ITV

Tag: distribution

  • IndiaCast, Hathway fail to concur on carriage, subscription fees

    IndiaCast, Hathway fail to concur on carriage, subscription fees

    MUMBAI:  As a result of unresolved conflict between Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd (Hathway) and IndiaCast Media Distribution Pvt Ltd (IndiaCast), all IndiaCast channels have been pulled off from the cable platform. Despite several meetings, Hathway could not fulfill the growth aspiration of IndiaCast in terms of the carriage and subscription fees, according to a source. The subscription and carriage agreements between Hathway and IndiaCast expired on 31 March 2018.

    On 1 April 2018, IndiaCast issued a 21-day public notice to Hathway to meet regulatory requirements. Earlier, reports stated that the notice was issued due to non-payment of dues, non-submission of monthly subscriber reports, under-declaration of subscribers, failure to allow an audit of systems and unauthorised retransmission of channels.

    IndiaCast did not respond to queries when Indiantelevision.com reached out to the company.

    Across the cable industry, multi-system operators (MSOs) are now doing fixed-fee deals. While all the players are waiting for the new tariff order, due to the delay in the roll out, cable operators are relying on fixed-fee deals only. To move forward with these fixed-fee deals, the parties negotiate on the last fee structure and agree on certain percentage growth.

    The disagreement between IndiaCast and Hathway came about with the renewal of these deals. As IndiaCast acquired Turner channels recently, the distribution company wanted to get more subscription money than ZEE.

    According to a source familiar to the development, Hathway, being convinced of the logic, offered a certain level of growth going beyond their means. However, IndiaCast was not happy with the offering and asked for a percentage increase more than 100 per cent. Ultimately, the parties could not reach any solution leaving the deal unresolved.

    Though IndiaCast was due to switch off its channels on 21 April, it eventually pulled off from Hathway on 25 April. Other than the disagreement on the hike in fees, IndiaCast also asked Hathway for a two-year commitment and was not satisfied with the format of the subscription report.

    This is not a new development in Indian cable history. Though broadcasters, MSOs and DTH operators speak about putting viewers’ interest first, the recent examples don’t speak in favour of that. Agreements being left to market forces lead to such stand-offs from time to time. As a result, consumers are often at the risk of missing out on watching their favourite channels.

    Also Read :

    Hathway Bhawani appoints Vatan Pathan as CEO

    TDSAT prohibits Scod18 from relaying IndiaCast channels

  • Turner appoints IndiaCast as exclusive distribution agent

    Turner appoints IndiaCast as exclusive distribution agent

    MUMBAI: Turner International India Pvt Ltd (Turner) has appointed IndiaCast Media Distribution Pvt Ltd as its exclusive distribution agent from 1 April 2018 for distribution of Turner channels—CNN International, Pogo, Cartoon Network, WB, HBO and HBO HD-to consumers in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

    A TV 18 and Viacom18 venture, IndiaCast is known to bring quality content to viewers spanning genres such as general entertainment, kids, news, music, infotainment and movies.

    Turner South Asia managing director Siddharth Jain said, “I am delighted to announce the appointment of IndiaCast as our exclusive distribution agent for India, Nepal and Bhutan. I am very confident they will enable us to further enhance our footprint and bring the choicest content to our fans in the Indian subcontinent. We look forward to a long term strategic relationship with IndiaCast.” 

    Added IndiaCast group CEO Anuj Gandhi, “At IndiaCast, it is our constant endeavour to curate the best possible exposure for our content creator partners. Turner has a fantastic bouquet of channels catering to a bespoke audience. As we ramp up the distribution network for its channels, I look forward to a long-term association that is founded on mutually beneficial economics.”

    After nearly two decades of collaboration, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) and Turner mutually decided to work independently in order to drive up subscription revenue, release issued yesterday stated. ZEE and Turner joined hands back in 2002 to manage distribution and trade marketing for a bouquet of channels in India.

