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Tag: Dish TV

  • Dish TV pumps up the volume on interactive services, marketing

    Dish TV pumps up the volume on interactive services, marketing

    NEW DELHI: The Indian DTH market is all set to explode with Dish TV going ballistic with services and marketing activities ahead of Tata Sky’s imminent launch.

    Though Dish TV terms it as sheer coincidence that it’s unveiling a host of value-added services and as well as coming out with a media campaign over the last two days, the timing seems to be just correct.

    “We had planned our value added service from before and it’s purely a coincidence that our consumer-awareness campaign, which broke a few days ago in the media, comes ahead of Tata Sky’s proposed launch,” Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna told Indiantelevision.com today.

    Apart from a 360 degree approach through a media campaign — goodbye to cable problems. Hello Digital! — country’s first DTH platform Dish TV is also set to unveil a host of services from Monday onwards.
    Leading the pack of new initiatives is interactivity, which will come via Zee News.

    The digi-boxes of Dish TV would now allow the unique experience of interactive viewing. Consumers can surf while watching TV for detailed stories, headlines and weather reports.

    How does this work? A subscriber of Dish TV wants to see whether Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza has won her latest match or not and cannot wait for the sports segments to come in the news bulletin.

    So while a news bulletin is on on Zee News, a few presses of the buttons can take the viewer straight to the sports section for the Sania news story even as the main news bulletin continues.

    “Such interactive facilities will give Dish viewers more convenience, but will also mean the broadcaster’s (Zee News in this case) having to upload more feeds than usual to give the interactivity features a momentum,” Khanna said.

    By the end of next week, Zee News’ interactivity on Dish would be completed for all subscribers, he assures.

    Apart from news, Dish TV is also planning to go interactive with sports, starting with Zee Sports.

    Sports interactivity will involve freezing of shots from a particular angle, getting player details immediately without having to wait for the sports channel providing it and statistics about the game in progress and sports in general.

    The interactivity on Zee Sports will start with the Indian cricket board-recognised tri-nation series involving India, Australia and another country at a neutral ground from mid-September for which Zee has the telecast rights.

    “At this point of time only Zee Sports will go interactive, but we are talking to Sony Entertainment TV India for introducing the features for the ICC Champions Trophy that will air on Max,” Khanna said.

    Dish now has all the sports channel presently available on Indian cable networks, which include ESPN, Star Sports and Ten Sports. It also has some niche sports channels not beaming to cable subscribers.

    Asked which other channels can go interactive, Khanna opined that globally interactivity works best with news and sports programming.

    Next on the list is a dedicated gaming channel for people of all age groups. At any given point of time it will have eight games, which will be updated on a monthly basis.

    Hassle free and simple, PlayJam software would start downloading on set top boxes of subscribers from early next week onwards.

    The whole process will take a few days to be completed for all of the 1.25 million DTH subscribers of Dish.

    According to Dish TV AVP (interactive services) Manish Chawla, three to four games are likely to be added every month with the overall number of games available remaining at eight presently.

    The electronic programming guide had always been available to Dish subscribers, but from next week it will get fully activated with programming details of over 100 channels at one’s fingertips.

    The EPG will store three days’ information, which is likely to help viewers plan their viewing, Chawla explained as proper setting of the EPG will send out alerts before a particular programme starts.

    With Tata Sky (a joint venture between the Tatas and Rupert Murdoch’s Star) also planning to start its services soon, there will be hectic action in the Indian DTH market.

    Hong Kong based Media Partners Asia (MPA) says that India remains the most significant and accessible cable and satellite (C&S) opportunity in the Asia Pacific region.

    India began commercial DTH operations in October 2003 and by December 2004 reported over three million subscribers. MPA said India is poised to become Asia’s leading cable market by 2010, the largest satellite market by 2008 and the most lucrative pay TV market by 2015.

  • Star offers to shake hands with Dish TV

    Star offers to shake hands with Dish TV

    NEW DELHI: Star and Dish TV move towards a consensus by shaking hands even as the launch of Tata Sky’s DTH service is imminent.

