ITV

Tag: Dish TV

  • TRAI asks DTH operators to provide interoperability of STBs

    TRAI asks DTH operators to provide interoperability of STBs

    MUMBAI: In September this year, the licence of India’s oldest DTH provider Dish TV was to expire after a period of 10 years and then there was no provision for an extension. On 1 October the regulator came out with a consultation paper and on 14 November it issued a supplementary paper. 
    With the last date to provide feedback approaching, TRAI had an open house discussion (OHD) on 9 December with the leading DTH providers give suggestions on the consultation and supplementary papers released by TRAI.

    During the OHD, TRAI chairman Rahul Khullar said that set top boxes (STBs) should be inter-operable for the end consumer, either commercially or technically. He also told operators that the viewers should have the option to use the same STBs if they wished to change their service provider. But if operators found it to be a challenging prospect then they should be given an option of returning the STBs to their provider in exchange for money that could help them buy a new one.

    The Information and Broadcasting (I & B) Ministry had directed TRAI to set up new guidelines for obtaining DTH licenses in India. The OHD between TRAI and DTH players was to frame new recommendations regarding the same.

    During the OHD, DTH operators were asked to give views on issues such as entry fee and quantum thereof, licence fee, conditions governing cross holdings and period of extension. 

    Representatives from the industry said that new licences should be given for a reasonably long duration and the government should have the power to cancel these if operators violate rules.

    Khullar conveyed to operators that once the new licence rules come into effect, they will have two options: one, to either continue under their earlier terms and conditions till their licence expires or two, to change to the new system.

    Khullar has told DTH operators that they can submit any additional points till Friday.

  • After FreeDish, Rishtey rides onto Dish TV

    After FreeDish, Rishtey rides onto Dish TV

    MUMBAI: It debuted in India on 1 December on the pubcaster DD’s free DTH service FreeDish. Now Viacom 18’s second GEC channel Rishtey has got carriage on India’s oldest DTH platform Dish TV.

    Rishtey is currently running its test feed on Dish TV at LC number 1000 as well as on Freedish, India’s only FTA DTH broadcaster. Deals with other cable and DTH players are in progress to get the channel’s distribution intact before launch. Sources say that it would have paid anywhere between Rs 4 to Rs 6 crore get carriage on the pubcaster’s DTH service.

    IndiaCast – which is distributing the channel in India – sources indicate that test feeds will soon commence on Airtel Digital TV and Videocon d2H as well.

    The FTA channel that launched September last year in the UK, broadcasts reruns from Colors and original programming from channels in Pakistan such as Maat (currently on) and Humsafar (completed).

    Recently, Rishtey UK doubled its ad rates on completion of its successful run in year one during the course of which it beat even Colors there. Primetime commercials are being sold there for as high as ?600 for a mainstream advertiser and ?100 for an ethnic one.

  • HomeShop18 TV Channel gives minimum 50% discount on wedding shopping

    HomeShop18 TV Channel gives minimum 50% discount on wedding shopping

    NEW DELHI: For the first time ever, India’s leading virtual shopping player, HomeShop18 has announced a wedding shopping festival called ‘Pyar Ka Vada 50-50’, starting from November 22nd, on its 24×7 shopping TV channel. Indian customers can step up their celebration during this wedding season by availing minimum 50% offer on the purchases made across categories like Jewellery, Men’s & Women’s Apparel, Footwear, Beauty etc.

    November is the month when the wedding season begins in India and continues till February. Be it a wedding in your family or some relatives, there are many functions to attend. So while there’s the joy of celebration & shopping on people’s mind, there’s also the tension of when to shop, from where to shop, how to get discounts and best deals etc. With this promotion HomeShop18 is trying to ease of the burden by bringing shopping to TV Screens and by offering discount as big as 50% off on products which people buy during weddings.

