ITV

Tag: DTH

  • Dish not about to let DTH first mover headstart go Sky way

    At Zee‘s office in Noida Film City, on the outskirts of Delhi, which also houses the news, DTH and sports operations with a state-of-the-art playout facility, the atmosphere these days is electric. Meetings are being held all over the place with senior management discussing restructuring, business strategies and increments in hushed tones.

    DTH business head and a younger brother of Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra, Jawahar Goel, despite the surface cool is unable to contain the excitement even as he rushes back for an appointment with Indiantelevision.com from a management meeting.

    “These are exciting times,” he says, settling down in his plush wood-paneled office. Even as he quickly checks his e-mails on the wi-max enabled laptop, he shoots back with confidence, “In spite of Star and Sony channels‘ absence on Dish TV, we are selling 3,000 connections per day these days. This augurs well for us, though the regulatory environment could have been better.”

    Concurring with Goel is another senior executive of Essel Group, which is the parent of Zee and sister concern ASC Enterprise that holds the licence for DTH service in India.

    “We do expect competition in the middle of (calendar year) 2006, but I feel there‘s space for all players in the immediate future as DTH stands to take away some market share from cable,” says Rajiv Garg, chief executive, finance and corporate strategy, Essel.

    It is this confidence that a business could be built up even against odds and with looming competition that pumps up the adrenalin of the crack team at Dish TV, the brand name under which the DTH service is marketed.

    According to Hong Kong-based media research firm Media Partners Asia (MPA), India is set to emerge as Asia‘s leading revenue generating pay-TV market by 2015 with multichannel video industry (cable, DTH and IPTV) turnover growing from $3.6 billion in 2005 to $7.2 billion by 2010 and $10.5 billion by 2015.

    However, projections on DTH vary and depend a lot on progress (or the lack of it) made on the regulatory front (Dish‘s Goel bookmarks this as an important aspect).

    For example, MPA feels the Indian DTH market is likely to grow to Rs 45 billion ($ 1 billion) by 2015 on a base of slightly over 11 million subscribers and 7.8 million customers by end 2010.

    Contrast this against what others say. According to Sanjeev Prasad, head of equity research at Kotak Securities, the DTH market could grow to only 4 million “pay” homes or $300 million by FYE March 2010, while KPMG projects 8.6 million subscribers by 2010.

    But what most agree on is that digital television, driven more by DTH in India, has the potential of changing the electronic media landscape. In such a scenario, Dish TV, the country‘s first private sector DTH platform, stands to have a beginner‘s advantage. That‘s what most people feel.

    THE DISH STORY SO FAR
    Dish TV was launched in October 2003 by Essel Group after the Subhash Chandra-promoted ASC Enterprise Ltd, the licence holder, got all necessary permissions.

    Since DTH allows users to access a variety of digital television channels directly from the satellite without a local cable service provider, the initial thrust of Dish was in rural areas and those places, like the hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh and interiors of the desert state Rajasthan, where cable TV was a rarity and the terrestrial transmission of pubcaster Doordarshan was fuzzy.

    Thus, providing a superior viewing experience to subscribers who had not viewed anything of the sort, Dish TV built up its subscriber base; albeit slowly. The focus now has broadened to encompass urban areas where the spending power is high.

    Over a period of time, the penetration of Dish TV has increased significantly in the country. It has close to 1 million subscribers presently and is adding approximately 100, 000 subscribers every single month, says Goel. “I am quite happy with the (monthly) rate of growth. Such a ramp has been witnessed only in few top DTH platforms in the world,” he points out.

    With existing features like decent quality boxes, which support features like electronic programme guide, parental lock system and multiple audio feed (at the moment FM radio) Dish TV boasts of a capacity of carrying up to 400 channels and also giving the gaming freaks an opportunity to play video games.

    However, at the moment, technical constraints and uncertainty on the regulation front has compelled Dish to keep the offering to modest levels at conservative prices. Goel admits that channel capacity cannot be expanded at the moment, partly because of lack of transponder space and partly because selecting niche content for a DTH platform from the global market is not easy.

    “If we want to turn into a premium service, we should also have premium content. But clarity on that can only come from the sector regulator (that frowns down upon exclusive content on a delivery platform presently),” he adds.

    THE CHALLENGE AHEAD
    But from this point onward the task of Dish TV becomes that much more difficult as Tata Sky, a 80:20 joint venture between the Tatas and Rupert Murdoch, gears up to unleash its DTH service in the second half of 2006, signaling stiff competition.

    Though Tata Sky, in true Tata style of functioning, is keeping things close to its chest, reports filtering out do indicate that the service would focus on niche content, quality of service and aggressive marketing — some of which might be innovative like supplying one master DTH connections to high-rise residential complexes that can be then split up as per the local need.

    Tata Sky also hasn‘t given up the proposal of heavily subsidizing the set-top box, which will help the service gain entry into households quickly.

