ITV

Tag: Digicable

  • 191 MSOs get 10 year licences under DAS for specified areas, 7 allowed to cover more areas

    191 MSOs get 10 year licences under DAS for specified areas, 7 allowed to cover more areas

    NEW DELHI: Pursuant to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) urging the Home Ministry to expedite security clearances if digital addressable system (DAS) deadline for phase III has to be achieved, the past 10 weeks have seen a quantum jump in the number of multi-system operators (MSOs) getting 10 year registration: from 169 as on 10 April to 191 as of 22 June 2015.

     

    While there have been licences given, there are a few who have lost their licences. These include – SR Cable of Bangalore ceasing activity, and the Sun-owned Kal Cables of Chennai and Digicable Network India of Mumbai being refused security clearance.

     

    Some others have had their areas modified. These include one in Maharashtra (JPR Channel of Mumbai to cover pan India), Madhya Pradesh (CAN Digital of Indore to also cover Bhopal and Indore), Barak Communication of Assam (to cover more areas in the state), Delhi Distribution Company (to cover Pan India), Technobile Systems of Haryana (to cover more areas in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Haryana and Rajasthan) and Sea TV Network of Agra, and Novabase Digital Entertainment of Delhi that have got revised licences.

     

    Most of these MSOs had been given provisional permission earlier.

  • Calcutta HC extends Digicable Comm interim stay till 6 April

    Calcutta HC extends Digicable Comm interim stay till 6 April

    KOLKATA: Granting relief to Digicable Comm once again, the Calcutta High Court has extended the interim stay till 6 April 2015.

    Previously, the Calcutta High Court had put the stay order on the cancellation of the registration of Kolkata-based multi-system operator (MSOs) till 17 January 2015, citing that Digicable Comm, having been in business for quite some time and would suffer irreparable loss and injury, unless appropriate ad-interim protection is granted to them.

    Jishnu Saha, a senior advocate for the petitioners, did hope for an extension of the interim order. An extension was also sought to file the affidavit-in reply since affidavit-in-opposition had been filed out of time. “Interim order already granted is extended till 6 April, 2015 or until further order, whichever is earlier,” said DigiCableComm Services operations and technology VP Lokesh Agarwal, quoting the letter.

    As hoped, time to file affidavit-in-reply has been extended till 27 January, 2015, he further said.

    It should be noted that in July last year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had cancelled the registration of Digicable Comm. Services.

    Digicable Comm, a joint venture (JV) between Digicable (51 per cent) and Kolkata-headquartered Multicar Group (49 per cent) was formed in the year 2009, to gain the foothold in the West Bengal market.

    Digicable Comm is hopeful that after appealing to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and moving to the High Court, the decision would be in favour of the MSO. “We are happy to get the stay order extended from the High Court. Slowly we will expand in the region,” added Agarwal.

    MHA cancelled the company’s permanent registration on 18 July due to denial of security clearance.

    Cable TV experts when asked to comment on the reason for the denial of security clearance by authorities said this might be due to Amit Nag who was the then chief executive officer (CEO) and on the board and the application for DAS (digital addressable system) had his signature.

    Now, going forward what happened with the MSO here is not hidden from anyone. Nag not only resigned from Digicable but had convinced around 412 of the 600 cable operators affiliated to Digi Cable to switch to Hathway along with him. More than 400 LCOs affiliated to DigiCable when switched to Hathway did not think that they would have to spend sleepless nights and some even behind bars, cable TV sources said.

    At present, Digicable Com which boasted more than four lakh connections in the KM area is left with less than 50,000 set top boxes (STBs).

    “We will follow the mandates. We are hopeful that the authorities would consider the minute details presented by us,” said Agarwal.

  • Chrome Data: A reality check for Star’s RIO?

    Chrome Data: A reality check for Star’s RIO?

    MUMBAI: In a move that was bound to give birth to a whole new module of distribution, Star India, after deciding to enter only into Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) deals, in late October this year, decided to give incentives to the multi system operators (MSOs) for carrying its channels.

    With a promise to empower the viewer and platforms, usher in a new era of transparency, and boost the entire digitisation eco-system, the broadcaster decided to incentivise platform operators, if they meet the three criteria: firstly, provide more Star channels on its platform; secondly, give it to as many subscribers as it can; and thirdly, give easy access by placing the channels in the top LCN on its platform.

