood, Turkish delegations had a meeting with the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI). Turkey is in talk with the organisers of MAMI film festival to showcase Turkish cinema at the festival in October this year.

    Turkey’s first television export to India, Feriha on Zee – Zindagi has been well received by the Indian audiences and an average of 36 million viewers in India each week. Encouraged by its success, many Indian networks including the leading GEC’s are in talks with Turkish content providers to roll out more Turkish serials on Indian television says an official release.

  • Times Network to use Amagi services to enable geo-targeted advertising

    Times Network to use Amagi services to enable geo-targeted advertising

    MUMBAI: Amagi has announced that the Times Network  will use its services to enable geo-targeted advertising on five of its channels – Times Now, ET Now, Romedy Now, Zoom, and Magic Bricks Now.

    Amagi’s technology will enable the broadcaster to split ad inventory and provide regional ad spots to different brands. Times Network’s partnership with Amagi means that advertisers will also have the flexibility to buy regional ad spots on its channels at optimised costs. While this enables bigger advertisers to optimise their media spends, the smaller and regional advertisers can also advertise on national TV and target only markets of their choice and pay only for that.

    Commenting on the same Times Network CEO and managing director MK Anand said, ‘’Our network specialises in delivering decision makers at the top end of the Indian population. Our audiences are comparable with english newspapers. With the ability to provide geo-targeted reach, we will now be able to offer city specific solutions complimentary to english newspaper campaigns at very efficient costs.”

    “The partnership with Times Network is an evidence of the industry’s belief in Amagi’s core value proposition. Our endeavour is to help industry players recognize innovative and efficient technology-driven ad solutions. A unique patented technological platform has helped us emerge as a reliable choice for TV broadcasters to enable geo-targeted advertising. This marks another landmark step in Amagi’s growth and we are bullish about delivering exceptional results.’’ added  Amagi co founder Baskar Subramanian.

    Among some of the  channels that have used Amagi services include Zee TV, Zee News, Zee Cinema, Zee Bangla, IBN7, B4UMusic, B4UPlus and B4UMovies.

  • Times Network to use Amagi services to enable geo-targeted advertising

    Times Network to use Amagi services to enable geo-targeted advertising

    MUMBAI: Amagi has announced that the Times Network  will use its services to enable geo-targeted advertising on five of its channels – Times Now, ET Now, Romedy Now, Zoom, and Magic Bricks Now.

    Amagi’s technology will enable the broadcaster to split ad inventory and provide regional ad spots to different brands. Times Network’s partnership with Amagi means that advertisers will also have the flexibility to buy regional ad spots on its channels at optimised costs. While this enables bigger advertisers to optimise their media spends, the smaller and regional advertisers can also advertise on national TV and target only markets of their choice and pay only for that.

    Commenting on the same Times Network CEO and managing director MK Anand said, ‘’Our network specialises in delivering decision makers at the top end of the Indian population. Our audiences are comparable with english newspapers. With the ability to provide geo-targeted reach, we will now be able to offer city specific solutions complimentary to english newspaper campaigns at very efficient costs.”

    “The partnership with Times Network is an evidence of the industry’s belief in Amagi’s core value proposition. Our endeavour is to help industry players recognize innovative and efficient technology-driven ad solutions. A unique patented technological platform has helped us emerge as a reliable choice for TV broadcasters to enable geo-targeted advertising. This marks another landmark step in Amagi’s growth and we are bullish about delivering exceptional results.’’ added  Amagi co founder Baskar Subramanian.

    Among some of the  channels that have used Amagi services include Zee TV, Zee News, Zee Cinema, Zee Bangla, IBN7, B4UMusic, B4UPlus and B4UMovies.

  • Prejudice caused to broadcaster by TV channel’s placement has to be established: TDSAT

    Prejudice caused to broadcaster by TV channel’s placement has to be established: TDSAT

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has rejected the demand by Sun Distribution Services for placement of three Malayalam channels on numbers of their choice on Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd.

    Sun wanted restoration of its three channels – Surya, Kiran TV and Surya Music – to their original placements at 107, 144 and 146 respectively. It was said that after the hiatus of a few days when these were off air due to technical glitches (according to Asianet) the three channels are now being shown at LCN 648, 664 and 668. 

    TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said no case is made out for any direction to the respondent to restore the LCN placements of the petitioner’s three channels by way of an interim order. 

    While accepting the terms in the interconnect agreement that the subscriber operator would ensure that no subscribed channel would be disadvantaged or otherwise treated less favourably with respect to the competing channels on a genre basis, the Tribunal said no case had been made out in support of this.  

    Whether or not the change in placement has caused any disadvantage or amounts to inferior treatment with respect to competing channels on a genre basis is a pure question of fact, which can be gone into only after evidences are led by the two sides, the Tribunal said while posting the matter before the Registrar’s court on 17 March for getting the pleadings completed, framing of issues and taking evidences.