    Competition certainly there would be, though Dish TV CEO Sunil Khanna puts up a brave front by saying, “Competition? What competition?

    On a more pragmatic note, he goes on to point out that a change is taking place in the C&S dynamics in India where slowly analog is giving way to digital mode of delivery and transmission that will be primarily driven by DTH and to a lesser extent by broadband and IPTV.

    “If DTH is to play such a big role (in the change), all players have to grow as it‘ll help create market awareness about such a service. Tata Sky or other players‘ entry would only help Dish TV‘s growth,” Khanna surmises.

    There‘s certain logic behind such utterances. The entry of another DTH player is also likely to coerce sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to revisit an earlier mandate on making available all content to all platforms.

    This mandate has been openly flouted by some broadcasters who have delayed making available their channels to Dish TV on the pretext that continued commercial negotiations
    are yet to be concluded. This also means that Dish TV‘s subscribers are unable to get all the content available on cable services at present.

    “Trai‘s initiatives have been challenged in the court, while the government has its own reasons to be non-committal on issues like CAS and must provide. It is my belief that for the broadcasting industry to grow exponentially over the next five years, more government and self -regulation is needed,” Goel says.

    Consumer acquisition and investment on programming and packaging is another aspect that Dish TV needs to address as it‘s going to play a vital role in the Indian scenario.

    “The next 12-18 months and beyond will see a land grab in the distribution area, initially kick started by DTH and the launch of Tata Sky. So clearly Dish TV will require more investment in the future, particularly as STB subsidies and programming acquisition costs scale up,” says MPA executive director Vivek Couto.

    And, Goel partly agrees that customer acquisition and box subsidisation would take a toll on any DTH player as unlike in the DTH‘s developing stages in countries like the US and the UK, exclusive content is unlikely to be THE driving force of such a service in India.

    A unique market in every sense, in India it has to be combination of quality of service, good packaging of available and niche content, clever pricing of this content and pushing it into customers‘ homes by absorbing part of the cost of the box or the total hardware needed for a DTH service.

    The proverbial beginner‘s advantage may play its role up to an extent in Dish TV‘s growth. Take, for example, the cost of the box itself. While the imported boxes from Korean vendors is costing Dish TV on an average $ 38 (the average price might come down as the demand increases), industry sources say a box is likely to cost Tata Sky between $ 60-$ 65.

    “There‘s always a price advantage to the first mover. We had acquired the customer in the beginning when we paid lower satellite space rates. Though we did not experience negative cost of acquisition, things have changed now. Even Insat is unable to provide enough space to all the DTH probables now,” Goel points out.

    A Dish TV set-up box is now available in the market at an entry price of Rs 2,990 for 75 channels for three months, which also includes the monthly subscription fee for the period. The scheme was started in April.

    After this the customer has the option of paying Rs 107 per month for around 75 channels. The prices go up to Rs 300 per month for more than 100 channels, including the radio services. The company had priced its services initially in such a way as to leave some room for manoeuvring later.

    It‘s tactics like these that have kept the competition on the edge, compelling it also to review its options. Says MPA‘s Couto, “Dish‘s pricing structure has made Tata Sky revise its own plans. I‘m sure Dish will scale it (the price war) up further and then Tata Sky may respond.”

    Aware that what the likes of MPA are saying that intelligent packaging of content has some merit, Dish TV has devised various tiers also like Dish Welcome (introductory offer), Dish Bioscope (specially categorized movie channels like Zee Action and Zee Classic) and Dish Goal (for fans of European football).

    So, Dish Plus package, for example, comes packed with a wide selection of national and international channels at Rs 125 per month and offers channels like Zee Studio, HBO, TCM, MCM, Reality TV. Dish Bioscope, featuring Zee Premier, Zee Action, Zee Classic and Pakistani film channel Filmazia, costs Rs. 55 per month. News is packaged in Dish News with Zee Business, Euro News, Euro Sports News, NDTV 24×7, CNBC TV18, Awaaz and CNN Headlines News. The cost: Rs 60 per month.

    Dish Pick is an a-la-carte package that allows subscribers to pick and choose extra regional channels. Two channels come for Rs 30 per month, five channels for Rs 50 per month and all regional channels come for Rs 100 per month. (All the prices listed here are exclusive of taxes.) Channels included in this package include Zee TV, Sahara One Zee Punjabi, ETV- Rajastan, ETV – UP, ETV – Bihar, Geo TV, Zee Telugu, Jaya TV, Jeevan TV, Akash Bangla, Zee Bangla, Zee Gujarati and Marathi, India TV and NDTV India.

    NEW DISH INITIAIVES
    Knowing fully well that it has to continue reinvent itself, not only prices of Dish TV service has been dropped, but the retail networks too are being strengthened, apart from pushing digital video recorders (DVR) as a value added service.

    Dish, which presently has about 6,000 dealers around the country, is beefing up its network with an additional 3,000 dealers of HCL, the computer hardware company that is also a distributor of Nokia handsets in India.