    Also read:

    Zee, Turner to work independently for subscription revenue

    We place a very high premium on fan experience: Turner’s Rohit Bhandari

  • Jeet draws first blood in GEC showdown

    Jeet draws first blood in GEC showdown

    MUMBAI: After entertaining the Indian audience for more than 20 years with world-class documentaries on food, science, survival and more, Discovery Communications India (DCIN) is all set to entertain Indians with its general entertainment channel (GEC) Jeet. Slated to launch on 12 February 2018, the channel is already earning rave reviews for its content. The channel, which will launch with distribution to more than 100 million households in India, has already signed Netflix as the exclusive global OTT platform and has added another feather to its cap a week prior to its launch. The company has announced unprecedented consumer engagement for the entertainment domain with content trailers of Jeet achieving record high completion rate of 65 per cent on YouTube and 40 per cent on Facebook, more than double the industry benchmark of 30 per cent completion rate on YouTube and 20 per cent on Facebook.

    According to DCIN’s release, Jeet’s content-led trailers have cumulatively delivered more than 300 million impressions, more than 100 million views in just over of 2 weeks on YouTube and Facebook. The two trailers of 21 Sarfarosh and Swami Ramdev Ek Sangharsh have crossed 50 million views on YouTube and Facebook.

    This week, Discovery JEET will release another 100 plus pieces of digital content with an aim to further intensify its reach on digital and give consumers a glimpse of the range of content on offer.

    Jeet’s differentiated content philosophy has found many natural partners and helped achieve pre-launch inventory sales targets. The channel’s brand-led partnership approach has seen multiple brands from major conglomerates, including Reckitt Benckiser, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Marico, Mondelez International, Johnson and Johnson, Yellow Diamond and Quickheal come on board even before the launch.

    “We started speaking about entertaining and inspiring content in all our sales pitches a while ago, but the moment we started showcasing rushes of our shows to advertisers, the response started to change dramatically as they were able to experience Discovery Jeet’s line-up of dramatic, compelling stories of real, relatable characters presented in a cinematic, larger than life format,” said DCIN senior VP and GM (South Asia) Karan Bajaj.  “We are enthused with the response that Jeet has been able to garner from the consumers, the advertising community as well as the affiliate partners. We will be dialing up an aggressive marketing campaign even further as we get closer to the launch of the channel.”

    Jeet is aiming to break the clutter in the Hindi GEC arena riding on purpose-driven entertainment content. The channel will launch with five hours of programming band daily out of which three hours will be bespoke, ground-up original programming built on the thesis of the underdog winning.  Jeet will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

    Also Read:

    Discovery Jeet gears up for Feb 12 launch

    Discovery India ties-up with Reliance Animation to produce kids IP

  • Star brings Gurjeev Singh Kapoor home to head distribution

    Star brings Gurjeev Singh Kapoor home to head distribution

    MUMBAI: The industry has been abuzz about TV distribution veteran Gurjeev Singh Kapoor shifting base back to India. Well, that buzz is indeed turning out to be true. Last evening, an announcement was made in the Star India office in Mumbai stating that the London-based head of international business at the company would be leaving Blighty to come back to Bharat, a source at Star said.

    Gurjeev’s return clearly indicates Star India CEO Uday Shankar’s intent to have a senior professional who understands and has solid relationships in India’s complicated distribution sector. One of the main planks of Uday being able to do well and get a return on the high prices he has agreed to cough up for the IPL for the next five years is affiliate revenues. And bringing the affable but tough-as-nails Gurjeev on board will greatly strengthen the distribution team by attracting executives from other companies and help Uday get closer to the target.

    Sources in the industry at indicate that Gurjeev will also play an important role in licensing and distributing the global rights for the IPL, which Star has acquired.

    Gurjeev was earlier the business head of SET Discovery and later CEO of the dissolved joint venture Star DEN Media Services. He was also the COO of Star Den-Zee Turner joint venture Media Pro before making a shift to London to look after Star’s international business.

    The company had earlier this year hired a former Marico executive Sridhar Balakrishnan to head the distribution of Star’s extensive bouquet of 53 odd channels.  

    Industry sources indicate that Star has been asking anywhere between a 15-30 per cent hike in revenues from distribution affiliates, signing both fixed fee and RIO aka à la carte deals, a process that has been taking time for distribution platform operators who have been loath to agree to the hike in content costs.

    Clearly, Kapoor and team should prove themselves up to the task to speed up the process. 

