ITV

Tag: CATV Networks

  • Govt admits pay channel fees are market driven

    Govt admits pay channel fees are market driven

    NEW DELHI: It may sound contradictory, but the government has admitted in Parliament that “market forces” guide the subscription fee of pay channels and at present the government has “no role to play” in the fixing of money which is payable by cable operators to broadcasters for pay channels.

    This admission is in sharp contrast to what the information and broadcasting ministry has been maintaining while trying to push through the implementation of conditional access system (CAS) which, the government has been saying, will help it to come to the cable viewing public’s help.

    In reply to a question on cable operators’ huge earnings which is a bone of contention between cable ops and broadcasters, Swaraj told the Indian Parliament’s Upper House (Rajya Sabha) earlier this week, “There are no legal provisions in the CATV regulation Act 1995 or the Rules framed thereunder to regulate the subscription charges levied by the pay channels/cable operators or the charges payable by the cable operators to TV broadcasting companies.” 

    The minister went on to reiterate that these are purely “contractual affairs between the broadcasting companies, cable operators and the subscribers and are market driven.” 
    Even while stating that subscription fees of pay channels are “market driven, the government hinted in Parliament that introduction of CAS would solve many of the problems.

    To a part of the question (‘what are the actions proposed to be taken to help subscribers having rights to view channels paid for without any harassment from cable ops?’), Swaraj pointed out that CAS is the cure for all such ills.

    “The government has introduced the CATV Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2002 with a view to mandating an addressable system for pay channels through cable networks. The system, when mandated, will allow the consumer to choose and pay for the channel(s) he wishes to watch,” she added. 

    However, some of the MPs are not buying this argument. A senior CPM member of Rajya Sabha told indiantelevision.com that indirectly the government is trying to have a control over what people can and should watch on television through CAS.

  • 7 Star to offer consultancy for cable ops

    7 Star to offer consultancy for cable ops

    For the harried small cable op in India, flustered by the myriad possibilities of conditional access and Internet over cable, help is at hand.

    Shamim Shaikh, managing director of the most proactive cable TV network coalitions in India – the Seven Star Cable Network which controls around 20 per cent of Mumbai’s cable TV viewing populace, is launching a consultancy for cable ops. The consultancy will help the cable op choose between the right hardware for his system from the bewildering array available currently.

    “While vendors are merely interested in pushing their wares, mostly imported, cable ops are often not clear about their requirements and end up investing huge amounts in outdated or irrelevant technology,” he says. Seven Star – an agglomeration of nine once-independent cable TV systems – was the first Indian CATV networks to install an addressable system in subscribers’ homes way back in 1999. Shaikh, who consequently has a wealth of experience to bank on, now plans to disburse his knowledge with the vast scattered community of cable ops in the country. 

    “I don’t want the cable ops to repeat the mistakes we made”, says Shaikh, pointing out that most small time cable ops invest huge amounts from their own pockets in putting up systems like Internet over cable and then run the risk of incompatibility. Hardware like switches, amplifiers, even optic fibre needs to be such that it is upgradable and compatible to the Indian conditions, says Shaikh. The novice cable op often trusts the vendors and ends up with the wrong product, he says. Shaikh himself had burnt his fingers with a CMTS system in which Seven Star invested nearly Rs 5 million some years ago. Several cable ops also stand the risk of being stuck with set top boxes which may not work efficiently in Indian conditions as well as with ISPs who may not be ideal for their networks, he says.

    Shaikh, who already has clients in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka, now plans to open an office in Mumbai to cater to domestic cable ops. 

  • Pakistan gets broadcasting regulations

    Pakistan gets broadcasting regulations

    Even as Indian officials hem and haw over promulgating broadcasting regulations, its neighbour and arch rival Pakistan has gone ahead and issued an executive order to get its laws in place. India‘s Broadcasting Bill has been garbaged (after four years of blowing hot and cold) and brought under the Communications Convergence Bill, which itself has been put on the back burner for nearly two years.

    The Pakistani government has had it easier, partly because it is governed by a military leader. Within two years of promising to open the floodgates to private TV channels, General Musharraf this week approved an ordinance that allows private sector television in Pakistan.

    The PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) Ordinance 2002 allows the establishment of an umbrella body that will issue licenses to broadcasters who have been labelled as broadcast media operators. The move is meant to bring in the element of ‘transparency and an invisible system of accountability through media available at local community, provincial, national, and international levels.‘

    This spells competition not only for the three state controlled channels in the country, but also to those from across the border that beam their programmes into Pakistan, and have a loyal following.

    The PEMRA will have a chairman and nine members who will be Presidential appointees, with the chairman being a prominent professional. Five of the PEMRA members are to be chosen from the private sector, including two women, with credentials in the media, law, human rights and social services.

    The Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance says that foreign television channels however will not be allowed entry, nor will licenses be granted to promoters who are not citizens or residents of Pakistan.
    TV Viewers in Pakistan: Will the new law mean more variety or less? (Pic courtesy: Time)

    The umbrella body is to also have three ex-officio members – the secretaries of Information and Interior and the chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority.

    The PEMRA has the responsibility of regulating the setting up and operation of all broadcast stations including radio and television and cable TV in the country. The Pakistan government is slated to provide it with seed money initially, but it will have to generate revenues through licensing fees and subscription.

    CATV Networks, which were earlier supervised by the ministries of Information and Media Development and Science and Technology, have been brought into the fold of this law and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority will continue to guide and support its technical side.

    The PEMRA Ordinance includes a Code of Conduct for media broadcasters and CATV operators to ensure decency and responsibility, and a clause stipulating that programming content of broadcasts is to be strictly and regularly monitored. A council of complaints has also been provided in the law to respond to people‘s complaints, and recommendations for disciplinary action against broadcasters violating the code of ethics and other provisions of the law have also been provided.

    Foreign television channels however will not be allowed entry, nor will licenses be granted to promoters who are not citizens or residents of Pakistan. Among others excluded from setting up shop in Pakistan are foreign companies established under the laws of any foreign government, companies the majority of whose shares are owned or controlled by foreign nationals or companies whose management or control is vested in foreign national or companies.

    The ordinance took some time to be promulgated as minor changes had to be made in the draft law earlier approved by the Cabinet in the shape of Rambo (Regulatory Authority for Media Broadcasting Organisations). What delayed things further was the round of fisticuffs between the ministries of Information and Media Development and Science and Technology over who should control the electronic media.

    The key issue confronting Indian broadcasters whose channels have been extremely popular in Pakistan is how the new regulations will impact their operation there. Broadcasters such as Zee TV, Star and Sony have encrypted in order to increase subscription revenues from India primarily, followed by south Asia. Zee TV oversees its Pakistan business and distribution from its office in Sharjah. Star India was the only network which was allowed to be received and distributed in Pakistan after a recent ban on Indian channels.