    Sun had initially filed the petition agitating the grievance that Asianet had discontinued the supply of its signals on its network without any notice and in violation of the Regulations. The petition was filed on 14 January but when it came up before the Tribunal the next day, it was stated that the broadcast of channels was resumed on the respondent’s network but their placements were changed causing much prejudice to the petitioner.  

    Noticing this grievance of the broadcaster, the petition was adjourned to enable the counsel for Asianet to get proper instructions in the matter. 

    Thereafter Sun filed an affidavit on 28 January and its reply was filed by Asianet the next day.

    Sun Counsel Abhishek Malhotra strongly contended that the Asianet action in changing the placements of the channels was in violation of the Regulations and the terms of the agreements.

    Asianet counsel Navin Chawla submitted that there was no violation of any Regulations or the terms of agreement in shifting the positions of the three channels and the respondent was fully entitled to place the channels as and where it suited its interests.

    The two sides have been in interconnect relationship for the past several years. In the past, the agreements between the two sides were based on mutual negotiations and the petitioner’s three channels were consistently placed at LCN 107 (Surya), 144 (Kiran TV) and 146 (Surya Music). The parties executed a fresh agreement on 31 December, 2015 to take effect from 1 January, 2016 covering Kerala that came under the Digital Addressable System (DAS) regime in Phase-III. 

    The present agreement, unlike the previous agreements, is based on the Sun’S RIO. It is well known that a distributor accepts the RIO based agreement only as a measure of last resort.

    Malhotra submitted that the three channels belong to “GEC (Malayalam)”, “Movies (Malayalam)” and “Music (Malayalam)” genres respectively and Asianet was legally obliged to put them in the genres to which each of them belonged. He further submitted that at LCN 107, 144 and 146, the three channels were rightly placed in their respective genres but at LCN 648, 664 and 668, those channels are placed among channels, which do not belong to their respective genres. 

    However, Chawla said the three channels, which were earlier in Malayalam Package-I were now in Malayalam Package-II among all the Malayalam language channels and the only grouse of Sun was that they had been assigned distant numbers.  

    The Tribunal, which saw the earlier and present groupings found that in the present grouping, the number of GEC channels in its neighbourhood had become relatively fewer. Chawla sought to justify the change by stating that it was open to the Asianet to make language based groupings rather than content based groupings and all the three channels of Sun continued to be in the Malayalam group.

    Malhotra drew attention to Regulation 5[14(A)], [14(B)] and [14(C)] of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Television Systems) (First Amendment) Regulations 2012.  The Regulations said, “The multi system operator will place the channels of a broadcaster in the genre declared by such broadcaster and no broadcaster shall demand from the multi-system operator to assign a particular number of its channels.”

    Thus, the Tribunal noted that while prima facie Sun was right, the fact remained that there was nothing to show that Sun made the declaration regarding the genres of the three channels to the distributor at the time of execution of the agreement.

  • Prejudice caused to broadcaster by TV channel’s placement has to be established: TDSAT

    Prejudice caused to broadcaster by TV channel’s placement has to be established: TDSAT

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has rejected the demand by Sun Distribution Services for placement of three Malayalam channels on numbers of their choice on Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd.

    Sun wanted restoration of its three channels – Surya, Kiran TV and Surya Music – to their original placements at 107, 144 and 146 respectively. It was said that after the hiatus of a few days when these were off air due to technical glitches (according to Asianet) the three channels are now being shown at LCN 648, 664 and 668. 

    TDSAT chairman Aftab Alam and members Kuldip Singh and B B Srivastava said no case is made out for any direction to the respondent to restore the LCN placements of the petitioner’s three channels by way of an interim order. 

    While accepting the terms in the interconnect agreement that the subscriber operator would ensure that no subscribed channel would be disadvantaged or otherwise treated less favourably with respect to the competing channels on a genre basis, the Tribunal said no case had been made out in support of this.  

    Whether or not the change in placement has caused any disadvantage or amounts to inferior treatment with respect to competing channels on a genre basis is a pure question of fact, which can be gone into only after evidences are led by the two sides, the Tribunal said while posting the matter before the Registrar’s court on 17 March for getting the pleadings completed, framing of issues and taking evidences.

    Sun had initially filed the petition agitating the grievance that Asianet had discontinued the supply of its signals on its network without any notice and in violation of the Regulations. The petition was filed on 14 January but when it came up before the Tribunal the next day, it was stated that the broadcast of channels was resumed on the respondent’s network but their placements were changed causing much prejudice to the petitioner.  

    Noticing this grievance of the broadcaster, the petition was adjourned to enable the counsel for Asianet to get proper instructions in the matter. 