    Please watch this space for further news.

    Also Read:

    Gurjeev Singh to head Star India international business

    Comment: The rise and rise of Uday Shankar

    Star’s Uday Shankar on distribution challenges, IPL, FTA vs. pay TV, innovations, Made in India content…and much more

  • Eros International-Central Partnership step into content distribution

    Eros International-Central Partnership step into content distribution

    MUMBAI: Eros International PLC, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, has announced a strategic partnership with leading Russian distribution and production company Central Partnership (CP), affiliate of Gazprom Media Holding, to promote and distribute Indian and Russian content across multiple platforms in both countries.

    This association includes exploitation via licensing of intellectual property rights owned by each party in their respective markets and distribution of film projects for both India and Russia, opening up the market for the two companies to explore new geographies. CP will dub films from Eros’ extensive film library in Russian language which will enable the company to cater to a much larger audience in Russia and CIS. Eros can further utilize the dubbed content on its digital platform, Eros Now, to reach out to a wider audience in Russia.

    With the rapid growth of satellite pay TV in Russia, there is an increased demand for premium digital and television content. This alliance will pave the way for CP to showcase extensive repository of Bollywood films from the Eros library on pay TV. Furthermore, CP will also approach free TV channels to explore showcasing of Indian titles. Similarly, Eros will endeavor to distribute CP media assets on Indian television.

    This collaboration will also enable the launch of Eros Now, the on-demand OTT digital platform of EROS, in Russia and CIS. CP will endeavor to showcase Eros Now’s VOD content on the leading digital distribution network RUFORM through Rutube (web video streaming service targeted in Russia) while Eros will facilitate featuring Russian content on Eros Now.

    Eros International group CEO & managing director Jyoti Deshpande said, “With our entry into the Russian market, we continue to build our strong global position and are delighted to take the lead in associating with the prestigious Russian film company Central Partnership. Russia’s domestic market potential is promising and coupled with the rise in digital consumption by local audiences, we see a huge opportunity in exploiting exciting, unique and high-quality content together to reach audiences across the two diaspora.”

    Central Partnership CEO Pavel Stepanov added, “Our strategic partnership is a big step for both companies in their international expansion, since content from India is now underrepresented in Russia and vice-versa. Our plan is to benefit from both companies’ leading positions in domestic markets to change this layout.”

    Russia’s box office grew in the first half of this year by 8.6% to 29 billion rubles (US$ 413 million), while attendance was up year-on-year by 9% (112 million tickets sold). Foreign films continue to be the main driver of growth in the market. Between January-June box office for foreign films grew by 9.6% to 23 billion rubles (US$ 327 million), while attendance rose from 78.6 million to 88 million. Meanwhile, box office for Russian films in the period increased by 5.1%, to about 6.1 billion rubles (US$87 million), while attendance improved fractionally from 24.5 million to 24.7 million people.

    Eros International acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media.Central Partnership, the exclusive distributor of Paramount Pictures in Russia, owns the largest library there comprising over 700 features and 3300 hours of TV series.

  • Eros International-Central Partnership step into content distribution

    Eros International-Central Partnership step into content distribution

    MUMBAI: Eros International PLC, a leading global company in the Indian film entertainment industry, has announced a strategic partnership with leading Russian distribution and production company Central Partnership (CP), affiliate of Gazprom Media Holding, to promote and distribute Indian and Russian content across multiple platforms in both countries.

    This association includes exploitation via licensing of intellectual property rights owned by each party in their respective markets and distribution of film projects for both India and Russia, opening up the market for the two companies to explore new geographies. CP will dub films from Eros’ extensive film library in Russian language which will enable the company to cater to a much larger audience in Russia and CIS. Eros can further utilize the dubbed content on its digital platform, Eros Now, to reach out to a wider audience in Russia.

    With the rapid growth of satellite pay TV in Russia, there is an increased demand for premium digital and television content. This alliance will pave the way for CP to showcase extensive repository of Bollywood films from the Eros library on pay TV. Furthermore, CP will also approach free TV channels to explore showcasing of Indian titles. Similarly, Eros will endeavor to distribute CP media assets on Indian television.

