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Tag: Cinema 24×7

  • WOW Cinema petitions TDSAT on delayed auctions for DD FreeDish slots

    WOW Cinema petitions TDSAT on delayed auctions for DD FreeDish slots

    MUMBAI: Peeved by Doordarshan’s decision to keep a new round of e-auctions for slots for private TV channels on pubcaster’s FTA DTH service FreeDish on hold and fear of being shoved off the platform after annual contract expiry, WOW Cinema has moved disputes tribunal TDSAT questioning Prasar Bharati’s stand.

    Wow Cinema’s manager Cinema 24×7 Pvt. Ltd. has requested telecoms and broadcast disputes tribunal TDSAT, amongst other temporary relief, to restrain DD’s parent Prasar Bharati from removing the TV channel from the DTH platform after expiry of the agreed terms in September 2017 till the final disposal of the present petition.

    As reported by Indiantelevision.com earlier, slots for private broadcasters were not being filled up after falling vacant on DD FreeDish with the expiry of annual contracts, while Prasar Bharati has also reportedly put on hold a fresh round of e-auctions since August 2017 citing “administrative reasons”.

    This stance of the pubcaster, according to the petition, would/could affect more TV channels on DD FreeDish. According to the petition, which is likely to come up for preliminary hearing on 12 October 2017 at TDSAT, on account of absence of clarity on e-auctions from Prasar Bharati and the agreement with the petitioner coming to an end September 2017, WOW Cinema would not be available to viewers of FreeDish despite the petitioner’s willingness to fulfil all future obligations as part of auto-renewal of the contract.

    However, Prasar Bharati, through its counsel, has argued that since the petitioner was free to participate in a fresh round of auctions (as and when it happens) and would be governed by a fresh agreement on winning a slot, the request for an auto-extension was unfounded.

    It was also submitted by Prasar Bharati that two more channels (VAA Movies and RT Movies) too had gone off DD FreeDish due to the expiry of their agreements in August 2017— and so Wow Cinema is not an exception.

    DD FreeDish, a multi-channel FTA DTH service, was launched by Prasar Bharati in December 2004 and, at present, carried approximately 80 SD TV channels, along with 32 radio channels. This Ku-Band DTH service provides TV coverage throughout the Indian Territory (except Andaman & Nicobar islands) and, reportedly, has a subscriber base of about 22 millions.

    Though FreeDish is now over a decade old, but it’s only in the last few years that private TV channels realised its importance and the platform’s reach. With BARC India starting to measure rural audience, the primary base of FreeDish, private broadcasters started to jump on to the FTA bandwagon — even paying sizable carriage fee. WOW Cinema, for example, paid Rs. 80 million in an e-auction for a year’s shelf life on DD’s KU-band platform.

    Not only some private TV channels from the stable of big broadcast companies like Zee, Viacom18, Sony and Discovery, GECs and news channels included, had hopped on to the FTA bandwagon, but the likes of Star India had recently launched revamped or new TV channels (Star Bharat and Star Sports First) on the DD FreeDish with fresh programming to extend their reach and improve on audience measurement data.

    ALSO READ:

    10 FreeDish slots may fall vacant by Oct-end as renewals hang fire

    Doordarshan puts off 37th FreeDish auction

  • Cinema 24×7 launches new Hindi movie channel for LC1 market

    Cinema 24×7 launches new Hindi movie channel for LC1 market

    MUMBAI: Even as there are talks of media and entertainment behemoth Eros International looking to disrupt the Hindi movie channels space with its plans to launch a channel that will focus on shortening the window between the theatrical release and television premier of a film, a new player has quietly entered the already cluttered space.

     

    The cluttered Hindi movie channel genre, which has more than ten players like Zee Cinema, Star Gold, Sony Max, Sony Max 2, Zee Classic, Zee Action, &Pictures, Movies OK, B4U Movies, UTV Movies and Filmy, can now add ‘Wow Cinema’ to its growing list. 

     

    The channel, whose tests runs have been on since 1 June, 2015, will be available across the country from 10 June onwards on all Direct to Home (DTH) operators as well as major multi system operators (MSOs).

     

    Armed with a chest of more than 500 Hindi movies, which have been released between 1990 and 2006, the new free to air (FTA) channel from Cinema 24×7’s stable aims to target the LC1 market initially and then gradually move ahead to capture market share in the metros.

     

    From the sound of it, the channel may as well compete directly with Zee Classic, which only airs old Hindi movies. Nonetheless, Wow Cinema does have plans to acquire new movie titles in the near future.

     

    Speaking exclusively to Indiantelevision.com, Cinema 24×7 CEO Hitesh Sabharwal says that the channel will aggressively forge ahead towards buying movies and creating a strong library. The channel has the rights for the movies for a period of five years.

     

    Facing stiff competition from existing players who pull in viewers with big ticket movie premieres along with old but popular Bollywood fare, Wow Cinema aims to be a destination that will offer a mix of old and new. However, Sabharwal refused to divulge names of the movies that the channel has the rights to.

     

    “Wow Cinema will be a destination for Indian viewers to witness the mix of new and old. While we will keep the retro mode with our wide collection from 1990s to 2006, we will also have national premieres on the channel. The channel will give 360 degree value to advertisers on board and in the long run will compete with every player irrespective of new or old, small or big. Our target age group is from 4 to 60 across the country,” he asserts.

     

    Cinema 24×7 head of sales Dipak Shelke explains, “Our priority at this stage is to make a mark in the LC1 market and then gradually evolve in the metros. In terms of viewership, our initial target is to garner around 20 GRPs in the HSM.”

     

    With zilch subscription revenue coming in courtesy its FTA status, the channel’s single source of revenue will be advertising. Moreover, with the 12-minute ad cap regulation still being applied to FTA channels as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has not yet taken a formal decision to exempt them from it, Wow Cinema’s task has been cut out for it. In a scenario like this, the channel will have an uphill journey in raking in the revenues.

     

    Shelke opines, “Wow Cinema has the potential to emerge as advertisers’ destination as we promise to be audience’s choice by providing extensive content. We are in talks with many brands but it’s too early to name names. All I can say is that FMCG brands and E-Commerce companies are showing keen interest in the channel and we hope to seal the deals soon.”

     

    The channel launch will be backed by a marketing campaign, which will be rolled out soon.

     

    It now remains to be seen how the new channel differentiates itself from existing players and whether it manages to make a mark in the consumers’ mind by offering them fare that they haven’t seen before.