ITV

Tag: DTH platform

  • Big Magic Bihar & Jharkhand inks DTH deal with Dish TV

    Big Magic Bihar & Jharkhand inks DTH deal with Dish TV

    MUMBAI: As part of its distribution-strengthening strategy, BIG MAGIC Bihar & Jharkhand the regional entertainment channel from the Reliance Broadcast Network stable, inks distribution deal with Dish TV becoming available on Channel No. 814. Available on the base pack, this move adds 8mn million Dish TV subscribers to BIG MAGIC Bihar & Jharkhand’s reach as it reaches out to a larger Diaspora across India.

     
    Backed with an aggressive distribution plan and an endeavor to reach its rich regionally rooted content, to discerning audiences across the country, Dish TV – India’s premier and largest DTH platform was the most natural choice. This deal marks the beginning of a robust expansion plan as the Channel is close to inking deals with other leading DTH players, in addition to an extremely robust local distribution network already in place.

     
    With an eclectic content mix that encompasses a wide slate ranging fiction, crime, reality, music, devotion, movies and mythology, tailored to offer a wholesome family viewing experience, the Channel is primed to get a huge loyal audience base instantly. Viewers can now savour television shows coated with the regional flavor ranging Police Files, Hindustan ka Big Star, Bhojpuri Films, Big Memsaab and upcoming reality shows Big Folk Star and Big Bahuria.

     
    The Channel said in a statement, “We are a leading player in the regional market and have delivered excellent performance. We see a huge opportunity in catering to a larger Diaspora and our endeavor is to reach our content mix to the discerning audiences spread across the length and breadth of India. Dish TV is a perfect partner to begin the exercise with, from here-on we will increase footprint through strengthened distribution across platforms.”

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

     

  • News Nation’s Radio Campaign

    News Nation’s Radio Campaign

    MUMBAI: Country’s premium Hindi News channel News Nation has once again embarked on a brand campaign. The activity will start with a burst on top radio stations across the country. The theme of the campaign is to empower and educate people to take their own informed decision at the ballot box for Lok Sabha election 2014.

     

    The target audience of the campaign is youth and decision making audience who want to bring a change in the society. The campaign will start form 3rd March’14.

     

    Speaking of the campaign Mr. Shailesh Kumar, CEO & Editor in Chief said, “Radio is one of the popular mediums which address our target audience. Our creative conveys the significance of empowerment and informed decisions at the onset of the most important democratic process…Lok Sabha Elections 2014”

     

    It may be noted that News Nation which celebrated its 1st anniversary on 14th Feb’14 has walked up the ladder of ratings and is well placed in the Hindi News genre. News Nation had decided to make itself a reporter led channel with extensive field reporting. The channel has gradually emerged as a serious player with pure news content and traditional style of presentation.

     

    Mr. Abhay Ojha, Sr. VP- Sales & Marketing said “Radio was one of mediums which were used in our launch campaign; the current campaign is aimed to act as reminder of the values of News Nation. This is the most appropriate time for the activity as general elections are close by.”

     

    News Nation today is available on DTH platforms like Tata Sky (LCN-472), Airtel DTH(LCN-294), Dish TV(LCN-568), Videocon D2H(LCN-304),DD Free Dish (LCN-59) apart from all major MSOs/LCOs across the country like DEN, Hathway, GTPL, Fastway, Digicable, Siti Cable, In-digital etc.

  • DishTV to approach TRAI on Star Sports 2

    DishTV to approach TRAI on Star Sports 2

    MUMBAI: For quite some time India’s largest DTH platform Dish TV has wanted to carry Star’s new sports channel launched earlier this year, Star Sports 2 as part of its service. But this has not happened. 

    Dish TV says it has not signed the RIO as it has several terms it objected to. It moved the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) for grievance redressal. 

    The interim order on the case came out late today stating that the question of validity of the terms of an RIO need to be first examined by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) under clause 13.3 of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnect Regulations (2004).

    One of the terms that Dish TV has been disputing is regarding ‘Remote access (e.g. through dial up or otherwise) to the Affiliate’s DTH platform (information related to subscribers) shall be provided to the Company in order to permit the Company to verify the subscriber numbers.’

    As per this term, Star Sports wanted access to its subscribers’ details on Dish TV. To this, the tribunal stated that this term is contrary to a previous opinion of TRAI that was upheld by the TDSAT.

    After hearing this, the Star Sports counsel said that his client won’t insist on incorporating this term in its RIO but the TDSAT said in a similar situation had arose before and therefore this clause may not have found mention in the RIO.

    “In so far as the other disputed terms and conditions are concerned, it will be open to the petitioner to sign the interconnect agreement, including the disputed terms and conditions without prejudice to its rights and contentions and keeping its option open to seek its remedies,” reads the TDSAT order. 

    Dish now has two options before it – either sign the RIO, comply with the terms and take the channel or else not take the channel. Star Sports says that if it wants to take it to the TRAI, it has to sign the RIO including the above mentioned one. The TDSAT has requested the regulator to have its say on it within six weeks from the date of filing.