    A day before the Supreme Court is to hear a case on channel pricing, Star today delivered to Dish TV, country’s first pay DTH platform, the integrated receiver decoder boxes that would enable the DTH operator to access Star channels for redistribution purpose.

    Some formalities are yet to be completed, both the companies said.

    Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna added, “It might take a couple of days for us to start beaming the Star channels on the platform as the boxes need to be tested.”

    As per a directive of the disputes tribunal TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal), Star has offered its channels to Dish TV at Rs 27 per subscriber a month. Dish would also not pay any minimum guarantee money to Star.

    A spokesperson for Star India said that in deference to TDSAT directive an offer was made to Dish TV despite the latter moving the Supreme Court on the tribunal order.

    Not clear at the moment is what would happen to a Supreme Court case, which was filed by Dish TV some time back. Dish had petitioned that instead of Rs 27, the Star channels should come to it cheaper as Star had offered its channels to Dish some years back at one-fourth the price paid by cable ops.

    The price of Rs 27 fixed by TDSAT for Star bouquet of channels is 50 per cent of Rs 54 that a cable operator presently pays.

    Dish TV sources said the Supreme Court case is likely to continue, but is unlikely to have much of a bearing on the present truce called by Dish and Star. The apex court will be hearing the Dish TV petition on 4 August.

    Dish TV has been waging a legal battle for over a year to get Star and Sony-Discovery channels on its platform. The Sony-Discovery One Alliance recently signed up with Dish TV.

    Meanwhile, Dish’s Khanna said that a price revision of the monthly subscription would be decided in a few days time. “In all probability, Star Plus and other popular channels would be part of Dish TV’s basic tier of service, which also includes other mass general entertainment channels like Zee TV, Sony and HBO.”

  • Dish TV moves Supreme Court over Star channels’ pricing

    Dish TV moves Supreme Court over Star channels’ pricing

    MUMBAI: The country’s only private direct-to-home operator Dish TV has moved the Supreme Court seeking relief in regards to TDSAT’s (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) recent ruling that Star India will have to distribute the signals of all its channels at half the price at which they are available to cable operators.

    Dish TV, in its petition filed yesterday before the apex court, has sought further modifications in the price rate for accessing Star channels.

    The petition spells out that Dish TV is open to the offer that Star India had come up with in the year 2002 for all the Star channels. According to the Dish plea, the offer then was that all the Star channels will be made available to Dish TV subscribers at one-fourth the rate at which they are available to cable operators.

    While issuing its order last Friday, TDSAT had said, “We have no basis to lay down the actual rates per channel, which we feel is the prerogative of Trai. However, to begin with, we feel that 50 per cent of the rates being charged for cable platform be made applicable to the DTH platform.”

    The ball is now in Star India’s court on how t

  • Dish TV inks deal with BVITV for MoD service

    Dish TV inks deal with BVITV for MoD service

    MUMBAI: The direct-to-home Dish TV has added Walt Disney movies to its movie-on-demand (Mod) offering besides providing Bollywood movies.

    For this, DishTV has entered into an agreement with the international television distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company -Buena Vista International Television-Asia Pacific (BVITV-AP) to air the latest blockbuster movies on its value added service.

    Subscribers of the Mod pay-per-view service will have access to a slate of box office hit features from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Miramax and Jerry Bruckheimer Films including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Disney’s highest grossing film to date, Casanova, Cinderella Man, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Dark Water, and Flight Plan, informs an official release.

    Speaking about the tie-up, Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna said, “Strategic alliances of this magnitude and nature are very important for any operator in any market. We are happy to tie up with BVITV at a juncture when the Mod services for Hindi movies has already been launched and now Dish TV is all set to launch the same service for English movies as well. With this move, we will be able to offer this service to more than 1.2 million subscribers of Dish TV spread across the country”.

    The movie can be ordered through SMS, phone or by logging on to www.dishtvindia.in. The consumer can watch the movie for 24 hours at his/her own convenience at a cost of Rs. 50 per movie.