    Mr. Dhruva Chandrie, COO & Business Head -TV, HomeShop18 said “As the name suggests ‘Pyaar ka Vaada – 50:50’ we promise to reduce your spends by half on products that you will buy from HomeShop18. Our wedding special products not only scores high on quality and design but are also modestly priced. Instead of expending energy for wedding shopping in various shops, customers can simply order for wedding collection on HomeShop18 from the comfort of their living room and save money too. ”

    Shopping from the comfort of the home has always been exciting for HomeShop18 customers as it saves their time and energy. So, this time save your energy for the numerous wedding functions you have to attend and leave the task of shopping on HomeShop18 TV Channel.

    HomeShop18 TV channel is available on all big and small DTH players: Dish TV- channel no 122, Reliance- channel no 219, Videocon- channel no 137, Airtel- channel no 107.

  • Breaking news, the French way

    Breaking news, the French way

    MUMBAI: The French public news channel France 24 has been available on cable TV since December 2010. However, it is only now that the channel is going all out to announce its arrival to Indian audiences.

    Earlier this month, France 24 inked deals with two DTH platforms, Dish TV and DD Direct+ to increase its reach to 38 million viewers from just 7 million on cable TV.

    And soon, a slew of advertisements will appear in newspapers and out-of-home (OOH) media, with French major Gedeon as the creative agency of choice.

    The channel, which aims to offer India a glimpse of the world essentially through French eyes, has kicked-off promotional campaigns with the tagline ‘World news made in France’ in leading newspapers and magazines, including The Times of India, Hindustan Times, India Today and Time Out. Apart from this, outdoor hoardings will be seen at the Delhi Airport and Metro junctions for three months.

    Says France Monde Group CEO and chairwoman Marie-Christine Saragosse: “In terms of distribution, India represents a substantial and strategic market for us. Over the years, India has become a major player on the international scene and now it’s time for France 24 to be available to the largest possible audience across the country. That’s the reason why our long-term objective is to establish the channel as a reference and make its presence durable to Indian viewers. But to do so, we need to reach more and more TV households, increase the channel’s profile and the visibility of its programs.”

    Distributed across the country by Catvision, the FTA channel has also launched India-centric programmes to air till the end of this month.

    “France 24 is an international news channel, therefore our reports and coverage depend on the international agenda but one thing is sure, we’ll be increasing our coverage of all major news in India and in its region,” says Saragosse, adding that India has been quoted over 250 times on the website, either in articles or TV reports, since the beginning of the year.

     

    Saragosse feels that Indians will know the way the French see and present news

    “Our India-based journalists in the region are permanently on alert and covering every event related to the country live in our news bulletins and reports,” she says, informing that two teams have been operating from Delhi and Mumbai since the channel’s worldwide launch in 2006.

    The French diaspora in India is pegged at approximately 10,000 while according to the International Organization of the Francophonie, there are around 2.6 French-speaking people in India.

    So is France 24 mainly catering to this segment? “It is obviously important for us to target the French speakers and the French expatriates. Nevertheless, the biggest potential in the region remains the English-speaking market. That’s why we want to address the English speakers with our English version in India. Anyone with a connection to France is a plus, but our French perspective on news is quite universal and it is today making the difference: with 41.7 million TV viewers each week, France 24 has found its rightful place in the global news international concert. It gives a French perspective to international current events through diversity of opinions, debate, contradiction and confrontation of viewpoints,” says Saragosse.

    A media planner however pointed out that the ad campaign, while showing France 24’s POV, doesn’t really connect with Indian audiences. “It will not be easy for them to garner a mass audience. At the same time, BBC is an established brand already for international news. They might also be doing the same: building the brand name in the country,” he says.

    Another planner though felt the deals would add value to the channel by making it more visible to viewers in the country.

    Right now, France 24 isn’t earning any revenue from advertising as it is a foreign channel and an FTA. It has also burnt a hole in its pocket in carriage and advertising fees. “Discussing everything; that’s undoubtedly part of the French way of life. And I am pretty sure you’ll like it,” Saragosse signs off.

  • Dish TV flexes muscles; to launch consumer campaign

    Dish TV flexes muscles; to launch consumer campaign

    MUMBAI: Dish TV subscribers will find a ticker running on their TV screens when they tune in tomorrow morning. The Direct-To-Home (DTH) player begins a campaign, starting 15 November, called ‘On Request Channels.’ The move, it says, is to give TV consumers a freedom of choice.

