ITV

Tag: DTH

  • Discovery JEET rewrites history with a reach of 140 million plus on the launch day

    Discovery JEET rewrites history with a reach of 140 million plus on the launch day

    MUMBAI: Discovery JEET, the new entertainment channel from Discovery India, with meaningful content spanning biopics, historicals, crime and comedy was launched on February 12 with a reach of 140 million across India. Discovery Communication India has tied-up with leading MSOs and DTH players to ensure that Discovery JEET is available in base pack with a top 10 EPG position.

    Speaking on the occasion, Vijay Rajput, SVP & Head – Affiliate Sales, Discovery Communications India, said, “We are delighted with the overwhelming support that we have received from the cable fraternity. We thank all the affiliate partners in helping us rewrite history. It is a matter of pride that Discovery JEET has launched with a reach of 140 million plus – a feat never achieved before in the annals of TV history in India.”

  • MIB admits no DTH infra sharing permission sought

    MIB admits no DTH infra sharing permission sought

    NEW DELHI: Despite the initial hype and enthusiasm over infrastructure sharing by broadcast, cable and satellite-delivered service players (such as DTH operators) and lengthy suggestions on the subject by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the government has admitted no stakeholder has evinced interest so far.

    “Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has not received any proposal from DTH operators for sharing of satellite transponders and earth station facilities with other DTH players and distribution platforms,” junior MIB minister Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Indian Parliament last week.

    Pointing out that sector regulator TRAI had made recommendations in March 2017 on infrastructure sharing by broadcast and cable sector players, the minister admitted that enabling sharing could address the issue of the demand-supply mismatch. Such a sharing could also “reduce capital and operating expenditure” of a service provider to an appreciable extent, Rathore added.

    TRAI had made suggestions on the hows and whys of infrastructure sharing, especially by DTH players, and had also exhorted the government to tweak policy guidelines to enable such sharing.

    “To enable [the] sharing of the DTH platform and transport streams transmitted on the DTH platform, the authority recommends that the guidelines for providing DTH services should be suitably amended,” TRAI had noted while making recommendations on infrastructure sharing.

    A decision to review the DTH policy guidelines is pending with the MIB with no firm decision on it being taken yet, if industry sources are to be believed, who also pointed out that the ministry may be readying files to refer the issue to the Ministry of Law and Justice for an opinion—a move that could be time consuming. The lack of a policy review has resulted in several glitches hitting DTH operators in India.

    TRAI had suggested that to ensure efficient use of scarce satellite resources, DTH operators—which have already set up earth stations and hired satellite transponder capacities, and willing to share the platform and transport stream of TV channels—should be allowed to do so with prior written intimation to the government.

    Amongst other recommendations of TRAI on sharing of infrastructure by DTH and distribution platforms, the following are noteworthy:

    — The central government should encourage sharing of infrastructure, wherever technically feasible, in TV broadcasting distribution network services on a voluntary basis.

    — To allow a new DTH operator to use the existing DTH platform and transport streams of TV channels transmitted on that platform, the conditions relating to hiring of satellite capacity and setting up of an earth station should be amended suitably.

    — A DTH operator, providing DTH services using the shared infrastructure with another DTH operator, should be allowed to establish, maintain and operate its own platform at a later date within the licence validity period if it decides so after following the due procedure.

    — An easier process should be put in place to ensure continuity of services to subscribers in the event of any disaster. One of the way in which it could be ensured is sharing of the main and the disaster recovery site in hot standby mode with the prior approval of the licensor.

    — The DTH operator, willing to share its transport stream of TV channels with another DTH operator, should ensure that the other DTH operator has valid written interconnection agreements with broadcasters concerned for distribution of pay TV channels to the subscribers.

    — On a voluntary basis, sharing of head-end used for cable TV services and transport streams transmitting signals of TV channels, among MSOs, should be permitted.

    Also Read :

    Law ministry likely to give opinion on DTH guidelines review 

    DTH’s year of consolidation

  • Law ministry likely to give opinion on DTH guidelines review

    Law ministry likely to give opinion on DTH guidelines review

    MUMBAI: Even as the government admitted in Parliament yesterday that it has granted six companies licences to operate DTH services in India, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has, reportedly, referred to the Law Ministry a long-pending proposal to review DTH guidelines in the country.

