Tag: DTH

Colors Naagin II to slither in on 8 October

MUMBAI: Who ever thought that the traditional age-old contrived tale of snakes taking human form to avenge their parents death? Well Ekta Kapoor, Raj Nayak and Manisha Sharma did. And the trio had a runaway Naagin on their hands last year on Colors, which ran on weekends on the channel for eight months. So much so that it reached numero uno status even in Pakistan.

Nayak and Sharma decided to give it a break to accommodate other weekend programmes. Three months later, it is ready to make a comeback in Naagin season II on 8 October at 8 pm.. Season I saw it became the No1 show across television channels within 30 episodes of debut. The show proved to be a game-changer for Colors.

In the first week of the launch itself, the fiction show ‘Naagin’ overtook the top five programmes on Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs). Additionally, ‘Naagin’ also became one of the first weekend shows which totted more ratings than the top-rated weekday shows.

Says Colors CEO Raj Nayak: “Naagin has been a gloriously successful proposition for us, whose precise casting, gripping narrative and flawless execution has found appeal with audiences across the country, and has redefined the 8pm slot on weekends. As content creators, our challenge with a show like this was to weave the perfect narrative connecting childhood folklore to its real-life projection on screen, thus making Naagin a landmark show. It has been the numero uno show amongst Hindi GECs, and the feedback that the rushes have received gives us confidence that the second edition will surpass all previously set benchmarks.”

Naagin, in its first season, highlighted a saga of love laced with revenge. As the story drew to a close, Naagin claimed triumph over evil. Ritik (Arjun Bijlani) and Shivanya became parents to a young girl, Shivangi. And, as time passes, Naagin 2 will progress by 24 years, now focusing on Shivangi’s life as she blossoms into a young woman, against the scenic backdrop of Dehradun.

Says Colors programming head Manisha Sharma: “With Naagin, we opened up another genre of entertainment for the viewers. Naagin created history with its compelling storyline to become the unprecedented No 1 show on Indian television. And now, as we kick off Naagin 2, here’s another tale with a shape shifting snake at its helm that will once again make fantastical characters television’s newest stars.”

Balaji Telefilms producer Ekta Kapoor adds: “Naagin is a very special show for me. The show marked my first foray in the mystical genre, and empowered us to explore a different kind of storytelling altogether. As we march ahead, we bring together not only the show’s original cast, but also a volley of newer faces who will narrate Shivangi’s tale, as she takes the mantle of being the Nagmani’s protector forward. This season we are raising the bar on visual effects to incorporate newer technologies, and will put together a tight and engrossing narrative to heighten viewer experience and build intrigue like never before.”

To promote Naagin 2, Colors has devised an extensive integrated marketing campaign across mediums including print, cable and DTH, radio, news channels, OOH, cinema, etc. This will be complemented by a robust digital campaign incorporating multiple social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. . The channel has also planned on-ground activations aligned with the Colors Golden Petal Club across multiple markets. Sources indicate that a marketing budget of round Rs 2 crore has been kept aside for the show.

October 5, 2016
IDOS 2016: The DD FreeDish alternative for TV channels & advertisers

GOA: Has the pubcaster DD’s free to air platform FreeDish emerged as a viable proposition for advertisers? What are its expansion plans, going forward? These were some of the questions posed by the Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & Editor in chief Anil Wanvari at IDOS 2016 in Goa during the session on FTA channels to SAB Group CEO Manav Dhanda, B4U broadcasting division COO and CFO Sandeep Gupta, Starcom India group CEO Mallikarjun ‘Malli’ Das, and DD’s FreeDish deputy director-general (engineering) AK Jha.

Jha started out by saying that the DTH platform has 55 private tenants including those from the majors – Sony Pictures Television Networks, Star India, and Zee TV – as well as from smaller broadcast networks such as B4U and the SAB group. “We want more such customers to come on our platform,” he expressed. He, however, confessed that getting an exact count of the number of subscribers was difficult as FreeDish was only a platform and the STBs were distributed by recognized vendors. “But, by extrapolating TRAI DTH data, conversations with STB manufactures and chipset suppliers, our estimates are that it could be anywhere between 20 million and 40 million. We would safely put it at about 25 million,” said Jha.