    As per a yet-to-be-announced pact with HCL 3,000-odd HCL dealers would be responsible for selling, installing and servicing Dish TV hardware at customer end.

    “We expect that such non-exclusive deals will help us reach out to more customers and service them better,” Goel says, hinting that in the near future other such pacts may be concluded.

    Apart from this, the company is also in the process of launching anew its DVR service with focus on Delhi and Pune. Selling at Rs 16,000, a DVR will allow a subscriber to download up to 200 movies, apart from other Dish programming, to be watched at leisure.

    “We want to focus on some select cities like Delhi with the DVR offering before making it nationally available. This is a new concept and we want to do some sampling with subscribers,” Dish CEO Khanna says.

    Towards the end of June, Dish will launch its gaming and middleware facility that will allow DTH subscribers to play not only with games, but also while watching traditional television.

    With the help of technology partner Open TV, Dish plans to introduce middleware tech wherein a viewer can access background information about a cricketer, for example, who‘s playing in a match telecast on TV at that moment. (pix-Courtesy DishTV)

    However, one of the most exciting things explored by Dish TV is the introduction of pay-per-view concept in India in the real sense where subscribers of pay television have the option of watching a programme for a particular period of time after making payment for the same.

    Hoping that the Discovery-Sony Entertainment joint venture One Alliance will come on board soon, Dish is exploring whether exclusive Discovery programming (like excavation of Titanic or a famed Egyptian tomb) can be made available to Dish subscribers on selective payment basis.

    “Pay per view is a concept that‘s yet to mature in India. For that content is most important. But we are examining whether we can try out this concept with Discovery once it joins the Dish platform,” Goel informs with excitement written all over his place.

    It‘s quite apparent that Dish TV is far from being complacent. And, the announcement that at a later stage the whole DTH operation, restructured as part of an over all Zee Telefilms rejig, might be listed on the stock exchange has given the company an impetus to ramp up its activities.

    While Khanna is effusive that in the coming months Dish TV will become “more aggressive” on all fronts, MPA‘s Couto feels the restructuring has come at the right moment. “…a spin off could well be the ideal way to induct strategic and/or private equity financing in DTH.” After all, investments have to be made if the Dish operations are to be ramped up.

    (Rs 45 = 1US$)

  • Pay TV reveunes sees growth in Canada; CRTC report

    Pay TV reveunes sees growth in Canada; CRTC report

    MUMBAI: The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has released its annual report indicating that the revenues and profits for Canada’s specialty and pay TV services have climbed steadily over the last five years.

    The reports signifies that on an average, from 2001 to 2005, revenues for these services increased by 10 per cent per year, and their earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), by 19.4 per cent.
    EBIT for specialty, pay and pay-per view services rose even more significantly over the last year, posting an increase of 31.5 per cent. They climbed from $418.2 million in 2004 to $549.9 million in 2005. Also, revenues reached almost $2.2 billion in 2005, an increase of 6.3 per cent over the previous year, due in part to increases in the number of subscribers and reporting units.

    More specifically, in 2005, revenues from cable distribution services grew by 4.7 per cent over 2004 from $886.9 to $928.4 million. Those for direct-to-home satellite distribution services (DTH) increased by 6.2 per cent, reaching $460.7 million in 2005, compared with $433.9 million in 2004. National advertising revenues rose by 8.7%, increasing from $691.5 million to $751.3 million.

    This year, the report includes a new component: it details programming and production spendings by type of program, as provided to the CRTC by most Canadian specialty services. It shows that, for Canadian programming, services spent $162.5 million on drama, $128.4 million on news, $206 million on other information programming, $116.9 million on sports, $38.3 million on musical and variety shows and $45 million on general interest programs.
    This report was produced using the financial statements of Canadian specialty, pay and pay-per-view services. It is one of a series of reports that the CRTC publishes annually in order to inform those interested in the state of the Canadian broadcasting industry.

    The CRTC is an independent, public authority which was established to sustain and promote Canadian culture and achieve key social and economic objectives by regulating and supervising Canadian broadcasting and telecommunications in the public interest.

  • Zee fixes share swap ratio for Dish TV

    Zee fixes share swap ratio for Dish TV

    MUMBAI: Zee Telefilms Ltd. (ZTL) today said its shareholders will get 23 shares of ASC Enterprises Ltd (ASCE) for every 10 shares held.

    The ZTL board has also approved a demerger scheme for spinning off its direct consumer business into ASCE, a company promoted by Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group for direct-to-home (DTH) business. Siticable (without its cable business) and its wholly owned subsidiary New Era Entertainment Network Ltd. (NEENL) will merge with ASCE, integrating all DishTV operations under this company.

    In the first stage, Siticable will, thus, hive off its cable TV business into Wire and Wireless India Ltd (WWIL). The residual Siticable and NEENL, which handles marketing and distribution of the DTH business, will then merge with ASCE.