  • TDSAT to Star: give channels to Dish TV

    TDSAT to Star: give channels to Dish TV

    MUMBAI: In another 15 days time, all Star channels may well be made available to the country’s only private direct-to-home operator Dish TV.

    Subhash Chandra’s DTH service Dish TV has won a favourable judgment from by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) in this regard. As per the tribunal’s directive, Star India will have to distribute the signals of all its channels to Dish TV.

    In an order passed this morning, TDSAT, while directing the sector regulator to set a benchmark for channel prices for DTH services, said that Star channels should be made available to Dish TV at half the price at which they are available to cable operators.

    The reason for this, according to TDSAT, is that DTH is an addressable system where loss of revenue down the value chain is negligible if not zero.

    An interpretation of this observation on rates would mean that all Star channels (comprising bouquets I & II) will cost Dish TV Rs 27 exclusive of taxes, as against the cable operators paying Rs 54 per subscriber/per month.

    While issuing the order, which had been kept reserved since 5 July when arguments concluded, TDSAT said, “We have no basis to lay down the actual rates per channel, which we feel is the prerogative of Trai. However, to begin with, we feel that 50 per cent of the rates being charged for cable platform be made applicable to the DTH platform.”

    Reacting to the developments, a jubilant Zee Telefilms vice-chairman and Dish TV business head Jawahar Goel said, “The verdict vindicates our position. We will be sending a letter to Star by tomorrow requesting them to conclude an agreement for their channels.” Everybody should respect the law of the land, Goel added.

    Said a Star India spokesperson, “We have received the judgment of the TDSAT in the matter of ASC Enterprises vs. Star India Pvt. Ltd. earlier today and we are now in the process of examining it in detail.

    “The judgment comes at an opportune time as we believe it will help in clearing the air on a number of critical areas that impact addressable systems in general and DTH in particular and will be a positive impetus to their development. However, it appears to us that there may be some specific areas within the judgment that will require further clarification.

    “Our intention is to seek clarification on these areas at the earliest opportunity and make a response accordingly. Star has been and will continue to be an active supporter of all addressable platforms and will work with them to ensure that the viewer’s interests are best served.”

    Interestingly, TDSAT has also said that no minimum guarantee needs to be given by Dish TV for the Star channels and the payments would be made on actual number of subscribers.

    It directed Dish to submit a list of subscribers from the subscriber management system (SMS) every month to Star — a model that TDSAT said would be applicable to all DTH operators entering into commercial deals with broadcasters.

    Respondent Star had pointed out that the minimum guarantee requirement is an internationally prevalent norm in the DTH industry as it incentivizes the DTH operator to ensure higher subscribers.

    TDSAT, in its order has said that in case of any denial of the signals, the DTH operator may approach the tribunal for further relief.

    For the record, Chandra’s ASC Enterprises, which holds a DTH licence, had moved TDSAT alleging that Star India was delaying making available its channels in breach of a regulatory order that states all content should be made available to all platform on a non-discriminatory basis.

  • Dish TV, Tata Sky lock horns over DVRs

    Dish TV, Tata Sky lock horns over DVRs

    NEW DELHI: Existing DTH player Dish TV has locked horns with Tata Sky over interoperability — or its waiver — of digital video recorders to be made available to consumers of a DTH service in India.

    DTH license holder ASC Enterprises, which operates the Dish TV brand, has told the broadcast regulator that if digital video recorders (DVRs) are not interoperable, as mandated in DTH guidelines, it would “compromise” consumer interest.

    On the other hand, Tata Sky and technology company NDS (controlled by Rupert Murdoch) have said that “interoperability is not feasible on high end devices” like DVRs.
    “The technical specifications vary with the (DVR) models that are introduced and these were not envisaged when BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) drew up STB specifications,” Tata Sky has said in its submission to the regulator.

    ASC Enterprises has counter-punched by saying that existing clauses on interoperability of boxes protect the “consumer interests by ensuring they switch over their service providers for the basic functionality of watching the broadcast channels as per their option and choice.”

