ITV

Tag: DTH plans

  • DD may advance DTH plans to Feb to coincide with Union Budget

    DD may advance DTH plans to Feb to coincide with Union Budget

    NEW DELHI: India’s pubcaster Doordarshan, which has got government permission to start a KU-band direct-to-home television service in India, may advance the launch date to February end to coincide with the annual Union Budget presentation.
     

    According to government sources, Prasar Bharati is exploring possibilities whether DD’s DTH service can be launched around 28 February, the date when normally the government of the day presents the Union Budget.

    This is being done by Prasar Bharati, which oversees the functioning of DD and All India Radio, to take the live telecast of the Budget presentation proceedings to those areas of the country where cable and terrestrial television have failed to penetrate.

    Prasar Bharati is an autonomous body, modelled on the lines of the British Broadcasting Corporation, but depends largely on government grants to carry out its role of a public service broadcaster.

    The two-hour Budget speech and pre and post-Budget programmes are widely and avidly watched by Indians, especially the various industries, for its economic impact.

    In recent years, apart from DD, private satellite channels have relied on the Budget-related programmes, including the live telecast of the finance minister’s speech, to mop up additional revenue from advertising.

    Earlier in an interview, Prasar Bharati chief executive K.S. Sarma had told indiantelevision.com that DD’s DTH service, to be beamed through an Insat satellite, would be launched around April.

  • THE DTH IMPASSE: A CHRONOLOGY

    THE DTH IMPASSE: A CHRONOLOGY

    DATE
    EVENT
    December 1996: The United Front Government under Prime Minister Deve Gowda issues a notification saying that a licence has to be obtained for Ku-band DTH services. Many companies, including Star TV, apply for a licence. But government delays the process.
    26 March 1997: Star TV holds a press conference in Delhi detailing their DTH plans. Star TV Asia CEO Gary Davey and others attend the function where a live demo is given.
    First week April 1997: The then communication minister Beni Prasad Verma signs a policy setting the terms and conditions for granting licences to DTH players. Two holidays follow and it cannot be notified.
    11 April 1997: Gowda government falls as Congress withdraws support.
    May 1997: I&B minister Jaipal Reddy introduces the broadcast bill in Parliament which gets referred to a joint parliamentary committee.
    July 1997: The United Front Government under Prime Minister I.K. Gujaral issues another notification banning maintaining or keeping equipment capable of receiving TV signals over 4800 Mhz (Ku-band) till a comprehensive broadcast law is passed.
    November 1997: Gujaral government falls.
    December 1998: I&B minister Pramod Mahajan with the BJP-led government says the issue of DTH cannot wait till the passage of the broadcast bill. A decision has to be taken soon.
    January-February 1999: The Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee sets up a group of ministers (GoM), comprising ministers of I&B, communications, defence, finance and home, to come up with recommendations on DTH.Promod Mahajan said that DTH is as powerful as a Nuclear bomb.
    February-April Ist week 1999: Lot of study papers on DTH compiled for GoM, which fails to meet formally even once. But hopes of favourable recommendations abound as I&B minister admits in private he hopes to make an announcement in Parliament once it reassembles after a fortnight’s recess.
    17 April 1999 The BJP-led government loses the vote of confidence on the floor of the Lower House of parliament.
    October 1999 National Democratic Alliance comes to power in the centre
    18 October 2000 Jaitley sworn in as I & B Minister give indication as they will move fast on the DTH front, though cautiously. DD wants an exclusive licence for two years.
    15 March 2000 Murdoch pushes for DTH service in India
    10 April 2000 Jaitley said Prime Minister A B Vajpayee had constituted a committee chaired by the Union Minister to work out details of direct-to-home (DTH) services and uplinking facilities.
    4 October 2000 Sushama Swaraj again takes on as I & B Minister, promises Television-for-Family
    16 October 2000 Star TV’s James Murdoch, Bruce Churchill and Peter Mukherjee meet Swaraj
    29 Octobet 2000 GoM committee headed by Home Minister L K Advani finalises most of the recommendations for lifting DTH ban. Law minister Arun Jaitley asked to frame legal ramifications on DTH.
    30 October 2000 GoM committee recommends opening up DTH. I & B Minister Sushama Swaraj says that she will submit a note to the Indian Cabinet for a final decision.
    2 November 2000 Cabinet Approves lifting DTH ban. Issues notification.

     

  • Nothing decided on DTH plans, says Star’s Altaf Ali Mohammed

    Nothing decided on DTH plans, says Star’s Altaf Ali Mohammed

    Altaf Ali Mohammed, in charge of Star’s DTH and broadband operations in India, today rubbished reports in the press that Star had put together a $ 350 million war chest to vigorously pursue its DTH plans in India this year.

     

    No decisions have been made regarding Star’s DTH venture as there were still a number of issues to be clarified, Mohammed pointed out, while stating that he he had yet to get the full gist of the statement that information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj is reported to have made in parliament on Friday regarding uplinking from India.

     

    Swaraj, in a written statement in Parliament, has been quoted as saying that since the convergence bill was still at the drafting stage, it was not possible to say whether it would have any provision for compulsory uplinking of foreign channels.

     

    As per the DTH notification issued in March on the ground rules for companies wanting to enter DTH in India, any licensee will have to establish an uplink earth station in India within 12 months from the date of issue of license. All content provided by the DTH platform to the subscribers, irrespective of its source, will have to pass through the common encryption and conditional access system, located within the earth station, situated on Indian soil.

     

    Asked for his reaction to strong rumours in the market that Star was the most likely partner in the DTH platform that government internet gateway provider Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) was planning to launch before the end of the year, Mohammed said he was in charge of the project and he was putting on record that nothing had been decided yet on the matter. “The fact that no one has applied for a DTH licence till now (the government notification was out in March) should indicate something,” Mohammed stated.

     

    There were still a number of issues which needed clarification before there could be any go-ahead on DTH, Mohammed said. An issue which needed further elaboration from the government was the one requiring a record of all that was aired for a period of 90 days after telecast, he said.

     

    One of the clauses in the guidelines state: “The DTH operator will follow the advertising and programming code drawn up by the information and broadcasting ministry. And it should maintain a record of the advertising and programming for 90 days.”

     

    Mohammed also drew issue over the fixing of responsibility for the content of third party channels with the platform provider. He said that the same rules that applied to cable operators should apply here too because it was only the distribution methodology that was different in the two cases.