    The paid-up equity capital of ASCE will increase to Rs 1.66 billion after merger, up from the current base of around Rs 411 million. The company plans to bring back the capital base to the pre-merger level by cancelling three of every four shares held in ASCE. “As a result of the merger, ASCE’s capital base will get bloated. We want to compress the base,” said Essel Group CEO, corporate strategy and finance. Rajiv Garg.

    The share exchange ratio is based on the recommendation of independent valuers M/s Deloitte Haskin & Sells.
    ZTL shareholders will receive shares on a proportionate basis in ASCE as consideration. As per the independent valuation, ZTL shareholders will get 230 shares of ASCE of Re 1 each for every 100 shares in ZTL. This would result in a 57 per cent shareholding in ASCE for the shareholders of ZTL,” the company said in a release. The appointed date for the Scheme of Arrangement will be with retrospective effect from 1 April.

    The scheme of arrangement will require approval of the Stock Exchange, shareholders and creditors of Zee and from Bombay High Court. ASCEL will be listed on all stock exchanges where ZTL is listed, the release added

    Commenting on the board’s decision to hive off Zee’s direct consumer business, ZTL chairman Subhash Chandra said, “All Dish TV operations would now be under a single corporate entity, bringing strategic clarity to this high growth business. This shall complete the restructuring agenda we had set for ourselves to create four focused, pure play, listed companies ready to exploit the vast emerging opportunities in each line of business. Subject to necessary approvals, this would result in streamlined operations in each area to build long-term shareholder value. It would also clear the ground for acquisitions and strategic or financial partners in the de-merged businesses, apart from unlocking shareholder value.”

    Zee has sent an application to the Stock Exchange on the restructuring plans for the news, content and cable business. “An application will soon be made to the High Court,” the release said.

  • Zee Telefilms to be named Zee Entertainment Enterprises; ASC Enterprises becomes Dish TV

    Zee Telefilms to be named Zee Entertainment Enterprises; ASC Enterprises becomes Dish TV

    MUMBAI: One part of the process set in motion late last month by the Subhash Chandra promoted Zee Telefilms board to split its broadcasting business into three entities — news operations, broadcast & content creation, and Siti Cable — has been completed with the nomenclature of the new entities finalised.

    Zee Telefilms will henceforth be named as Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel). Included under its ambit are flagship Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Zee Cafe, Zee Studio, Zee Trendz, Zee Sports and Zee Smile.

    On the other hand, ASC Enterprises Ltd, under which comes the group’s direct-to-home (DTH) businesses, will now be renamed as Dish TV Ltd. ASC Enterprise’s DTH service is marketed under the brand name Dish TV.

    Last month, the company’s board had approved of splitting of its broadcasting business into three entities — news operations, broadcast and content creation, and Siti Cable.

    There is no change of name for the news operations company which remains Zee News Ltd. Under Zee News comes not just the news channels but the regional channels as well.

    The reason for including the regional channels into Zee News Ltd is because of the heavy news component that forms an intrinsic part of all these channels. It was in order to comply with the news uplinking guidelines that effective October 2005, newsgathering activities of ZTL were transferred to Zee News Limited.

    The news channels include Zee News, Zee Biz and the recently launched Bangla news channel Chobbees Ghanta. The regional channels are Zee Marathi, Zee Bangla, Zee Punjabi, Zee Gujarati, with the newest addition being Zee Telugu. Expected to launch next month is the sixth regional channel in the stable Zee Kannada.

    As regards the restructuring on the cable side, it has already been announced that the cable business of Siti Cable, a 100 per cent subsidiary of ZTL (now Zeel), and the cable related business of ZTL would be de-merged into Wire and Wireless (India) Limited (WWIL), a new company incorporated for the purpose.

  • Private broadcasters resist fee proposal for DD Direct+

    Private broadcasters resist fee proposal for DD Direct+

    NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati’s bid to demand carriage fee from broadcasters to be on its DTH platform, DD Direct+, has met with initial resistance from private sector players.

    This was amply clear in a meeting that was held today at the Prasar Bharati headquarters here to discuss the fee issue with private broadcasters who are already present on DD Direct+.

    The private sector channels, which have been on DD Direct+ for over a year now, feel that the demand for a carriage fee on the pubcaster’s DTH platform is “unjustified.”

    According to a representative of a private broadcaster, “We had assisted Prasar Bharati to launch its DTH service keeping national interest in mind. Now that the service is doing well, this sudden demand is unjustified.”

    Early April, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma, while making a presentation before the media during the announcement of its annual financial result, had said there is a proposal to charge private channels on DD Direct+ an annual fee of Rs. 10 million from May when the total number of channels would be increased to 51.

    The private broadcasters on DD Direct+ are understood to have argued today at the meeting that as a gesture of goodwill towards them and their contribution in the success of the DTH Platform, they should not be charged any fee.