    According to Dish TV, there are about 10 to 12 such terms that they object to and will be writing to the TRAI about in the first half of next week. “We do expect the TRAI will issue a direction to the broadcaster to amend clauses in the RIO. If Star Sports still does not adhere to the TRAI’s directions we will certainly revert to the tribunal to point out the recalcitrance again,” says Dish TV CEO R C Venkateish.

    Star Sports officials, on the other hand, are also quite clear that Dish TV will have to sign the RIO if it wants the channel. “Despite the fact that the disputed terms in the RIO, this stand of the broadcaster that I have to sign the RIO before approaching the TRAI is indicative of their attitude towards the law of the land,” said Venkateish.

    It is up to the regulator now to decide whether the terms in the RIO fit with the regulations.

  • 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.

  • DD commences e-auction of six slots for its DTH Platform

    DD commences e-auction of six slots for its DTH Platform

    NEW DELHI: In an effort to reach its target of 97 channels by the end of this year, Prasar Bharati is auctioning six slots on its free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD Direct Plus by e-auction.

    A Bangalore based private firm – Synise Technologies – has been chosen to conduct the e-auction which commenced yesterday.

    It is also learnt that Prasar Bharati is considering carrying out a change in its policy to try and get the best of channels on its DTH service.

    Currently, Doordarshan’s DTH platform offers 59 channels of which 30 are private, 21 of DD, Lok Sabha TV, Rajya Sabha TV and two channels run by the UGC.

    Four foreign channels – NHK, ABC, France 24 and Russia Sunday – complete the bouquet of channels on the DTH wing.

    “The capacity to carry channels on our DTH wing is set to increase significantly as Doordarshan is planning to buy equipment that will allow it to utilise an additional transponder on satellite INSAT 4B,” a DD official told indiantelevision.com.

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar has earlier said another aspect that the broadcaster is considering is how it can get better quality channels on its DTH wing. “We are considering framing a policy by next year which will allow the best of channels to be shown on our DTH platform,” Sircar said.

    There was a need to consider a new policy which would be transparent but also to ensure that the best of channels prefer to come to the Doordarshan platform so that they can be shown to viewers all across the country, he said.

  • India, Poland to sign pact on exchange in film sector

    India, Poland to sign pact on exchange in film sector

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, now on a visit to Poland, is expected to sign an Audio visual Co-production Agreement with the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage B. Zdrojewski to provide a legal framework for promoting production of films for Cinema and Television.

    As part of the initiative, India has signed co-production agreements with Italy, UK, Northern Ireland, Federal Republic of Germany, Brazil, France and New Zealand.

    One of the key highlights of the Minister’s three-day visit from 3 to 5 July visit is expected to be discussions regarding preservation of film Heritage at the National Film Archives of Poland. It is expected that the initiatives taken by the Government for promoting film preservation and film restoration through the National Film Heritage Mission will be shared with the Polish Government.

    The Minister is also expected to highlight the potential of the Indian film Industry in the context of promoting India as a ‘Filming Destination‘. The Polish authorities would be detailed about the initiative of the Ministry to establish a Films Commission to promote single window clearance for necessary permissions to foreign production companies and film makers. It is expected that this idea will also facilitate film tourism in the country. This would not only result in increased visitor influx and therefore greater earnings, but also generate increased employment opportunities for the indigenous film sector.

    The visit is expected to highlight the initiatives taken by the Government for Centenary Celebrations of Indian Cinema and the enhanced participation of Poland during the International Film Festival at Goa later this year.

    During the visit, the Minister is expected to have detailed discussions with her Polish counterparts in the Broadcasting and Films sector. On the agenda is also the meeting with the officials of the Polish National Television, TVP. It is expected that experience of Doordarshan as a public service broadcaster with nearly 1500 transmitters will be shared in terms of programming, content development, infrastructure roadmap and reach.

    The possibility of bringing synergy and promoting cooperation between the activities of the two national broadcasters would also be explored in the areas of training exchange programmes, sharing of technology, content development including software and possibility of promoting DD through its DTH platform in countries such as Poland.

    The discussions will include ways to enhance cooperation between the Directorate of Film Festival and Polish Government. The endeavour would be to organise Film Festivals in both countries as per mutually agreed terms and conditions. During the last film festival at Goa, a special package on spot light on Poland was organised.

  • NDTV Metro Nation Chennai to launch by mid-year

    NEW DELHI: After the three new channels being announced to be launched from NDTV Networks, the company’s expansion plan now takes its Metro Nation channel down south.

    Sources told indiantelevision.com that NDTV’s internal memos have told staffers that the process of launching the new channel is on the countdown mode, and that Metro Nation will be launched in Chennai soon, expectedly middle of this year.

    A top official from the PCR at Metro Nation (Delhi) is being sent to Chennai in the middle of February to start recruitments for setting up a full team, as well as creating the infrastructure, sources said.

    The next step would be to start the Metro Nation from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata, which would be early next year, if plans work out well with the Chennai edition.

    Though NDTV is keen on the new content of music and Hollywood films, the expansion would be faster in the Metro Nation channels, sources said, as the company’s internal assessment finds its Delhi reception very encouraging.