    Replying to a question in Lok Sabha or Lower House on the DTH sector, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani, in written statement, said Dish TV, Tata Sky, Sun Direct, Reliance BIG TV, Bharti Telemedia and Videocon d2h are licenced to provide services in India under the DTH guidelines issued on 15 March 2001, which is amended from time to time.

    She said that in addition to the private players, pubcaster Doordarshan too operated a free to air DTH services in the country and there was no restriction on the total number of DTH licences.

    According to the minister, a licencee, in addition to an initial non-refundable entry fee of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million), is required to pay an annual licence fee that amounts to 10 per cent of its gross revenue.

    In the meanwhile, the DTH players who had been lobbying for the last 24 months or so for another review of the DTH guidelines, aimed at bringing down the annual revenue sharing percentage to between 6-8 per cent amongst other things, may have to wait for relief.

    MIB, which was studying a proposal to review the DTH guidelines based also on some past recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has already referred or is in the process of referring the matter to the Law Ministry for an opinion, if government sources are to be believed.

    Amongst the six DTH licencees, a few are operating on the basis of temporary extension of their licences as the DTH guidelines do not spell out clearly the modalities for licence renewal once the initial 10-year period is over, DTH industry sources explained.

    MIB’s indecision on the regulatory review process hasn’t helped the industry much as the sector is witnessing consolidation — for example, the ongoing Dish TV-Videocon d2h merger and the sale of Reliance’s DTH business to a set of new investors — apart from the expiry of the 10-year licence period.

    Also Read:

    DTH’s year of consolidation

    Recalibrating India’s DTH sector after Airtel DTH-Warburg Pincus deal

    Dish TV-Videocon d2h deal on course

  • Sluggish rural consumption, distribution expenses pull down Dish TV’s Q3 numbers

    Sluggish rural consumption, distribution expenses pull down Dish TV’s Q3 numbers

    BENGALURU: A recovered but not fully-up-to-speed rural sector and higher selling and distribution expenses during festival time led to Indian direct-to-home (DTH) major Dish TV India Ltd (Dish TV) reporting lower numbers for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, the quarter under review) as compared with the corresponding year ago quarter (yoy). Though the company added net 250,000 subscribers during the quarter, lower ARPU brought down Dish TV’s operating revenue and EBITDA by 1 per cent and 15.5 per cent, respectively, yoy. The company reported a net subscriber base of 1.61 crore at the end of Q3 2018. ARPU of Rs 144 in Q3 2018 was the lowest in the current fiscal as against Rs 148 in Q2 2018 and Rs 149 in Q1 2018. Dish TV’s ARPU before demonetisation in November 2016 was Rs 162. The company has reported net loss after taxes of Rs 3.58 crore in Q3 2018 as against profit of Rs 8.39 crore in Q3 2017.

    Dish TV CMD Jawahar Goel said, “One year down the line from demonetisation, we have come a long way but somehow the sting in rural consumption is still missing. This was probably well recognised by the government and hence the impetus towards a stronger rural India. Television continues to remain the cheapest and most wholesome means of entertainment for the masses. DTH has presence in places where few other television service providers have reached. Dish TV, amongst such DTH players, has perhaps the deepest rural connect and hopes to benefit from rural India’s increasing propensity to consume everything including television content.”

    In its investor release for Q3 2018, Dish TV said that the pending Dish TV–Videocon d2h merger had hit a roadblock as the company was forced to evaluate the impact of certain proposed proceedings, against the Videocon group, on its rights and obligations under the definitive agreements, and consequential effects on the transactions contemplated thereunder.

    Dish TV, on 15 December, had secured the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s approval to the request made by the company for closing the merger of Videocon d2h with and into Dish TV.

    Talking about the merger, Goel said, “We acknowledge our shareholders growing impatience with respect to the merger. We would like to assure them that work around the completion of the deal is going ahead with full steam now and should be completed soon.”

    “We are excited about the future of the merged entity and are raring to put the business in overdrive as soon as the merger completes. Though we have lost some time in FY18, we would want to regain our leadership as well as extract the highest possible synergies in the year ahead,” he explained.