    However, the shift didn’t go down well with the multi system operators (MSOs). Voices were raised; only to go down with a pinch of salt as slowly they agreed to put all Star channels on a la carte. With IndusInd Media and Communications Limited (IMCL) being the first one to agree to the demands of Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF), the others including Den Networks, Digicable and Siti Cable also agreed to give the Star network channels only on viewer’s choice.

    Hathway Cable & Datacom joined the bandwagon after almost a month, by coming out with its new pricing and packaging system.

    And now with everyone toeing the same lines, one would expect things getting in place, if not perfect. However, a look at the opportunity to see (OTS) collated week-on-week by Chrome Data Media & Analytics tells another story.
    If numbers are to be believed, the OTS of channels from the network have seen a setback after the announcement of RIO. There has been a certain percentage difference between the pre and the post RIO era. And suffering the most are the niche and sports channels from the network’s stable.

    Sports channel s across India saw a drop of 9.5 per cent OTS. Channels impacted by this drop are Star Sports 1, 2, 3 & 4. Similarly, English entertainment and movie channels too have felt the heat. With 27.7 per cent OTS drop and 11.7 per cent OTS loss, channels like Star Movies and Star Movies Action and Star World and Fox Crime are losing out in their respective genres.

    The only channels which haven’t seen much impact from the RIO deal belong to the general entertainment category. It has seen a marginal drop of 0.5 per cent OTS from 81.76 per cent to 81.39 per cent, thanks to high demand of channels like Channel V, Star Utsav and Star Plus.

    To fix the damage done, the network will have to work hand-in-hand with the MSOs and advertise as much as possible to let consumers want to avail all its channels.

     

  • Leading MSOs decide to put Star channels on a la carte in Mumbai

    Leading MSOs decide to put Star channels on a la carte in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: The leading multi system operators (MSOs) in Mumbai, except Hathway Cable and Datacom, have agreed to put all Star channels on a la carte. With IndusInd Media and Communications Limited (IMCL) being the first one to agree to the demands of Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF), the others including Den Networks, Digicable and Siti Cable have also agreed to give the Star network channels only on viewer’s choice.

    Starting immediately, all the Star channels will go off air from all the platforms. “A landmark decision has been taken today. All the leading MSOs have agreed to put Star channels on a la carte, on the rate published by the broadcaster in the Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO),” informs MCOF president Arvind Prabhoo adding that the MSOs have agreed to forego their share and will sell the channels on the RIO price only.

    “The last mile owner (LMO), depending on the area he is dealing with, will add the collection charges and give it to his customer,” he says.

    As reported earlier by Indiantelevision.com, the cable operators in Mumbai have already started with their surveys to find out which customer wants which Star channels. “We will start informing the customers about the Star channels going a la carte and will switch on those channels which the subscriber wants,” informs Prabhoo adding that the only way to increase the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is by putting channels on a la carte.

    With all the other MSOs, at least in Mumbai moving to a la carte, one will have to wait and watch the packaging that Hathway comes up with. “We will be announcing the packages by 1 December,” says a source from Hathway.

     

  • Bombay HC may hear Digicable license cancellation case next week

    Bombay HC may hear Digicable license cancellation case next week

    KOLKATA: The Bombay High Court may hear the Digicable Network license cancellation case next week most probably on Monday.

    Earlier as well, the Bombay HC had granted relief to the multi-system operator (MSO) when it extended the order cancelling its permanent registration till 5 November. “The case was adjourned as the MIB counsel had sought around four weeks’ time to file replies in the matter,” says an analyst.

    Jagjit Singh Kohli-promoted Digicable Network, which challenged the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s order on 13 September, had earlier got an ad interim stay against the order till 6 October.
    “The hearing has been postponed for the next two to three days,” said Kohli.

     

    The MSO had approached the court in September post which it got an ad interim stay till 6 October and subsequently till 5 November. The MSO had challenged the basis on which the security clearance was denied to the MSO.

     

    A similar case is being heard in the Kolkata High Court on the petition filed by its JV -Digicable Comm on its licence cancellation. That case has been postponed to 28 November. The Kolkata based MSO has got a stay order on its cancellation twice and this being the third time. The court observed that when the MSO received its DAS licence in 2013, it was subject to security clearance from Home Ministry and the same has been denied in the order passed in September 2014.

     

    In July, the ministry of information and broadcasting had cancelled the licences of Digicable Comm while in September the same was done for Digicable Network, on the basis of denial of security clearance by the Home Ministry.