    “If at all Prasar Bharati wishes to charge a carriage fee, it should do so from newcomers who join the platform now,” a general entertainment channel representative said.

    Prasar Bharati is India’s public service broadcaster and manages Doordarshan and All India Radio. The DTH service, which has over 900,000 subscribers as per claims made, doesn’t charge the consumer any monthly subscription fee. The hardware comes at a cost of approximately Rs. 4,000.

    Publicly funded Prasar Bharati has said there’s a long queue of Indian and foreign broadcasters waiting to hop on to DD Direct+ in an efforts to establish their presence in a market where all TV homes number over 90 million. Of this, 61 million are C&S homes.

    The proposal to levy a fee to ride the DD Direct+ bandwagon is also an effort of the pubcaster to increase its annual income, which falls much short of its total yearly expenditure. For the year 2005-06, ended 31 March, the pubcaster’s revenues stood Rs. 12.38 billion, up a whopping 67 per cent from the Rs 8.31 billion it earned previous year.

    Of this, national broadcaster Doordarshan accounted for Rs 9.6 billion riding heavily on cricket and Hindi movies. Most significant was the growth on the radio side though, with All India Radio registering a 59.6 per cent jump in revenues at Rs 2.7 billion.

  • Animax to launch in Korea on 29 April

    Animax to launch in Korea on 29 April

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI) and Korean satellite TV broadcaster SkyLife will be launching their joint venture channel Animax in Korea on 29 April.

    The announcement was made by SPTI international networks president Andy Kaplan and SkyLife CEO Dong-Koo Surh.

    Animax in Korea will be a 24-hour local program provider focusing on animation programming that will be carried exclusively on SkyLife’s DTH platform, which has a subscriber base of about 1.9 million in Korea.

    Unlike other animation channels in Korea, which focus mainly on programming for young children, Animax will air programs for teens and young adults. With various genres from anime producers, Animax will offer a wide variety of programming choices, including comedies, science fiction, action, dramas and thrillers.

    God Save Our King!, Monkey Typhoon, The Count of Monte Cristo, Otogi Zoshi, The Adventures of Tweeny Witches and Galaxy Angels, are among the first-run programs airing exclusively on Animax in Korea. Additionally, Animax will air popular local Korean animation programs such as Yorang-Ah and Black Rubber Shoes.

    Animax in Korea is part of SPTI’s expansion plans for its international network portfolio which now includes over 40 channels around the world.

    Animax Korea representative director Marty Hong said, “Animax Korea will be differentiated by a line-up of high quality programs and sophisticated graphic design elements. We will lead a new trend among animation channels and we also hope that by leveraging the distribution network of Sony, we will be able to contribute to the local animation industry.”

    “Sony Pictures Television International is committed to growing its international networks group, and Korea figures prominently in our plans. We launched our AXN channel in Korea on SkyLife last year and we’re thrilled to be working with them again on launching Animax in Korea. We now have Animax channels in Japan, South and Southeast Asia and Latin America, and the channels have been embraced by audiences everywhere. The thirst for quality anime programming is apparent and we’ll strive to make sure Animax in Korea offers the best anime shows,” said Kaplan.

    Surh added, “We are pleased to launch such a global channel as Animax, which will create a buzz in the animation industry. We think that the addition of Animax will add great value in terms of content differentiation of SkyLife and we will continue our efforts to secure strong content in various ways in the future.”

  • Former I&B minister Pramod Mahajan shot at by brother, remains critical

    Former I&B minister Pramod Mahajan shot at by brother, remains critical

    MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader and former information & broadcasting (I&B) minister Pramod Mahajan was shot this morning (Saturday) and remains in a critical condition.

    Mahajan was shot at by his youngest brother Pravin with a Brownie pistol after an argument at the BJP leader’s apartment in Mumbai’s upscale Worli area at around 8 am, news channels have reported.
    The 56-year-old former I&B minister reportedly has four bullets lodged in his body and has suffered grievous injury to his liver, pancreas and intestines. He underwent a nearly four-hour operation at Mumbai’s Hinduja Hospital where he was administered nearly 25 bottles of blood due to the heavy internal bleeding he suffered in the attack. Doctors have not removed the bullets yet and will take a call on that only after keeping him under observation for the next 48 hours.

    It was on Mahajan’s watch that Star India in 1998-99 made its first concerted effort to get a direct-to-home (DTH) broadcast service going with its ISkyB venture. Mahajan had in end-1998 indicated that DTH clearances would come within two-and-a-half months.

    Doordarshan’s news channel is also a brain child of Mahajan, who floated the idea in 1999. The idea of starting such a channel was mooted immediately after the BJP came to power in March 1998. Mahajan gave the green signal for starting the channel after he became I&B minister in December.

    It was also Mahajan who got the idea to upgrade the facilities of Kashmir DD centre to counter Pakistani propaganda unleashed by Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV in 1999-2000. Though a dedicated Kashmir channel was started with the help of private broadcasters when Arun Jaitley became the I&B minister after Mahajan in 2000, the former had sanctioned a $100m package for the upgradation of DD Kashmir’s centre.