    A look at the numbers

    Dish TV reported a 1 per cent yoy decline in operating revenue for the quarter under review at Rs 740.77 crore as against Rs 747.98 crore. EBITDA for Q3 2018 was 15.5 per cent y-o-y at Rs 200.52 crore (27.1 percent margin) as compared with Rs 237.42 crore (31.7 percent margin).

    Total expenditure for Q3 2018 increased by 4.3 per cent y-o-y to Rs 775.12 crore. Employee benefits expense declined 1.5 per cent y-o-y to Rs 35.80 crore. Operating expenses in Q3 2018 increased by 6.2 per cent yoy to Rs 374.08 crore. Other expenses during the quarter under review increased by 8 per cent to Rs 127.84 crore yoy. Finance costs in Q3 2018 reduced by 18.4 per cent yoy to Rs 50.16 crore.

    Also Read :

    MIB clears path for Dish TV Videocon

    Dish TV reports improved operating profits for second quarter

     

  • TRAI seeks to regulate online streaming platforms

    TRAI seeks to regulate online streaming platforms

    MUMBAI: Online streaming platforms may come under the purview of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The regulator is likely to bring out a consultation paper to bring online video-streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar under the regulatory ambit, according to a report in Livemint.

    Industry stakeholders wrote to the TRAI to come up with a pricing framework and is likely to add a section in its upcoming consultation paper on over-the-top (OTT) services. They state that some broadcasters air content for free on their streaming platforms for which they charge customers on cable and DTH.

    Indian broadcasters such as Star, Zee and Viacom18 all have their own OTT sites and apps wherein some content is monetised while some is not kept behind a paywall.

    Some broadcasters and OTT players are up in arms against such a regulation because nowhere in the world does it exist. They claim that people have to pay for data charges if not content. OTT cannot be clubbed with DTH and cable and it comes under rules regarding net neutrality.

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    Pleased with India progress, says Netflix’s Reed Hastings

    Star to air IPL on 10 channels, in 6 languages; live on Hotstar

    Star to air IPL on 10 channels, in 6 languages; live on Hotstar

  • RCom’s 3rd quarter numbers improve on Big TV, consumer business exit

    RCom’s 3rd quarter numbers improve on Big TV, consumer business exit

    BENGALURU: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-led Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom) reported 95 percent lower loss for the third quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, the quarter under review) as compared with the immediate trailing quarter (Q2 2018). The company reported loss of Rs 130 crore in Q3 2018 as against a loss of Rs 2,712 crore in Q2 2018. It had reported loss of Rs 531 crore in Q3 2017.

    After the planned exit from its consumer business that included wireless, direct-to-home (DTH – Reliance Big TV) and PCO, RCom is left with the B2B business. RCom’s B2B business comprises global and Indian enterprises, internet data centres (IDC), a global submarine cable network and international long-distance voice.

    The company said in its media release that it had 40,000 B2B global and Indian customers. It reported a 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter (qoq) revenue increase for its B2B business at Rs 1,176 crore for the quarter under review. Year on year, revenue in Q3 2018 declined by 30.7 percent from Rs 1698 crore.

    EBIDTA for the B2B business increased by 5.9 percent qoq to Rs 252 crore. Net profit after tax (PAT) increased by 28.6 percent q-o-q to Rs 27 crore from Rs 21 crore and was 68.8 percent higher y-o-y that Rs 16 crore.

    Revenue from Indian operations declined both qoq and yoy in Q3 2018 by 7.6 percent and 42.9 percent, respectively, to Rs 596 crore. The company had reported revenue from India operations of Rs 645 crore for Q2 2018 and Rs 1,043 crore for Q2 2017. RCom’s Indian operations’ operating profit reduced by 7.7 percent qoq to Rs 60 crore in Q3 2018 from Rs 65 crore but increased yoy from Rs 40 crore.

    Global operations revenue grew by 4.1 percent qoq in Q3 2018 to Rs 709 crore from Rs 681 crore but reduced by 37.4 percent yoy from Rs 1,132 crore. RCom reported operating profit of Rs 20 crore from its global operations in Q3 2018 as against loss of Rs 3 crore in the immediate trailing quarter but 44.4 percent lower yoy than the Rs 36 crore reported for Q3 2017.   