    If that was not enough, Tata Sky and residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) have come out in support of multi-dwelling unit (MDU) technology, which has been strongly opposed by all sections of the cable industry, including Cable Operators’ Federation of India (COFI), which feels cable ops stand to become redundant.

    MDU technology, being tested by Tata Sky for its proposed DTH service in a few cities, envisages making available a DTH service to multiple homes through a common dish antenna, but separate set-top boxes.

    The technology is being touted by its supporters as cost effective for consumers and as a safeguard for “aesthetic” senses in concrete jungles that Indian cities are turning into.

    Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had asked for comments on various issues related to DTH, including whether certain clauses in the DTH guidelines need to be amended to exclude DVRs from being interoperable.

    Fifteen individuals/organizations, including a clutch of RWAs, have submitted their feedback, baring the fact there isn’t consensus on matters like DVRs and MDU technology, which have the potential of changing the way people consume television fare in India.

    Even a company like Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infocomm, whose DTH license application hasn’t been processed by the government, feels that DVRs should be kept interoperable.

    “The clauses 7.1 & 7.2 of DTH license conditions need not be amended to exclude digital video recorders. All set top boxes whether simple STB or personal video recorder/ DVR-enabled set top boxes should be interoperable,” Reliance has stated

    The full text of feedback, peppered with technical jargons and occasional innuendoes hitting at opponents, can be seen on the regulator’s website, www.trai.gov.in.

     

  • Dish TV: Scaling up on numbers & value proposition

    Zee Telefilms chairman Subhash Chandra is on a roll. The resurgence of flagship Hindi entertainment channel Zee TV has come after years of slippage since Kaun Banega Crorepati catapulted Star plus into leadership position.

    But this is not just about Zee TV‘s prime time assault on Star Plus; it is also about how Chandra has streamlined his media empire to give it the right focus, resources and value. His announcement on 29 March: Zee Telefilms will be de-merged into four separate entities. While cable business will come under Wire and Wireless India Ltd (WWIL), Dish TV will handle the DTH operations. News and regional channels are being consolidated in Zee News Ltd. Under the umbrella of Zee Telefilms will be the newly launched Zee Sports.

    The “sum total of the parts” concept ignited the scrip which, once hovering around Rs 130-150 in mid-2005, has breached the 200-mark and closed today at Rs 222.

    In the second of a four-part series, Indiantelevision.com takes an in-depth look into the de-merged DTH business of Zee Telefilms.

    The battle for supremacy between News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch and Subhash Chandra will be extended to the DTH arena this year. The commercial launch of Tata Sky, a 80:20 joint venture between Tata Group and Star (now expected to happen only some time in August-September), will see a hell of a scramble for subscribers with focus on pricing, quality of service, value-added services and marketing.

    Chandra‘s gameplan is to build a sizeable early lead before the fight for share in the market takes shape. Having launched Dish TV over two years back, he has already snapped up 1.15 million DTH subscribers. And he expects to mop up an additional one million by the end of this fiscal.

    Even before Tata Sky can settle down and get its products out of the door, Chandra is in a hurry to launch an array of value-added services. Movie-on-demand is already available and soon to launch is gaming and interactivity. The idea is to fill up the product portfolio as quickly as possible.

    Working on the content side, he has recently stitched a deal with SET-Discovery to offer a bouquet of 12 channels on his platform. Star‘s channels should also come on board, perhaps closer to launch of Tata Sky. Armed with full content, Dish TV will be able to aggressively target more urban and upscale subscribers in the course of the year.

    The DTH operations has already consumed a net expense of Rs 3.8 billion. A further investment of Rs 2.5 billion has been lined up over a two-year period, mainly to subsidise the set-top boxes (STBs). “But we are sitting on a dynamic model and if Tata Sky and us are aggressively competing on pricing, there is a possibility of the subsidy amount further increasing. It is a factor of what strategies we adopt to develop our subscriber base,” says Essel Group CEO of corporate strategy Rajiv Garg.

    Placing his bets on both cable and DTH, Chandra ensured that he started operations much before Murdoch could jump over the regulatory hurdles. The strategy was in place: mobilise the cable dark and rural subscribers, offer them a basic bandwidth of channels, tie up content as they come, drive in volumes and command clout.