    This collaboration will also enable the launch of Eros Now, the on-demand OTT digital platform of EROS, in Russia and CIS. CP will endeavor to showcase Eros Now’s VOD content on the leading digital distribution network RUFORM through Rutube (web video streaming service targeted in Russia) while Eros will facilitate featuring Russian content on Eros Now.

    Eros International group CEO & managing director Jyoti Deshpande said, “With our entry into the Russian market, we continue to build our strong global position and are delighted to take the lead in associating with the prestigious Russian film company Central Partnership. Russia’s domestic market potential is promising and coupled with the rise in digital consumption by local audiences, we see a huge opportunity in exploiting exciting, unique and high-quality content together to reach audiences across the two diaspora.”

    Central Partnership CEO Pavel Stepanov added, “Our strategic partnership is a big step for both companies in their international expansion, since content from India is now underrepresented in Russia and vice-versa. Our plan is to benefit from both companies’ leading positions in domestic markets to change this layout.”

    Russia’s box office grew in the first half of this year by 8.6% to 29 billion rubles (US$ 413 million), while attendance was up year-on-year by 9% (112 million tickets sold). Foreign films continue to be the main driver of growth in the market. Between January-June box office for foreign films grew by 9.6% to 23 billion rubles (US$ 327 million), while attendance rose from 78.6 million to 88 million. Meanwhile, box office for Russian films in the period increased by 5.1%, to about 6.1 billion rubles (US$87 million), while attendance improved fractionally from 24.5 million to 24.7 million people.

    Eros International acquires, co-produces and distributes Indian films across all available formats such as cinema, television and digital new media.Central Partnership, the exclusive distributor of Paramount Pictures in Russia, owns the largest library there comprising over 700 features and 3300 hours of TV series.

  • Disney plays Fun Indiagames with Den

    Disney plays Fun Indiagames with Den

    MUMBAI: Indian Cable Television Distribution Company Den Network Limited and Disney India’s gaming arm Indiagames have launched ‘Fun Games,’ a subscription based gaming service. The service will offer a range of exciting games from the catalogue of Indiagames branded titles.

    Den Networks CEO SN Sharma said, “Disney India is to launch exciting games for kids under the name of Den Fun Games.’’

    Further, he emphasized, “At Den, we give the best value for money by using the most advanced technology.”

    “Today, MSOs reach out to major population in India and, by collaborating with Den, we are able to popularize our gaming content amongst them,” said Disney India – interactive, VP and head, Sameer Ganapathy.

    Den’s Fun Games offers three games which will be refreshed regularly for players to acquire new skills. The games include Egg Jump, Mailbox and Tower of Hanoi and are available for monthly Rs 45 and quarterly Rs 90 subscriptions.

  • Disney plays Fun Indiagames with Den

    Disney plays Fun Indiagames with Den

    MUMBAI: Indian Cable Television Distribution Company Den Network Limited and Disney India’s gaming arm Indiagames have launched ‘Fun Games,’ a subscription based gaming service. The service will offer a range of exciting games from the catalogue of Indiagames branded titles.

    Den Networks CEO SN Sharma said, “Disney India is to launch exciting games for kids under the name of Den Fun Games.’’

    Further, he emphasized, “At Den, we give the best value for money by using the most advanced technology.”

    “Today, MSOs reach out to major population in India and, by collaborating with Den, we are able to popularize our gaming content amongst them,” said Disney India – interactive, VP and head, Sameer Ganapathy.

    Den’s Fun Games offers three games which will be refreshed regularly for players to acquire new skills. The games include Egg Jump, Mailbox and Tower of Hanoi and are available for monthly Rs 45 and quarterly Rs 90 subscriptions.

  • DQ Entertainment revenue up, reports profits in FY-16

    DQ Entertainment revenue up, reports profits in FY-16

    BENGALURU: The Tapas Chakravarti led DQ Entertainment (International) Limited (DQEIL) reported 8 percent growth in total income from operations (TIO) for the fiscal ended 31 March, 2016 (FY-16, current year) as compared to the previous year. The company has reported Profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 29.94 crore (14.2 percent PAT margin of TIO) in FY-16 as compared to a loss of Rs 19.71 crore in FY-15. The company reported TIO of Rs 210.39 crore in the current year as compared to Rs 194.80 crore in the previous year.

    Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

    Segment Performance

    The company’s Animation segment reported an operating profit of Rs 72.94 crore in FY-16 from operating revenue of Rs 164.29 crore as compared to the operating profit of Rs 70.27 crore from operating revenue of Rs 142.34 crore in FY-15.

    The company’s distribution segment reported an operating loss of Rs 13.57 crore on operating revenue of Rs 46.11 crore in FY-116 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 13.67 crore on operating revenue of Rs 52.46 crore in FY-15.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by DQEIL

    Total Expenditure in FY-16 increased 25.3 percent to Rs 164.50 crore (78.2 percent of TIO) from Rs 131.31 crore (84. percent of TIO) in the previous year.

    The company’s finance expense in FY-16 increased 38.3 percent at Rs 59.09 crore (28.1 percent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 42.73 crore (21.9 percent of TIO) in FY-15.

    DQEIL Production expense (PE) in FY-16 reduced 48.9 percent to Rs 11.06 crore (5.3 percent of TIO) from Rs 21.63 crore (11.1 percent of TIO) in the previous year.

    The company’s Employee Expense (EBE) in FY-16 at Rs 54.13 crore (25.97 percent of TIO) reduced 15 percent from Rs 63.71 crore (32.7 percent of TIO) in FY-15.

    Company speak

    The company in its earnings release says, “Our drive is to improve the collections from customers even if it leads to short term reduction of revenue. We see that with the market improving worldwide we will be able to meet the dual objective of reducing debtors while securing good orders from the customers. We have a strong visibility of orders for production for the next 18-24 months.”

    “In order to map our specialized offerings better with the market opportunities, we have streamlined our business divisions into Animation including VFX and Licensing and Distribution including digital media. 

  • DQ Entertainment revenue up, reports profits in FY-16

    DQ Entertainment revenue up, reports profits in FY-16

    BENGALURU: The Tapas Chakravarti led DQ Entertainment (International) Limited (DQEIL) reported 8 percent growth in total income from operations (TIO) for the fiscal ended 31 March, 2016 (FY-16, current year) as compared to the previous year. The company has reported Profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 29.94 crore (14.2 percent PAT margin of TIO) in FY-16 as compared to a loss of Rs 19.71 crore in FY-15. The company reported TIO of Rs 210.39 crore in the current year as compared to Rs 194.80 crore in the previous year.

    Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:
    (a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.
    (b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

    Segment Performance

    The company’s Animation segment reported an operating profit of Rs 72.94 crore in FY-16 from operating revenue of Rs 164.29 crore as compared to the operating profit of Rs 70.27 crore from operating revenue of Rs 142.34 crore in FY-15.

    The company’s distribution segment reported an operating loss of Rs 13.57 crore on operating revenue of Rs 46.11 crore in FY-116 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 13.67 crore on operating revenue of Rs 52.46 crore in FY-15.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by DQEIL

    Total Expenditure in FY-16 increased 25.3 percent to Rs 164.50 crore (78.2 percent of TIO) from Rs 131.31 crore (84. percent of TIO) in the previous year.

    The company’s finance expense in FY-16 increased 38.3 percent at Rs 59.09 crore (28.1 percent of TIO) as compared to the Rs 42.73 crore (21.9 percent of TIO) in FY-15.

    DQEIL Production expense (PE) in FY-16 reduced 48.9 percent to Rs 11.06 crore (5.3 percent of TIO) from Rs 21.63 crore (11.1 percent of TIO) in the previous year.

    The company’s Employee Expense (EBE) in FY-16 at Rs 54.13 crore (25.97 percent of TIO) reduced 15 percent from Rs 63.71 crore (32.7 percent of TIO) in FY-15.

    Company speak

    The company in its earnings release says, “Our drive is to improve the collections from customers even if it leads to short term reduction of revenue. We see that with the market improving worldwide we will be able to meet the dual objective of reducing debtors while securing good orders from the customers. We have a strong visibility of orders for production for the next 18-24 months.”

    “In order to map our specialized offerings better with the market opportunities, we have streamlined our business divisions into Animation including VFX and Licensing and Distribution including digital media.