    After Mahajan was shifted to the telecom ministry, holding also the infotec portfolio, he expressly scotched an idea of merging the telecom and I&B ministry to form an ICE ministry for the proposed convergence era.

    It is not wise to make one out of three important ministries of telecom, information and broadcasting and information technology, especially in view of the amount of work involved and number of employees associated, Mahajan had said while opposing a merger of the three ministries.

  • Tata Sky targets 1 July for DTH launch

    Tata Sky targets 1 July for DTH launch

    MUMBAI: Rumours of delays may be rife in the market but Tata Sky – the 80:20 joint venture between the Tata Group and Star India – is targeting a 1 July commercial launch of its direct-to-home (DTH) service, informed industry sources aver.

    Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik, while speaking to Indiantelevision.com, was however quite categorical that any talk of a date of launch was premature at this stage and therefore purely speculative. Kaushik would only confirm that his company was on target for a mid-year launch for its DTH service.

    Tata Sky will begin the “test run” of India’s third DTH service after Zee Group’s DishTV and Prasar Bharati’s DD direct from 15 May, the sources say. It has marked out a 45-day window period till 30 June during which time all technical and channel and programme related issues will have been ironed out.

    According to the sources, the preparatory work for the launch has been ratcheted up several gears in the last three weeks after the company collected from the information and broadcasting ministry the final licence clearing the way for the $500-million DTH service to take off.

    It was in December last that the telecommunication ministry gave its green signal for the vexed matter of setting up an uplinking base in Delhi by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, an issue that was under government scanner on technical grounds of land use by VSNL of its Chattarpur facility. The telecom ministry nod was seen as crucial for obtaining the final licence from the I&B ministry.

    Tata Sky has three operational centres in the country. Its technical set-up is headquartered in the capital, its complete back-up systems, including call centre operations, is out of Bangalore while its commercial activities are managed from Mumbai.

    One big priority of course is getting all popular channels onto its platform, a matter that rival DishTV has still to resolve with the Star network and the Sony-Discovery One Alliance. Here, like in the case of the Subhash Chandra-promoted DTH service, ESPN Star Sports has already worked out a carriage deal with Tata Sky.

    Queried about this, Kaushik would only say, “We are in ongoing discussions with all major broadcasters. More than this I cannot comment at this stage.”

    Speaking of channels, a key function of all addressable systems is the electronic programme guide (EPG). Tata Sky has exchanged letters with all broadcasters on use of logos and such in regards to how the programming highlights in its EPG will be displayed. The operator has reportedly requested all channels to provide these details ahead of the 15 May week.

    Another aspect that Tata Sky has to confront is of how to get around the last mile roadblock. One strategy that it is going with is to introduce pre-paid cards, which Kaushik believes would make subscription payment easier for the consumer. This differs from the DishTV strategy, which offers new customers its services for Rs 3,990 that includes one year’s subscription. After a year, DishTV subscribers pay a monthly subscription fee.

    Secondly, Tata Sky plans to take the responsibility of directly installing the hardware in every subscriber’s home and servicing it whenever needed. This again differs from DishTV which has a distribution network of about 5,000 dealers / distributors across the country.

    On the hardware side, Tata Sky, like DishTV has done, will be offering its boxes through consumer durable outlets.

    As regards subscriber acquisition, Tata Sky is following a two-pronged strategy of targeting individual consumers as well as institutions, for which there is a separate head of institutional sales.

    Industrial townships, hospitals, hotels, etc. are where the operator is directly negotiating to set up a central dish antenna through which it can connect individual installations.

    Where it has come into direct confrontation with last mile operators has been when it approached housing societies in various cities with the institutional model to offer its services.

    In fact, one of the reasons for a majority of cable networks in Kolkata blacking out the Star group of channels has been this issue. The protest against carriage of the Star channels in Kolkata is being led by the Forum of Cable Operators and Cable Operators Sanjukta, two association bodies of the last mile operators in the city. “Star was asking for a hike, which we couldn’t have passed on to the consumers. Besides, Tata Sky, where Star is a partner, is wanting to grab subscribers by offering housing societies free cabling from a single central antenna,” Cable Operators Sanjukta spokesperson Papi Banerjee told Indiantelevision.com recently.

    Be that as it may, Tata Sky has set itself some ambitious goals. The major one reportedly being to acquire around one million subscriptions by this year.

    Tata Sky CEO Vikram Kaushik, while speaking to Indiantelevision.com, was however quite categorical that any talk of a date of launch was premature at this stage and therefore purely speculative. Kaushik would only confirm that his company was on target for a mid-year launch for its DTH service.

    Tata Sky will begin the “test run” of India’s third DTH service after Zee Group’s DishTV and Prasar Bharati’s DD direct from 15 May, the sources say. It has marked out a 45-day window period till 30 June during which time all technical and channel and programme related issues will have been ironed out.