    The start was slow. Then came the “dish-har-chhat-par” (a dish on every rooftop) pricing scheme of Rs 3,990 (almost halving the hardware prices and subscription fees for a year) last April and the market in specific territories just opened up.

    Targeting DD Direct‘s customers, Dish TV also announced a “Dish Freedom Package” plan in January. This offers viewers 40 channels in digital quality without charging any monthly subscription fee, but they had to make a one-time investment of Rs 2,690 in a digi box. Clearly, the strategy was to get into a different segment of customers and slowly entice them to upgrade to the other packages.

    Dish TV‘s subscriber base grew and by the end of FY06 it touched close to one million. Almost 70 per cent of the consumers came from the cable dry and smaller towns, but it suited Chandra to an extent by giving him a headstart over Murdoch. As he also has presence in cable TV, his muscle in the distribution business has grown.

    A fallout of this model, though: low ARPUs (average revenue per user). While revenue from DTH operations stood at Rs 818 million for FY06, net loss was at Rs 790 million on the back of subsidies and marketing expenses. The ARPU by the end of the year was hovering around Rs 190.

    The task this year will, thus, be to drive up the ARPUs to at least Rs 250. The content tie up with Sony and later Star will help achieve this. After the deal with SET-Discovery, Dish TV has increased the price of its basic tier by Rs 38. “By providing the first year subscription for free, Dish TV‘s financials don‘t reflect the paying capacity of the subscribers. But if consumers decide to continue with the service after this period, the incremental subscription revenues from the DTH venture would be sizeable. The problem will arise if they decide to drop out at the time of renewal,” says an analyst.

    Dish TV is also banking on value-added services (VAS) to realise more from subscribers. Says Garg, “Beginning 1 September, VAS will be accounted for separately from the ARPUs. We expect VAS to average Rs 40 per subscriber. Since this will be for a stretch of seven months, the average during the fiscal will work out to Rs 22-23,” says Garg.

    Dish TV‘s revenue projections look healthy. For FY07, the target is fixed at Rs 3.2 billion on a subscriber base of 2.4 million and an ARPU of Rs 250. And in FY08, the turnover is expected to touch Rs 8 billion as subscribers rise to 3.15 million and ARPU to Rs 310.

    An analyst at a trading firm is optimistic about Dish TV‘s growth. “Even after the launch of Tata Sky, the DTH market is large enough to provide space for growth to the two service providers,” he says.

    Dish TV, however, will continue to be in a net loss situation this fiscal. According to a report on Zee by a brokering firm, Dish TV‘s net loss will be Rs 368.4 million while subscribers are expected to grow to 2.07 million and revenue to Rs 3.29 billion on an ARPU of Rs 250. But the picture changes completely in FY08 and the operations become profitable, says the firm.

    The situation, though, is completely fluid and a lot will depend on how Tata Sky prices its services. DTH takeoff will also have to factor in the responses from the cable TV industry and the entry of other DTH operators like Anil Ambani‘s Reliance with its Blue magic offering and Kalanithi Maran‘s Sun Group with Sun Direct.

    So far, Chandra has been clever not to alienate the cable TV operators but play safe on both the platforms. Tata Sky, on the other hand, has drawn hostility from the operators with its MDU (multi-dwelling unit) technology in high-rise residential buildings.

    Prices could plummet if competition intensifies, putting profitability under threat. Tata Sky, in fact, has indicated a monthly subscription price of Rs 250 for all the Hindi channels and an upper-end fee of Rs 550, according to a dealer. It is also expected to subsidise heavily the hardware costs. “The pricing is very tentative at this stage and executives from Tata Sky will have a meeting with the dealers closer to date of launch,” he adds. Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik was not available for comment.

    For an infant business venture, DTH operators may not worry about profitability at such an early stage. Their main concern will be to allow the market to expand, acquire customers, keep them locked over a longer period, and then make them pay more for various services. Volumes is what all of them will be hunting for.