Gupta and Dhanda explained why the two networks have taken the FTA route on the DTH platform.

“As a broadcaster, we wanted to be on every platform. Since our focus was to be present everywhere, we got on to it very early when there were very few tenants. Although we were pay channels, we were FTA on DD FreeDish. B4U Movies was the Star Plus of DD direct is what MSOs told us. Only after BARC data rolled out did we come to know that rural has got so much of weightage. Otherwise, FreeDish was only one of the means of getting ourselves available everywhere,” said Gupta.

Added Dhanda: “We wanted to build the maximum reach. We have five channels. We are also on cable, DTH and other platforms. It was not triggered by the advent of BARC data which suggests you need to be there. There is a cost for entry. Distribution and content are major costs for broadcasters. As a broadcaster, we want ROI. Syndicated content channels like us have not managed to build a compelling pay TV channel proposition. Hence, it is safe to go to FTA.”

But, is it good to go FTA on DD FreeDish? Since the only revenue stream is from advertising, is the platform attracting advertiser interest?

“FTA has just come into focus as BARC gave a new set of lenses. Earlier, TAM used to measure LC1 but media planners did not take it seriously as they were urban focused. Now with the 6,000 metres under BARC’s rural sample, it has taken on a different hue,” said Malli. “There are three segments advertisers look at from an audience segmentation – HD – 9 million-10 million homes; the fat middle with all the pay channels. And, there is the rural which is FTA. For brands, which are purely rural, it makes sense to go FTA. Distribute the spends over 30-40 weeks on an FTA media outlet, rather than finish it over eight to nine weeks on the more expensive pay channels. Some money is going into FTA from existing TV channel spends, some is coming from local cable, wall paintings and OOH.”

But, are media buyers buying air time on channels on FreeDish purely for the rural audiences or for urban and rural audiences as defined by BARC? “When media planners are buying for rural, it makes sense,” he said. “When they look at rural+urban, they start looking at old currencies, and things don’t move. There’s still some confusion. Once these old data currencies are exhausted, and some new benchmarks are set for rural, the ad dollars will start flowing in aggressively. HD channels have only nine to 10 million subscribers, yet planners are putting the advertiser’s money into them. Whereas FTA has a larger reach, but the currency dynamics need to be taken care of.”

Is there a ROI coming in for advertisers? “It’s a little too early. The plane has to yet land,” opined Malli. ”Retailers, distributors and sales people say, take Star Plus. The rural sample is 6,000 metres. We have to triangulate what the trade says with the BARC data, as they will want the spectacular as they will want the ads to be in the biggest properties. Currently, we have put the money for our clients on FTA. We have to get a larger body of evidence.”

Jha said that DD FreeDish is augmenting its capacity by 24 channels and gearing up for this by moving to MPEG4 STBs, which are going to be made available to subscribers soon. “Currently, we are empanelling the STB manufacturers for MPEG4 boxes,” he explained. “Within four months, the STBs will roll out. Post that, the existing subscribers will be able to receive the 80 channels, whereas the new subscribers with MPEG 4 boxes will get 104 channels after the auctions conclude and tenants got on board.”

Malli expressed that this was good news, it was not something that the advertising community would put its money immediately on .”At least, we know what we are investing in with the MPEG-2 boxes now,” he said. “We will have to see how many MPEG4 STBs roll out, how they are accepted before we put our might behind them.”

Jha responded to this by saying that, in the new regime of MPEG4, DD FreeDish will be able to tell the advertiser community, exactly how many subscribers there were because the conditional access was being built in to the STBs. “Over time, we hope the entire universe of FreeDish will migrate to the new boxes,” he said.