    According to the sources, the preparatory work for the launch has been ratcheted up several gears in the last three weeks after the company collected from the information and broadcasting ministry the final licence clearing the way for the $500-million DTH service to take off.

    It was in December last that the telecommunication ministry gave its green signal for the vexed matter of setting up an uplinking base in Delhi by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd, an issue that was under government scanner on technical grounds of land use by VSNL of its Chattarpur facility. The telecom ministry nod was seen as crucial for obtaining the final licence from the I&B ministry.

    Tata Sky has three operational centres in the country. Its technical set-up is headquartered in the capital, its complete back-up systems, including call centre operations, is out of Bangalore while its commercial activities are managed from Mumbai.

    One big priority of course is getting all popular channels onto its platform, a matter that rival DishTV has still to resolve with the Star network and the Sony-Discovery One Alliance. Here, like in the case of the Subhash Chandra-promoted DTH service, ESPN Star Sports has already worked out a carriage deal with Tata Sky.

    Queried about this, Kaushik would only say, “We are in ongoing discussions with all major broadcasters. More than this I cannot comment at this stage.”

    Speaking of channels, a key function of all addressable systems is the electronic programme guide (EPG). Tata Sky has exchanged letters with all broadcasters on use of logos and such in regards to how the programming highlights in its EPG will be displayed. The operator has reportedly requested all channels to provide these details ahead of the 15 May week.

    Another aspect that Tata Sky has to confront is of how to get around the last mile roadblock. One strategy that it is going with is to introduce pre-paid cards, which Kaushik believes would make subscription payment easier for the consumer. This differs from the DishTV strategy, which offers new customers its services for Rs 3,990 that includes one year’s subscription. After a year, DishTV subscribers pay a monthly subscription fee.

    Secondly, Tata Sky plans to take the responsibility of directly installing the hardware in every subscriber’s home and servicing it whenever needed. This again differs from DishTV which has a distribution network of about 5,000 dealers / distributors across the country.

    On the hardware side, Tata Sky, like DishTV has done, will be offering its boxes through consumer durable outlets.

    As regards subscriber acquisition, Tata Sky is following a two-pronged strategy of targeting individual consumers as well as institutions, for which there is a separate head of institutional sales.

    Industrial townships, hospitals, hotels, etc. are where the operator is directly negotiating to set up a central dish antenna through which it can connect individual installations.

    Where it has come into direct confrontation with last mile operators has been when it approached housing societies in various cities with the institutional model to offer its services.

    In fact, one of the reasons for a majority of cable networks in Kolkata blacking out the Star group of channels has been this issue. The protest against carriage of the Star channels in Kolkata is being led by the Forum of Cable Operators and Cable Operators Sanjukta, two association bodies of the last mile operators in the city. “Star was asking for a hike, which we couldn’t have passed on to the consumers. Besides, Tata Sky, where Star is a partner, is wanting to grab subscribers by offering housing societies free cabling from a single central antenna,” Cable Operators Sanjukta spokesperson Papi Banerjee told Indiantelevision.com recently.

    Be that as it may, Tata Sky has set itself some ambitious goals. The major one reportedly being to acquire around one million subscriptions by this year.

  • LMOs And The CAS Conundrum

    LMOs And The CAS Conundrum

    Nothing can get more complex than this. It is not only the pay-TV broadcasters and the government who are wanting to take time out for implementation of conditional access system (CAS). Opposition is coming from within the value chain of the cable TV industry itself with the distributors and the last mile operators (LMOs) expressing concern over CAS.

    “CAS is not good for consumers, distributors and last mile operators. It will lead to too much of confusion in the market. Besides, broadcasters are not providing a la carte rates,” says Cable Operators and Distributors Association (Coda) vice president Ravi Singh.

    Clearly, the mood among the cable operators is not to rush with CAS. They would rather wait to see if direct-to-home (DTH) picks up once Tata Sky launches its service later in the year. Their fear of CAS is grounded in the fact that they will lose control of their subscribers to the multi-system operators (MSOs). And in the transparent system of digital cable, they will have to open up the unreported subscribers to the MSOs.

    Cable operators’ fear of CAS is grounded in the fact that they will lose control of their subscribers to the multi-system operators
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    To counter this “two-way defeat,” the distributors and last mile operators are willing to vote CAS out. So how do they plan to compete with DTH? By dropping prices of analogue cable while throwing the offer open for digital service without CAS.

    Quite a miserable situation to be in if you are a MSO as you will be hurt both ways. In the scenario of a price drop, the MSOs will have to absorb the slippage. And in case of digital cable without CAS, they will have to invest while facing the uphill task of luring subscribers away from analogue. Particularly in a market that has grown a spoilt breed of over 52 million (NRS says its 61 million) cable TV consumers who are used to a large menu of channels on a comparatively low monthly subscription fee.