     

    With this, Dish TV says it aims to provide consumers a flexible package and savings by offering channels ‘on request only basis’.

     

    Currently, the DTH provider has seven different packages for subscribers in north India and eight different packages for south Indian subscribers with a combination of different channels.

     

    Now, Dish TV proposes to classify most channels as ‘On Request Channels.’ The subscribers will have several weeks to decide and place their request.

     

    Once a subscriber places a request to unsubscribe to a particular channel or channels, he/she will stop receiving them from the cut-off date, Dish TV states. These subscribers will be given 100 bonus points (worth Rs 100) for each unrequested channel. The points can be used to purchase movies-on-demand and selected a la carte channels of their choice.

     

    Says Dish TV India CEO R.C Venkateish:  “The current trend from media aggregators is to force-bundle all kinds of unwanted channels into packages and the customer is forced to receive numerous channels that he/ she may never watch or appreciate. The idea is to have viewers watch and opt for channels or content that they like and our new offer gives them just that. The bonus point here is that they can save as well.”

     

    The DTH operator, over a period of time, expects content costs to come down significantly, with each subscriber being served only those channels that he or she wants to watch. The DTH player wants to pass down the benefits to its consumers, it says.

     

    The Jawahar Goel run-DTH player says channels that want to reach out to subscribers despite being unrequested will need to pay a carriage fee to compensate for the extra bandwidth consumption.

     

    Dish TV, says it has also circulated a rate card to all broadcasters for carriage services as well as a menu of offerings for different levels of service including channel numbers.
    The move has got the aggregators’ ire despite it being pitched as a pro-consumer offering.  “It will only confuse consumers. Which consumer has the time to choose channels?” says an aggregator on condition of anonymity.

     

    He further adds that Dish TV is under pressure with five other DTH players competing in the space and it is resorting to gimmicks.

     

    “Another reason for this could be that it is looking at extracting more carriage fees from the broadcasters,” he says. “It could be posturing for all you know as it may be laying the ground to negotiate better when the time comes to renew deals with aggregators.”

     

    The buzz is that the IndiaCast bouquet of channels is likely to be listed in the ticker which begins on 15 November.  IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi was surprised when indiantelevision.com called him up. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.  “As far as we are concerned, we have a very good relationship with Dish TV. We have four ongoing deals with them, right now. We will have to see how it plays out.”

  • France 24 readies itself for Indian audiences

    France 24 readies itself for Indian audiences

    MUMBAI: This week, France 24, the international English news channel has lined up a number of shows that are focused on India, as part of its campaign to boost viewership in the country.

     

     The channel launched on two DTH platforms earlier this month – DD Direct+ and Dish TV making it available to an additional 31 million households in the country. Seven million homes already receive it through cable.

     

    A cultural show depicting the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, 100 years of Indian cinema and Indian gastronomy along with three personalities speaking – fashion designer Ritu Beri, actress Nandita Das, Impresario restaurant CEO Gresham Fernandes – was telecasted yesterday with repeats throughout today.

     

    A debate on ‘at the heart of the next world power’ will see the likes of HRD minister Shashi Tharoor, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman, founder of Kali Urvashi Butalia and Sunstone Business school co-founder Rajul Garg on the show tonight. Interviews with Godrej group chairman Adi Godrej, screenwriter Anand Gandhi, JSW Steel chairman Sajjan Jindal and Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani will be shown this week.

     

    Reports on the rollout of the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) in the country and an online platform called Digital Green will also be a part of their upcoming FCP (Fixed Chart Point).

     

    The channel wants to make a space for itself in the heart of Indian audiences. The channel was officially launched in Delhi yesterday.

  • Dish TV crosses one lakh downloads of DishOnline

    Dish TV crosses one lakh downloads of DishOnline

    MUMBAI: The newly launched DishOnline application by Dish TV crossed one lakh downloads in less than 30 days of its launch.

    The DTH operator was quick on its feet to understand the trend of consumers preferring to watch TV anywhere anytime. This prompted Dish TV to launch its DishOnline application that is a first-of-its-kind online video streaming service that allows customers to watch TV across devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.