    Thereafter Sun filed an affidavit on 28 January and its reply was filed by Asianet the next day.

    Sun Counsel Abhishek Malhotra strongly contended that the Asianet action in changing the placements of the channels was in violation of the Regulations and the terms of the agreements.

    Asianet counsel Navin Chawla submitted that there was no violation of any Regulations or the terms of agreement in shifting the positions of the three channels and the respondent was fully entitled to place the channels as and where it suited its interests.

    The two sides have been in interconnect relationship for the past several years. In the past, the agreements between the two sides were based on mutual negotiations and the petitioner’s three channels were consistently placed at LCN 107 (Surya), 144 (Kiran TV) and 146 (Surya Music). The parties executed a fresh agreement on 31 December, 2015 to take effect from 1 January, 2016 covering Kerala that came under the Digital Addressable System (DAS) regime in Phase-III. 

    The present agreement, unlike the previous agreements, is based on the Sun’S RIO. It is well known that a distributor accepts the RIO based agreement only as a measure of last resort.

    Malhotra submitted that the three channels belong to “GEC (Malayalam)”, “Movies (Malayalam)” and “Music (Malayalam)” genres respectively and Asianet was legally obliged to put them in the genres to which each of them belonged. He further submitted that at LCN 107, 144 and 146, the three channels were rightly placed in their respective genres but at LCN 648, 664 and 668, those channels are placed among channels, which do not belong to their respective genres. 

    However, Chawla said the three channels, which were earlier in Malayalam Package-I were now in Malayalam Package-II among all the Malayalam language channels and the only grouse of Sun was that they had been assigned distant numbers.  

    The Tribunal, which saw the earlier and present groupings found that in the present grouping, the number of GEC channels in its neighbourhood had become relatively fewer. Chawla sought to justify the change by stating that it was open to the Asianet to make language based groupings rather than content based groupings and all the three channels of Sun continued to be in the Malayalam group.

    Malhotra drew attention to Regulation 5[14(A)], [14(B)] and [14(C)] of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Television Systems) (First Amendment) Regulations 2012.  The Regulations said, “The multi system operator will place the channels of a broadcaster in the genre declared by such broadcaster and no broadcaster shall demand from the multi-system operator to assign a particular number of its channels.”

    Thus, the Tribunal noted that while prima facie Sun was right, the fact remained that there was nothing to show that Sun made the declaration regarding the genres of the three channels to the distributor at the time of execution of the agreement.

  • ‘The more local digital advertising gets, the more effective it will be:’ Amagi co-founder KA Srinivasan

    ‘The more local digital advertising gets, the more effective it will be:’ Amagi co-founder KA Srinivasan

    In this era of digitisation, the advertisement ecosystem has taken a big leap with digital advertising entering the fray. There was a time when people used to read advertisements, and then with the advent of television came visual ads, which could only be shared by word of mouth. Now with access to internet, ads can be read, seen and shared with help of just one device.

     

    With brands choosing the digital platform to announce launches of new products with help of email marketing, search engine marketing mobile and web marketing, have now given ads a new dimension to reach people. Digital advertising has broken the limitation of time slot for ads and has increased reach by leaps and bounds.

     

    Amagi co-founder KA Srinvasan spoke to  Indiantelevision.com about geo-targeted marketing, brands shifting towards digital marketing and much more.

     

    Excerpts:

     

    Many channels are tying up with Amagi for geo targeting. Property Now from Times Network is one of them. Do you think split broadcasting will be the way forward?

     

    Hyper local advertising will be the future of broadcast and television; in general it is going to be more geo targeted. Customised content created as per consumer’s preference is going to have a lot of impact. With the concept of geo generic mass content, as content becomes more local, the ad’s visibility for viewers will increase. Nowadays, content is created based on country, city and regional level not just in India but across the globe. The original goal for over-the-top (OTT) in digital world is to personalise lifestyle and provide content depending on consumer’s interest, preferences and their past watching behavior.

     

    What do you think will define the new era of effective advertisement?

     

    The change that we have observed is the more local advertisements get, the more effective it will become. Many of our advertisers are targeting specific local audience. It is effective from both advertising and communications perspective. Viewers will identify the product and advertisers will have a much better brand name at regional levels. From a content owner’s perspective, more advertisers will be able to reach out and from a broadcaster’s perspective, the future is all about getting local in terms of content.

     

    Now after installation of your technology in multiple system operators’ (MSO) headend, how do you plan to seize digital?

     

    Keeping that in mind, we launched a product called Thunderstorm, which allows television content owners and television networks to provide personalised advertising in the digital space. Our customers will be able to deliver their content over mobiles, tablet, and television screens and on web. However, there is one problem with monetising the content as the ads, which are telecast on television and which go on the sites are the same. The same goes with handsets. Everyone is watching the same ad on mobile but it is not giving any revenue. We have built a platform that allows advertising networks to have completely different advertising depending on the targeted audience and geographical area.