     

  • Big Magic launches weekend property ‘Shahi Shanivaar’

    Big Magic launches weekend property ‘Shahi Shanivaar’

    MUMBAI: Big Magic, the flagship Hindi general entertainment channel from Reliance Broadcast Network brings another new offering in its bouquet of shows.

     

    Riding on the immense popularity of ‘Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal’, the channel is extending the show now on weekends with a one hour new episode every Saturday at 9 pm.

     

    Titled ‘Shahi Shanivaar’, the latest weekend property stands on the backdrop of magnificent look and historical stories and aims to retain its audience attention even on weekends.

     

    Commenting on announcement of Shahi Shanivaar, Reliance Broadcast Network COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “We are delighted to announce a weekend property called ‘Shahi Shanivaar’ on the popular show ‘Har Mushkil Ka Hal Akbar Birbal’ that keeps up the historical comedy quotient on Saturdays too.”

     

    “The one hour shows will have new and interesting plots backed by historical research on the backdrop of royal splendour and special appearances by celebrities. We have maintained the same timing of 9pm so that from Monday to Saturday our audience’s experience the show same time thus offering greater value and consistency for marketers,” he added.

     

    Beginning on 1 November 2014, popular artist and celebrity Chetan Hansraj will be a part of a major conspiracy plot in the show, which will be followed by an episode on ‘Vishkanya’ on 18 November and a ‘Maha-episode’ on 15 November. Each of these episodes will also be integrating local festivals of the Hindi heartland that characterises India and is backed by strong local research and insight.

  • Amazon’s cloud service, the preferred choice by media industry, says Amit Sharma

    Amazon’s cloud service, the preferred choice by media industry, says Amit Sharma

    MUMBAI: Striving to be Earth’s most consumer-centric company, Amazon.com is a place where customers can virtually discover anything they want to buy online. To prove their consumer-centeredness, the online retail giant in 2006 launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) exposing key infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services, more commonly known as cloud computing.

    Even as a web service, Amazon is as well received and popular as its e-tailer form with clients ranging from MNCs to online agencies and news broadcasters.

    Talking about the base strategy of the company at Broadcast India conference, Amazon Internet Services’ solution architect Amit Sharma said “Focus on content development, leave the infrastructure management to us.”

    The company’s global clientele includes; Netflix, IMDB, Discovery Communications, Samsung, NASA while Hungama, NDTV, DigiCable, India Today Group, Sony among others joined them from India.

    According to Sharma, the company has around 8000 customers in India. “AWS Cloud is a preferred choice by the media industry,” he adds.

    With the rise of the online medium, everything from music to movies and TV shows have shifted online. The old hardware storage has been replaced almost completely by internet, tapes have been replaced by servers and the companies have gone digital. With these paradigm changes happening in the online world, AWS provides a platform for better web services to the company, Sharma opines.

    The company mainly handles issues getting all the content online to provide easy access.

    “Netflix runs almost 100 per cent of its online videos on AWS. In order to transfer the entire library of Netflix to AWS, we used around 1200 servers,” Sharma reveals.

    Similarly AWS provides solutions to problems including; reducing IT cost for new applications, for user profiling, websites and website hosting, business applications, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, data archive, high performance computing, mobile services, digital marketing, game development and digital media.

    Book My Show, uses AWS to analyse users that visit the site while Hungama was looking to reduced 33 per cent monthly costs using AWS.

    The company provides a highly reliable, scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that has helped a number of enterprises, government and startup customers businesses in 190 countries around the world. AWS offers over 30 different services, including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS).

    Available to customers from data center locations in the US, Brazil, Europe, Japan, Singapore and Australia, the company is planning to expand further and open a data centre in India.

    Recently, software giant Microsoft had said it will set up three data centres in India, offering commercial cloud services, to tap what it estimates is a $2 trillion opportunity. These data centres are expected to be set up by the end of 2015.

     

  • Several Chennai-based MSOs get clearance for DAS

    Several Chennai-based MSOs get clearance for DAS

    NEW DELHI: A total of 119 Multi System Operators (MSOs), all over the country, have been granted permanent registration for 10 years to operate the digital addressable system (DAS).

     

    The MSOs had been given provisional permission earlier.