    Dish TV‘s pricing strategy so far has reflected this line of thinking. It has promoted the DTH service packages with a lock-in period bundled along with the initial subscription. Says Garg, “The bulk of the subscription selling has been on the business of this bundle which includes a subsidy element. Subscription revenue, thus, starts typically one year after the creation of the subscriber relationship. So you would see these one million subscribers in FY06 gradually come into the subscription fold during this year.”

    Chandra, meanwhile, is sprucing up the distribution network. Dish TV recently tied up with HCL Infosystems for a five-year partnership to utilise the IT major‘s distribution and service support across the country. While Dish TV will immediately double its distribution reach with this tie-up, the alliance will enable HCL Infosystems to offer digital entertainment services as part of its digital lifestyle portfolio.

    Dish TV has also addressed another problem: how to increase offerings by accommodating more channels per transponder. It has recently tied up with Scopus Video Networks, a provider of digital video networking products. Having taken seven transponders on NSS-6, Dish TV can pack up to 150 channels using this compression technology.

    “Scopus‘ product line will help us achieve very high satellite utilisation and bring down costs on a per channel basis. We plan to implement this better compression technology within a month. We will be able to increase our capacity to 150 channels,” says Essel Group director of technology Amitabh Kumar.

    For pursuing plans of offering 200 channels, Dish TV has booked more transponders on NSS. Even when DD Direct Plus, Doordarshan‘s free DTH service, migrates from NSS-6 to Insat 4B, Dish TV will face no space crunch. “We can bunch all the DD channels into one transponder. We have also requested for more transponders on NSS-6 which will be available during the course of the year for us,” says Kumar. Dish TV currently offers 110 channels in addition to the 33 channels of DD Direct Plus which are also available to its consumers.

    So ahead of the skirmish, Chandra has strengthened his armoury. Sure enough, the war for DTH subscribers is about to begin and escalate.

  • Dish TV to come down hard on pirating cable ops

    Dish TV to come down hard on pirating cable ops

    NEW DELHI: India’s first direct-to-home service Dish TV today issued an ultimatum to cable operators filching its signals.

    In a rear guard action against piracy, a massive operation has been announced to crackdown on pirating cable operators who are using the Dish’s set-top boxes as a medium to illegally distribute TV channels (some of which are exclusively on the DTH platform) to the cable consumers.

    According to Essel Group of Industries additional vice-chairman Jawahar Goel, “It is important to send out the message that product counterfeiting will not be tolerated as it has an extremely detrimental effect on the whole fraternity, including content creators, broadcasters, and the government.”

    ASC Enterprises, an Essel Group company, holds the licence for a DTH service in the country, which is marketed under the brand name Dish TV.

    According to an official statement from Dish TV, a local cable operator in Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh was caught by the police, along with Dish’s anti-piracy team, on Saturday for illegally showing ESPN and Star Sports through a Dish TV box when he did not have an agreement with ESS to re-distribute the sports channels.

    The police has seized the errant cable operator’s infrastructure and the chip of Dish TV, which gives access to the DTH service.

    Commenting on the development, Goel added, “We expect support from broadcasting and the film industry as well to take up this effort to curb piracy, which is to the tune of over 10 billion annually.”

    The official statement said that of the 1.1 million subscribers of Dish TV, about 5,000 have been found to be allegedly indulging in piracy of signals. While their connections have been switched off, legal action too has been initiated against them.

  • Dish TV appeals to govt against MTV, Nick

    Dish TV appeals to govt against MTV, Nick

    MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra’s DTH service Dish TV has upped the ante by invoking government help in getting those TV channels on board who have refused to do so till now.

    Dish TV’s wrath has been particularly directed at MTV and Nick with which the former has been fighting a legal battle since last year.

    In a letter to the information and broadcasting ministry, Dish TV has petitioned that despite sector regulator’s directive on making available content to all platforms and a favourable judgement from disputes tribunal TDSAT, the “conduct of MTV” has been “clearly in violation” of the interconnection regulation of 2004.