    The LMOs, in fact, have an open-ended strategy. If DTH starts pocketing cable TV subscribers, the gameplan is up for change. They will bend and cooperate with the MSOs, becoming a part of an organised distribution system with margins well-defined and structured.

    Yes, broadcasters have been dilly-dallying on CAS. But MSOs have not made it any easier for them with such statements as “the true value of pay channels has come to the surface in Chennai where consumers have thrown them out.”
    _____****_____

    But wait. Having enjoyed the spoils of a long grown unorganised industry, the distributors and LMOs do not want to let go so soon. Coda, an association of cable operators and distributors in Mumbai, is even talking of setting up a digital headend in a CAS regime. This is nothing new. In 2003, when the CAS topic was hot, Coda made similar rumblings that threatened but sounded empty. But this time, there is a significant change. There are around 50 distributors in Mumbai and they have invested in fibre. What this means is that they are connected by fibre with each other, except in small patches where work is going on, and have the infrastructure to put up a digital network.

    “We will jointly invest in a headend and run it as partners,” says Coda president Ganesh Naidu.

    Talk is easier than action. Investments on setting up a digital infrastructure is not all; a sizeable chunk of money needs to be set aside for subsidising set-top boxes (STBs). Then there is the issue of professionalising customer care services like a call centre and technical team for maintenance. Besides, negotiations with broadcasters can be a tedious process. And who can forget management issues between as wide a body as the distributors and the LMOs?

    Behind the garb of an entrepreneurial spirit may lie the hidden agenda of bargaining for a “pound of flesh.” The distributors, who feel insecure of their role in a CAS system, want to ensure that their place is protected as a bridge between the MSOs and the LMOs. They, along with the MSOs, have been asking for more, as share in terms of commission from conversions into digital consumers.

    The MSOs can take the blame for not ironing out differences with their distributors and LMOs. Even as the time frame for implementation of CAS is set for delay, there is no effort to fix the margins. The argument on offer: such margins can be settled only after the broadcasters come out with their proposals.

    Yes, broadcasters have been dilly-dallying on CAS. But MSOs have not made it any easier for them with such statements as “the true value of pay channels has come to the surface in Chennai where consumers have thrown them out.” Perhaps, MSOs went overboard thinking that this would win them support from the consumers and, hence, the government as it would imply cheaper cable subscription fees. The sad fate of CAS is that consumers didn’t quite agree with this.

  • Isro schedules Insat 4C launch for July

    Isro schedules Insat 4C launch for July

    MUMBAI: All indications point to the second half of the year being when we will see some fresh action on the direct-to-home (DTH) television services front. Even as the timeline for the Tata Sky DTH service looks to be June-July, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set to launch Insat 4C, the latest in the Insat series, in July.

    Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group, which has booked space on Insat 4C, is negotiating with Isro for eight Ku-band transponders. Earlier Sun had indicated that it would start its Sun Direct DTH service with five transponders which it would ramp up to nine.

    “Sun now wants to start with eight transponders. The company is in discussions with Isro,” an industry source says.

    Though Insat 4C has a capacity of 12 Ku-band transponders, the problem with Isro is that it has got demand from other operators as well. The government requires four transponders for village telephony over a period of time. Even National Informatics Centre (NIC) has asked for four transponders to start with. “We have committed to giving them one transponder each. We may give some transponders to NIC on Insat 4B, which is slated for launch in the first quarter of 2007 as we have to coordinate with the launch vehicle (Arianespace’s commercial launcher Ariane 5),” says Isro contract management and legal services director SB Iyer.

    Isro will also be handing over two Ku-band transponders to media companies for digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) activities. “DSNG is a fast-growing segment. We are providing two transponders for DSNG operators,” Iyer says.

    With one-to-two transponders reserved for spare capacity, Sun may have to finally settle for less than what it wants. But Isro will allocate transponders to customers who are ready to take them first.

    Meanwhile, Anil Ambani’s Reliance has also booked space for its own DTH plans. As things stand now, there may be no room even on Insat 4B as the space on Insat 4B is reserved for Doordarshan which wants six Ku-band transponders at the minimum.

    Subhash Chandra’s Dish TV, which is on NSS satellite, has not yet indicated to Isro whether it wants space on the Insat series. BPCL, the other player which is waiting to launch, has also not applied to Isro for transponder space.

    Insat 4C will be put into orbit in July by the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-5 (GSLV), to be launched from Isro’s Sriharikota facility.

    With 12 high power Ku-band transponders, Insat 4C is the first Indian satellite to exclusively offer DTH playout facilities. The satellite will have the capacity to beam about 150 television channels in all.

    The other two satellites of the Insat 4 series — 4A and 4B — have both Ku-band and C-band capacity, carrying 12 transponders of each. Insat 4A launched last December.

    Isro has already allocated all the 12 transponders on Insat 4A for Tata Sky, the 80:20 joint venture between the Tatas and Star Group.