    RCom chairman Anil Ambani said, “RCom’s planned exit from the consumer business has achieved more than the desired results. RCom has reduced its net loss by over 95 percent. RCom expects to deliver even better financial performance in the coming quarters.”

    Also Read :

    Reliance Jio acquires RCom’s wireless infra assets

    Veecon Media acquires Reliance Big TV

  • MIB to collect data on satellite capacity needs, digital chatter

    MIB to collect data on satellite capacity needs, digital chatter

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government has not only embarked upon data collation of the satellite capacity needs of TV channels in India but is also preparing to get real-time insights on digital chatter.

    In a letter sent earlier in January to Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd or BECIL, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has asked the sister government organisation to collect data on capacity requirements by TV channels on Indian satellites as also the life of foreign satellites catering to Indian customers.

    Pointing out that the data was needed on an urgent basis, the MIB has directed the BECIL to consult industry associations such as the IBF and the News Broadcasters Association, apart from DTH and HITS players, on information relating to “total estimated requirement” of the broadcasting sector on Indian satellites and “end of life period of foreign satellites”.

    Though MIB hasn’t spelt out the need to collate such data, nudged by the Department of Space and ISRO, the ministry, in the recent past, has been obliquely hinting TV channels to shift to Indian satellites before various government permissions being sought could be given.

    Most foreign satellite companies operating in India, however, have been conveying to the government and regulator TRAI (one such meeting happened in New Delhi about a week back when TRAI called for feedback on NTP 2018) that ISRO has been doing a great job in flying high India’s flag in the space but the dream of Digital India, as envisaged by PM Modi, could get a major fillip if foreign satellites, too, could be used to provide broadband and other related services to Indians.

    Meanwhile, the BECIL has also floated a tender seeking vendors to set up a ‘Social Media Communication Hub’ that would help the MIB keep a tab on trending news and act as the eyes and ears to get insights into digital chatter mostly involving the federal government’s flagship schemes.

    “The tool should have the capability to crawl [the] worldwide web and social media to monitor and analyze various trends emerging, as well as to gauge the sentiments amongst netizens. The tool should be comprehensive with the capability to generate reports and do customizations as per the requirements of [the] Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” the tender floated by the BECIL stated.

    The platform or the hub sought to be set up should facilitate creating a 360-degree view of the people who were creating the buzz across various topics with an ability to analyse as well as visualise large volumes of data across diverse digital platforms in real time.

    The broad features that are required for this social media monitoring tool, as enumerated by the BECIL, are following:

    — Listening and responding capabilities: The platform is expected to not only listen to the standard digital channels listed below but also enable easy extension to integrate proprietary data sources such as the mobile insights platform.

    — The tool should be able to interface with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Play Store, emails, news blogs, forums and complaint websites for the purposes of monitoring.

    — Real-time integration for Facebook and Twitter needs to be demonstrated. Also, the platform will need to demonstrate the ability to configure data collection, insights and response for the platform.

    — The platform should have support for Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Telegu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, along with English.

    “This software tool should be able to perform like [a] search engine, which will work both as web crawler and social media crawler, and would be able to search various hash-tags [and] keywords across the social media platforms,” the tender document stated, adding that the tool/software should be able to identify fake news with particular focus on such conversations on social media and specialised websites.

    For this hub, MIB is looking at a 20-member strong team (scalable later) of SM analytics and domain experts in social media analysis with experience in handling tools such as Oracle CRM and Brandwatch to be stationed on the premises of the ministry.

    Also Read :

    MIB, DoS nudge TV channel to use Indian satellites

    MIB reverts to earlier norms of seeking nod from ISRO on uplink/downlink of TV channels

    MIB bumps up TV channel processing fee

    MIB categorises all non-Hindi and non-Eng TV channels as regional

  • Airtel to transfer 25% stake in DTH arm to Nettle

    Airtel to transfer 25% stake in DTH arm to Nettle

    According to a BSE filing, Bharti Airtel will transfer its 25 per cent stake in DTH arm Bharti Telemedia to wholly owned subsidiary Nettle Infrastructure Investments.

    The transaction has been approved by the Bharti Airtel board. The date of sale of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals. The company will receive cash as consideration for the sale.