     

    Interestingly, many MSOs from Chennai have got permission except for Arasu as the latest recommendation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) states that state-owned bodies should not be permitted, and also because of the denial of permission to Kal Cables and its subsidiary Sumangali.

     

    The nine MSOs, which have got permission as per the latest list released on 22 September, are Koduri Satyanarayana, Sri Sai TV Services of Khammam District of Telengana; Abhilash Communications of Adilabad for notified areas of phase  II and phase  III cities in PAN India; JPR Channel of Mumbai for Mumbai (phase I) and phase II areas in Maharashtra and Gujarat; Operator Digital Tamil Nadu for all the cities, towns and villages of phase II,III and IV in Tamil Nadu; VK Digital Network of Chennai for cities/towns/areas occurring against phase I, phase II, phase III, phase-IV; Saga Network Entertainment of Chennai for Tamil Nadu; Talachaer TV Home Cable Network of Talacher in Odisha for Angul District and Dhenkanal District, Odisha ; Voice and Vision Club of Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh for phase III and IV of Madhya Pradesh and Sonebhadra Districts of Uttar Pradesh; and Den Network Satellite of Mumbai for Maharashtra. 

     

    Digicable Network of Mumbai and Kal Cables of Chennai, which had received provisional licence’s, have been refused permission as it has failed to get the clearance of the Home Ministry.

     

    According to a list issued in late July, 16 MSOs had been refused permission. It also said that Kolkata based Digicable Communications had been denied permission after the break-up of the joint venture with Digicable Networks of Mumbai, which has received permission for Greater Mumbai, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Greater Kolkata.

     

    MSO sources, however, said that the approved list was in addition to the 140 whose names had been approved in March last year.

  • 112 MSOs get 10 year licence under DAS for specified areas

    112 MSOs get 10 year licence under DAS for specified areas

    NEW DELHI: A total of 112 multi system operators (MSOs) all over the country have been granted permanent registration for 10 years to operate the digital addressable system (DAS).

     

    The MSOs had been given provisional permission earlier. The latest list is as on 22 August.

     

    Those who have got permission include IndusInd Media and Communications, Hathway, Manthan Broadband, Den Network, Home Cable, Digicable Network, Delhi Distribution Company and Asianet Satellite Communications.

     

    According to a list issued in late July, 16 MSOs had been refused permission. It also said that Kolkata based Digicable Communications had been denied permission after the break-up of the joint venture with Digicable Networks of Mumbai, which has received permission for Greater Mumbai, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Greater Kolkata.

      

    MSO sources, however, said that the approved list was in addition to the 140 whose names had been approved in March last year.

     

    The Ministry website mib.nic.in has listed the areas and the date from which the MSOs have been given permission.

  • Big Magic Bihar & Jharkhand now available on Airtel Digital TV

    Big Magic Bihar & Jharkhand now available on Airtel Digital TV

    MUMBAI: As part of its distribution-strengthening strategy, BIG MAGIC Bihar & Jharkhand the regional entertainment channel from the Reliance Broadcast Network stable, inks distribution deal with Airtel Digital TV becoming available on Channel No.628. Airtel Digital TV subscribers will now add to BIG MAGIC Bihar & Jharkhand’s massive reach as it spreads out to a larger diaspora across India.

     

    Backed with an aggressive distribution plan and an endeavor to reach its rich regionally rooted content, to discerning audiences across the country, the channel’s availability on the massive DTH platform – Airtel Digital TV is a step in this direction. With an eclectic content mix that encompasses a wide slate ranging fiction, crime, reality, music, devotion, movies and mythology, tailored to offer a wholesome family viewing experience, the Channel is primed to get a huge loyal audience base instantly. Viewers can now savour television shows coated with the regional flavor ranging Police Files, Hindustan ka BIG Star, Bhojpuri Films, BIG Memsaab, BIG Bahuria and upcoming reality show BIG Folk Star.

     

    Commenting on the development, Reliance Broadcast Television Business COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “We are a leading player in the regional market and have delivered excellent performance. We see a huge opportunity in catering to a larger diaspora by partnering with Airtel Digital TV and our endeavor is to reach our content mix to the discerning audiences spread across the length and breadth of India. We are proud to partner with them as yet another step in this direction.”

     

    BIG Magic Bihar and Jharkhand is currently available on Dish TV, Hathway, Incable, Manthan, Digicable, GTPL, Siti Cable, Maurya, DEN and other all independent operators.