    Dish TV India COO Salil Kapoor said: “This trend in the Indian market is in line with the global market where device shift for TV content consumption is clearly visible (from one TV to multi-screen TV/ tablets/ smartphones/ laptops). As a pioneer and market leader, it was imperative that we demonstrate thought-leadership and launch this new service for the benefit of our subscribers. We are thankful to our subscribers for this encouraging initial response. New products such as this have a tremendous potential to grow and we look forward to capturing an even wider subscriber base in the times to come.”

    It is a unique service from Dish TV that allows subscribers to watch live and catch up TV including videos and movies. DishOnline has a huge library of movies (1000 plus titles) which can be enjoyed anywhere anytime on the go.

    It is a paid service priced at Rs 129 for the Jumbo pack and at Rs 69 for the Starter pack (currently being offered at Rs 69 and Rs 29 as an introductory offer). The initial success of this product proved that the consumption of content by consumers is evolving and they are ready to pay extra for convenience that includes both time and screen. 

    Dish TV launched this innovative path-breaking service – DishOnline – in early October that proposed to redefine TV viewing in India. This service is being provided to the family of 15 million plus subscribers of Dish TV. It is a full-fledged OTT (over the top) streaming application.

  • Its Raining Gold on Zee Anmol

    Its Raining Gold on Zee Anmol

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEE), India’s leading television, media & entertainment conglomerate’s recently launched free-to-air GEC ‘Zee Anmol’ is happy to announce its festive season bonanza for its valued viewers. The channel has plans of daily gifting its ‘anmol’ viewers ‘Ek tola sona’ amongst several other bumper prizes as the gratification of its 2-week contest called ‘Zee Anmol Dekho, Sona Jeeto’. Starting 25th October till 5th November, questions about the channel’s primetime shows will be posed to viewers in the course of their telecast between 6:30 and 10 PM daily. Viewers will be required to SMS ZA <Their Answer> <Their Name> <City Name> to 57575. One lucky winner will take home ‘1 tola sona’ every day and many more will walk away with other exciting prizes. What’s more … winners will be declared on the very next day!

    Positioned as ‘Dil Choo Jaaye’, ‘Zee Anmol’ is a channel that believes in touching people’s hearts through real, genuine emotions depicted through some of the best shows that Indian Television has ever seen. ‘Zee Anmol’ stands for the most invaluable things in life – Love, family, memories! Already available across major MSO’s, cable operators and key DTH platforms such as Dish TV, DD Direct, Tata Sky, Big TV, Siti Cable, Hathway, DEN, Digi Cable and WWIL, ‘Zee Anmol’ showcases some of the choicest, hand-picked content in the history of Indian television including the most unforgettable shows from ZEE’s repository. It features some of the current hot favorite fiction and non-fiction properties of Zee TV as well as entertaining movies and kids’ content. The current programming line-up of ‘Zee Anmol’ includes shows like ‘Pavitra Rishta’, ‘Choti Bahu’, ‘Saat Phere’, ‘Naagin’, ‘Maayka’, ‘Kasamh Se’, ‘Sindoor’, ‘Jhansi ki Rani’, ‘India’s Best Dramebaaz’, ‘Shabaash India’ and ‘Dance India Dance’ amongst others.

    Tune in to ‘Zee Anmol’ for entertainment that is bound to touch your hearts. It cant get better for the viewers to win gold every day.
     

  • North East Live in talks with DTH players

    North East Live in talks with DTH players

    Kolkata: ‘North East Live’, the first 24×7 satellite news channel launched in Arunachal Pradesh at the beginning of this month, is in talks with DTH (direct-to-home) players like Tata Sky, Dish TV, Airtel, etc to get itself integrated in the list of channels offered to subscribers by them. For this, the channel has earmarked an annual budget of Rs 12 crore-Rs 13 crore.

    In Arunachal Pradesh, the DTH players charge around Rs 4.5 crore every year as carriage fees.

    The news channel also plans to start a beauty pageant very soon. It has tied up with Femina Miss India in order to make participating in the contest easier for the girls from north east India. The girls can directly get in touch with the channel.