    “We wish to inform you that the Board in its meeting held on January 18, 2018, has approved the transfer of 25 per cent equity shares of Bharti Telemedia Limited (Subsidiary Company) to its wholly owned subsidiary, Nettle Infrastructure Investments Limited,” Bharti Airtel said in a filing to the BSE.

    Airtel in December signed agreement to sell 20 per cent stake in Bharti Telemedia to private equity firm Warburg Pincus for about $350 million (around Rs 2,310 crore).

    A company official said that the stake transfer to Nettle does not include equity to be sold to Warbug Pincus. Upon closing of the transaction with the equity firm, Airtel was left with 80 per cent equity stake in Bharti Telemedia.

    In a separate filing, Airtel said that the company’s board on the same day also approved acquisition of 5 per cent stake in its subsidiary Indo Teleports (also known as Bharti Teleports) for Rs 2.3 crore. Bharti Airtel already holds 95 per cent stake in Indo Teleports.

  • TV ownership increased by 14% in 2017: IRS

    TV ownership increased by 14% in 2017: IRS

    MUMBAI: After a gap of four years, the Indian Readership Survey (IRS), which documents the growth of the media industry, has been released for 2017. The survey methodology was criticised in 2014 and, therefore, was halted for an upgrade. This time, the sample size has been increased by 34 per cent to 3.2 lakh households. The entire process was audited by E&Y.

    The study found that there has been an overall 14 per cent increase in TV ownership in Indian households. TV ownership, according to the 2011 census, stood at 47 per cent but the IRS study found it to be 61 per cent in 2017. Tamil Nadu had the highest TV penetration with 93 per cent followed by Kerala at 90 per cent. Punjab and the National Capital Region of Delhi tied at third position with 88 per cent. The census numbers for these states were 87 per cent, 77 per cent, 83 per cent and 88 per cent, respectively. The lowest reach, as per the IRS, was of Bihar with 22 per cent and 15 per cent as per census.  TV ownership was lowest in Tamil Nadu with less than 10 per cent. The number of no TV homes was highest in Bihar with more than 75 per cent.

    The percentage reach for TV in the last one month in the age group of 12 + (L1M) was 75 per cent, 10 per cent higher than IRS’ 2014 study. In this, urban reach was 88 per cent, 3 per cent higher than 2014 and rural reach was 68 per cent, 14 per cent higher.

    The DTH or digital TV market was up from 26 per cent to 45 per cent. Punjab leads with close to 55 per cent homes with DTH followed by Himachal Pradesh with 50 per cent.

    Colour TV ownership stood at 61 per cent in 2017 up from 55 per cent in 2014.

    Also Read:

    BARC sets a deadline for IRS

    BARC gets IRS data, to start installation of peoplemeters soon

  • Sun Direct adds Sun NXT free with DTH subscription

    Sun Direct adds Sun NXT free with DTH subscription

    MUMBAI: Sun Direct is finding ways to hold on to its subscriber base amidst the hordes of consolidation and shutdowns happening in the industry. Strengthening its hold in the South, which forms the largest chunk of its territory, it has announced a free membership of its video-on-demand (VOD) platform Sun NXT for active Cinema Plus, Mega Pack and World Pack subscribers.

    The subscription-based VOD platform offers three plans–monthly for Rs 50, quarterly for Rs 130 and annually for Rs 490. The first 30 days constitute the free trial period after which the payment kicks in. Offline download and viewing are available in the app as well.   

    Sun TV Network’s Sun NXT, which was launched in mid 2017, offers over 50,000 hours of live TV content, movies, originals, kid’s content, music across four South Indian languages–Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. It also streams movies from Kollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood and Sandalwood.

    Sun NXT being a screen-agnostic platform is also available on Smart TVs and streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast, Apple TV etc.

    Sun Direct has six packs, which include Mega Pack with 204+ channels, Tamil Super Value with 179+ channels, Tamil Cinema + Sports with 174+ sports, Tamil World Pack with 172+ channels, Tamil Value with 128+ channels and Tamil Economy Pack with 82+ channels, for one month, three months, six months and twelve months. Sun Direct packages start from Rs 1499 (Tamil Economy Pack for 96 months) and go up to Rs 5290 (Mega Pack for 12 months).

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