    Is Amagi focusing more on the digital space now?

     

    We are enabling content on advertising for television and helping local network owners to ‘hyper local’ the ad content. As content viewing shifts more towards digital, we are trying to bring the product in a more personalised way in digital. Our aim is to personalise and localise cable, television and digital.

     

    From many years the ten second ad slot has been ruling television and continues to do so. What more will the digital medium adapt?

     

    Today, the digital media is used as a distribution platform by television networks. What we are trying to do is, using the same content in different versions and using the digital platform for distribution of these ads. In terms of distribution, digital can do much better experimentation and inter-activity than what traditional television offers. Many advertisers are not only creating one commercial but creating multiple versions of it. On the digital platform, attention time span is going to be very limited as compared to traditional television. And because of this broadcasters and advertisers are experimenting. They are trying to create content, which can get the brand name in just five seconds, so that the user does not skip it.

    Digital allows fine grain targeting and that is the reason why we are able to do a lot more interesting stories. It is going to evolve and shift the platform from television to digital. We will then see more of digital specific content. 

     

    How many broadcasters do you have on board right now?

     

    We have around 20 plus broadcasters and multiple television channels across many countries. And at the end of this financial year we will have 40 plus channels. And many of them are from traditional satellite and television that are shifting towards the digital platform.

     

    You talked about the product Thunderstorm for creating personalising content for advertising. What are the new innovations that Amagi is currently focusing on?

     

    We have partnered with television networks to conceptualise content better. Geo targeting is focusing on satellite to help advertisers in creating personal advertising. We aim to eliminate satellite completely and move to digital where they can use closed bar internet technology. By using that platform, they can deliver their content in fraction of the cost to operators and consumers not only in India but around the world. Many big platforms are leveraging ahead from traditional television and satellite. We see rapid growth in terms of digital advertising in future.

  • TRAI pulls up broadcasters, MSOs on DAS implementation

    TRAI pulls up broadcasters, MSOs on DAS implementation

    NEW DELHI: Broadcasters were taken to task for their failure to file reports relating to subscribers while multi-system operators (MSOs) were rapped for failure to meet their commitments relating to billing in two separate meetings held with senior officials of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held in the first fortnight of this month.
     
    The meeting, with selected broadcasters earlier this month, also saw TRAI officials asking the broadcasters about agreements with MSOs under the reference interconnect offer (RIO).
     
    Broadcasters were also urged to step up awareness among subscribers in phase III and phase IV so that the transition to digital addressable system (DAS) is smooth.
     
    TRAI also urged broadcasters to highlight problems faced by them in the switch-over to DAS and issues relating to connectivity.
     
    In the meeting with MSOs earlier this week, problems relating to issuance of licences were also taken up.
     
    The MSOs were also asked to provide a list of areas not reached by them, an issue that had also been raised at the last DAS Task Force meeting.
     
    A TRAI official told Indiantelevision.com that issues relating to set top boxes were not taken up as they are being dealt with directly by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

     

  • Delhi based cable operators form new body to represent case of smaller LCOs

    Delhi based cable operators form new body to represent case of smaller LCOs

    NEW DELHI: Soon after the south based independent multi system operators (MSOs) decided to come together as one to ensure that they were well represented and could reap the benefits of digitisation, the Delhi based cable operators have decided to follow their path.

    A total of 16 registered associations of Delhi cable operators have jointly formed the Cable Operators Welfare Federation. While A S Kohli from west Delhi has been elected chairman, Bhai Surjeet Singh will be the president of the newly formed association.

     

    Singh told indiantelevision.com that the body had been formed to give a better representation to smaller LCOs so that the government does not ignore their pleas for justice while implementation of digital addressable system.

     

    It is also learnt that a memorandum will be sent shortly to Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley seeking a common tariff for the rates charged by the multi-system operators in Delhi. Furthermore, the memorandum is expected to point out that while the MSOs receive carriage fee, the LCOs should get a share of this, and the LCOs should also be paid a share by broadcasters of pay channels who are earning huge revenue through advertisements.

     

    The vice-presidents of the association are Raj Kumar Thappa, Dharmesh, Ashok Pandit, Kuldeep Rawal and Satish Bhatia. Vineet Kumar is the general secretary while the joint secretaries are Sudhir Kumar, Narinder Bhagdi, Prem, and Rajesh Pandit. Ramesh Duggal has been appointed as the treasurer.

     

     The legal advisors are A K Uppadhay, Romesh Zadoo and Jayant Chadda and the media advisors are Parveen Arora, Ram Kishen Tomar and Sanjeev Bhatti.