    The distribution office has reportedly received very favourable response from the Delhi cable mandarins, where the niche, city-based channel was launched last year.

    More than 60 per cent cable networks in Delhi have started streaming NDTV Metro Nation, the internal assessment note says.

    There is a minor issue with the DTH platform, as at the moment, NDTV Metro Nation is seen on the backburner channels of TataSky.

    Sources said that the “hard launch” on TataSky’s premier bands will follow from the middle of next month.

  • BBC expanding channels presence across Europe

    MUMBAI: BBC Global Channels – one of six BBC Worldwide businesses – has chosen Poland as the first European territory to launch its new suite of BBC-branded thematic channels. Its partner is Polish satellite platform Cyfrowy Polsat.

    Poland was identified by the business as a priority market for channel expansion and, teaming up with Cyfrowy Polsat, represents the first time that all four new channels – BBC Entertainment, BBC Knowledge, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies – have rolled out in one market at the same time.

    The channels will debut in Poland on 2 December and will be available on satellite exclusively for subscribers of Cyfrowy Polsat as part of the platform’s Family package.

    BBC Global Channels senior VP Europe, Miiddle East and Africa Dean Possenniskie says, “I am delighted with the long term carriage agreement we now have in place with Poland’s most successful DTH platform, Cyfrowy Polsat. With this partnership in place I’m very confident we will quickly demonstrate the positive impact our channels can make in a highly competitive market through strong localised brands and programming of the highest quality across all four channel genres.”

  • NDTV to be available on Sri Lanka’s DTH platform

    MUMBAI: NDTV 24X7 has entered into a distribution deal with Dialog TV, a direct-to-home (DTH) service provider in Sri Lanka. It is the only Indian news channel to be available on the Sri Lankan DTH platform.

    With this tie-up, NDTV’s global presence now extends to regions across the world which includes UK, US, Canada, across the Middle East, South Africa, Australia-New Zealand and neighbouring South Asian countries.

    NDTV’s vice president dstribution and affiliate sales Rahul Sood said, “We’re confident that 24×7 will be an important source of information and this partnership is in line with our efforts to reach out to our South Asian viewers.”

    “This agreement with NDTV underscores our continued commitment to add the very best to Dialog TV’s growing portfolio of channels. Our mandate is to deliver the most comprehensive range of news, knowledge and entertainment-based programming, and with the addition of NDTV to our sterling line up of news channels, we guarantee that our customers will receive up-to-the-minute and relevant news from our home region,” said Dialog Telekom general manager sales and marketing Nushad Perera.

    Dialog Television (Private) Limited, a subsidiary of Dialog Telekom PLC, operates Dialog Satellite TV, supporting a broad array of over 40 international channels including BBC, HBO, Cinemax, AXN, ESPN, Ten Sports, Discovery Channel, MTV (Music Television) and Cartoon Network, in addition to other Sri Lankan television channels.

  • India-WI series: DD, Nimbus talks fail; govt looks set to ram through ordinance

    India-WI series: DD, Nimbus talks fail; govt looks set to ram through ordinance

    NEW DELHI: The talks between rights holder Nimbus Sports and Prasar Bharati over sharing of telecast signals of the upcoming India-West Indies cricket series have broken down. And with the government having finalized the provisions of an ordinance on the compulsory sharing of “sporting events of national importance”, the chances of it being promulgated are now high, say government officials.

    The formula Nimbus proposed was that DD agree to a 15-minute delayed telecast transmission beyond Neo Sport’s actual live telecast, saying that DD should use the term “As Live” for their transmission.

    Nimbus also did not agree to DD showing the matches on its DTH platform DD Direct Plus.

    The top official of DD reportedly reacted to the proposal terming it as totally unacceptable. “We cannot have someone having freshly baked bread and others stale stuff,” DD mandarins asserted.

    Nimbus has said if at all it shares the feed, the signals have to be encrypted so that it reaches houses only on the terrestrial network and not those that get DD signals through cable TV.

    However, Prasar Bharati officials, citing previous government orders and court rulings that they claim have gone in their favour, are demanding that they should get live feed of the cricket series, without any conditions, and that it also be shared on DD’s DTH platform.

    Following the breakdown of talks DD officials have gone back to taking the cover of the Uplink-Downlink Guidelines that perforce allow DD to get the telecast feed.

    While officials were hesitant to actually state that the ordinance was on its way, they admitted that it “looks like either tonight or tomorrow it is most likely to be issued”, if Nimbus did not agree to go by the guidelines.

    Prasar Bharati officials also said that the provisions of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Compulsory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Bill 2007 has been drafted and if the ordinance comes through, it will be a precursor to the Bill. “If the ordinance comes, they will not be able to flout it,” the officials said.

    Meanwhile, Prasar Bharati officials said that there was little time now to generate the advertisements for the first game, “but we have go the ads lined up. It is just the question of ringing the bell”.

    “Hopefully, there will be a three-day gap between the first and second matches and ads generated by Prasar Bharati can be aired,” the officials said, adding that there were government as well as corporate advertisers lined up.

    India and West Indies will play four one-day matches during January 21-31. The series will be followed by Sri Lanka’s tour to India in February.