    Dish TV’s parent ASC Enterprises has contended despite carrying on commercial negotiations with MTV Networks India for several months, the content provider and its distributors in India (One Alliance) have stalled any fruitful conclusion of such talks.

    The Dish TV letter to the government states, “We would request you to take cognizance of the consistent refusal of MTV Networks to provide the channels, MTV and Nick, on our DTH platform and non-compliance of the interconnect regulation of Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)
    and the order of TDSAT before the registration certificate for downlinking of (the) channels is granted to the broadcaster.”

    The government while acknowledging the letter from Dish said it hasn’t taken a view on the issue yet.

    In a related development, an executive of Dish TV said it will be “placing the execution appeal” at the TDSAT within few days.

    Contacted by Indiantelevision.com, MTV senior vice-president, network development South Asia (licensing and merchandising) Sanjeev Hiremath, refused to comment saying the matter relating to Dish TV was subjudice.

    A spokesperson for Discovery-Sony joint venture One Alliance today said that negotiations with Dish TV have been continuing fruitfully and are “likely to be concluded in a few days time.”

    ASC Enterprises, the DTH licence holder for Dish TV, had moved TDSAT in 2005 against MTV’s refusal to provide its channels for the DTH platform.

    Early this year, TDSAT directed MTV to make available its channels to Dish TV on a commercial basis within 30 days by 10 March, 2006.

    MTV Networks appealed against the TDSAT order in the Supreme Court, which admitted the appeal, but did not stay the disputes tribunal’s order.

    During the last hearing on 9 May, the apex court said the case would be taken up again on 12 July after the summer recess.

    Dish TV has also moved the TDSAT against Star India on similar grounds of noncompliance of interconnect regulations.

  • Dish moves court against Star

    Dish moves court against Star

    NEW DELHI: Court cases are buzzing all over the place in the media sector as deadlines for various guidelines, including adhering to downlink norms, near.

    In its first direct salvo against the Hong Kong-based Star Group, the Subhash Chandra-promoted ASC Enterprises, owners of the Dish TV DTH service in India, has moved the disputes tribunal against the former’s reluctance to make available Star channels to its platform.

    “It is respectfully submitted that the present petition has been filed due to the refusal on the part of the respondent (Star Group through Star India) to supply its bouquet one channels to the petitioner on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms,” the petition states.

    Filed today at the Telecom Disputes Redressal and Settlement Tribunal (TDSAT), the ASC petition adds, “The unreasonableness on the part of the respondent is evident from the fact that the respondent has laid down impracticable and unreasonable terms and conditions for supply of its bouquet one channels.”

    Contacted by indiantelevision.com, a Star India spokesperson said, “Negotiations are on with Dish TV. Beyond that we cannot comment as we have not heard from TDSAT yet.”

    The petition has been filed as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in an order has mandated that all content should be made available to all delivery platforms on a non-discriminatory basis.

    Justifying its action of approaching the TDSAT, the petition seeks “appropriate directions against the acts of omission and commission” of Star, including its failure to provide on request the signals of the channels of its first bouquet “on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.”

    Bouquet one of Star consists of channels like Star Plus, Star Movies, Star News, Star World, Star Gold, Channel [V], National Geographic Channel, The History Channel and Vijay TV.

    The second bouquet — the formation of which was necessitated owing to certain directions from the sector regulator in an effort to control cable TV prices — comprises Star One, Hungama, The Disney Channel and Toon Disney.

    What is interesting is that the Chandra company has decided to take on one time ally-turned-competitor with a vengeance.

    The petition not only states that discussions with Star were initiated by Dish TV in December 2005, but also insinuates that the delay in concluding a commercial agreement is deliberate as the respondent is a joint venture partner in another DTH service, Tata Sky, proposing to start operations later this year.

    Interestingly, Dish TV has won a favourable direction from TDSAT in a similar case involving MTV.

    Discovery-Sony distribution joint venture One Alliance, which comprises MTV and sibling channel Nick, is said to be close to striking a deal with Dish TV for its channels that include the likes of SET, MAX, Discovery and AXN.