    ‘North East Live’ is a sister channel of Guwahati-based Pride East Entertainment Private Limited running three other channels-namely ‘Newslive’, a news channel; while ‘Rang’ and ‘Ramdhenu’ are general entertainment channels (GEC) channels.

    “This is the fourth venture of Pride East Entertainment. The news would be telecast in Hindi, English, Assamese and Bengali. We would focus on the political beat more as north eastern states are likely to see many developments,” said Caushiq Bezboruah, chief executive officer, Pride East Entertainments.

    Pride East Entertainments has around 350 employs working for them. For the ‘North East Live’, there is a team of 50 people. “We have set up a studio at Arunachal Pradesh and for the Guwahati reporting, the infrastructure and manpower of ‘Newslive’ are used,” said Bezboruah.

    Talking about their plan to get them included on the DTH platform, Bezboruah says that the DTH players have strong foothold as compared to local cable operators in the state. “The players would take a view of the percentage of our acceptance among viewers. They will do a survey probably,” he said.

    While talking about the tie up with Femina Miss India, he said that many aspiring women miss the opportunity because of the difficulty of travelling to Kolkata. “But this would make it easier for them,” he said.

    He even thinks that with this new works out, the people across the country and abroad will be able to know more about north east India via their channels. “The information about north east India missed by the mainstream channels will reach the rest of the country and the world from now on through this satellite channel,” he said.

    On being asked about the media scenario in the north eastern region of the country, Bezboruah said it is very similar to the other parts of the country and revenue generation is challenging.

  • Now avail Dish TV on the go

    Now avail Dish TV on the go

    NEW DELHI: Commemorating completion of 10 years in the business, the country’s oldest DTH platform – Dish TV – today launched its services on laptops, tablets and smart phones, albeit available only to those customers who subscribe to the platform on television.

     

    Significantly, this is a first for any DTH player to have launched a full-fledged, OTT (Over the top) streaming application that provides unlimited entertainment ‘on the go’.
    The platform expects to add nearly 50,000 subscribers in the same period for its latest innovation

     

    Dish TV will make available the additional service in two packages: the Jumbo Pack for Rs 129 per month and the Starter Pack for Rs 49 every month. Initially though, these packs will be available for Rs 69 and Rs 29 per month, respectively. However, the platform will offer a free trial for the first two days.So what’s on offer? The packs come with 35 plus live channels, 1000 plus films in their video library, and the capacity to see repeats of TV series episodes within 24 hours. CEO RC Venkateish says he expects the number of live channels to increase further.

     

    How can the service be accessed? It’s available on Android and Apple app and works wonderfully on 3G or Wifi. Powered by Essel owned Zee’s Ditto TV aided by Siemens, the service will shortly be available on Windows 8. The application can be downloaded from the Google Playstore or Apple App Store.

     

    Speaking of Dish TV’s versatility as a platform, vice president (marketing) Anjali Malhotra says Dish TV was the first to launch HD TV channels (42 channels presently), Dish on wheels which made it possible to view channels in moving cars/trains/ships, recorders with unlimited capacity, value added services, and now Dish Online – Anywhere, Everywhere.

     

    Malhotra claims 50,000 recorders have been sold in just six months and the platform expects to add nearly 50,000 subscribers in the same period for its latest innovation, considering 35 per cent mobile consumers use smart phones. Malhotra says Essel is now a Rs 2,200 crore company while COO Salil Kapoor says Dish TV is Asia’s largest and the world’s third largest DTH platform.

     

    About the films component of the package, Kapoor explains Dish TV subscribers can register simply by sending their account details where expenses would be added to their main bill.

     

    Apart from print and other media, the service will be mainly marketed on Zee channels and through messages to all Dish TV subscribers through their mobile numbers.

     

    Fielding queries as to why Dish TV thought of such a service, Kapoor goes on to explain that India is the third largest Internet player in the world with 74 million subscribers; 75 per cent of whom are between 15 and 35 years of age. This demographic is expected to increase five-fold by 2015, of which three-fourth is expected to own mobiles. Currently, an estimated 60,025,000 Indians have watched videos on their personal computers or laptops.