Jha is bullish about the prospects of free TV. “Customers in rural areas cannot afford the high sticker prices of Rs 3,000-7,000 per year that commercial DTH players are charging consumers,” he said. “Customers need to pay just Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 for the STBs once to be able to receive a bouquet of good channels free. Hence, we are quite confident of DD FreeDish and the alternative we offer to Indian TV viewers.”

October 4, 2016
IDOS 2016: The DD FreeDish alternative for TV channels & advertisers

GOA: Has the pubcaster DD’s free to air platform FreeDish emerged as a viable proposition for advertisers? What are its expansion plans, going forward? These were some of the questions posed by the Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & Editor in chief Anil Wanvari at IDOS 2016 in Goa during the session on FTA channels to SAB Group CEO Manav Dhanda, B4U broadcasting division COO and CFO Sandeep Gupta, Starcom India group CEO Mallikarjun ‘Malli’ Das, and DD’s FreeDish deputy director-general (engineering) AK Jha.

Jha started out by saying that the DTH platform has 55 private tenants including those from the majors – Sony Pictures Television Networks, Star India, and Zee TV – as well as from smaller broadcast networks such as B4U and the SAB group. “We want more such customers to come on our platform,” he expressed. He, however, confessed that getting an exact count of the number of subscribers was difficult as FreeDish was only a platform and the STBs were distributed by recognized vendors. “But, by extrapolating TRAI DTH data, conversations with STB manufactures and chipset suppliers, our estimates are that it could be anywhere between 20 million and 40 million. We would safely put it at about 25 million,” said Jha.

Gupta and Dhanda explained why the two networks have taken the FTA route on the DTH platform.

“As a broadcaster, we wanted to be on every platform. Since our focus was to be present everywhere, we got on to it very early when there were very few tenants. Although we were pay channels, we were FTA on DD FreeDish. B4U Movies was the Star Plus of DD direct is what MSOs told us. Only after BARC data rolled out did we come to know that rural has got so much of weightage. Otherwise, FreeDish was only one of the means of getting ourselves available everywhere,” said Gupta.

Added Dhanda: “We wanted to build the maximum reach. We have five channels. We are also on cable, DTH and other platforms. It was not triggered by the advent of BARC data which suggests you need to be there. There is a cost for entry. Distribution and content are major costs for broadcasters. As a broadcaster, we want ROI. Syndicated content channels like us have not managed to build a compelling pay TV channel proposition. Hence, it is safe to go to FTA.”

But, is it good to go FTA on DD FreeDish? Since the only revenue stream is from advertising, is the platform attracting advertiser interest?

“FTA has just come into focus as BARC gave a new set of lenses. Earlier, TAM used to measure LC1 but media planners did not take it seriously as they were urban focused. Now with the 6,000 metres under BARC’s rural sample, it has taken on a different hue,” said Malli. “There are three segments advertisers look at from an audience segmentation – HD – 9 million-10 million homes; the fat middle with all the pay channels. And, there is the rural which is FTA. For brands, which are purely rural, it makes sense to go FTA. Distribute the spends over 30-40 weeks on an FTA media outlet, rather than finish it over eight to nine weeks on the more expensive pay channels. Some money is going into FTA from existing TV channel spends, some is coming from local cable, wall paintings and OOH.”

But, are media buyers buying air time on channels on FreeDish purely for the rural audiences or for urban and rural audiences as defined by BARC? “When media planners are buying for rural, it makes sense,” he said. “When they look at rural+urban, they start looking at old currencies, and things don’t move. There’s still some confusion. Once these old data currencies are exhausted, and some new benchmarks are set for rural, the ad dollars will start flowing in aggressively. HD channels have only nine to 10 million subscribers, yet planners are putting the advertiser’s money into them. Whereas FTA has a larger reach, but the currency dynamics need to be taken care of.”

Is there a ROI coming in for advertisers? “It’s a little too early. The plane has to yet land,” opined Malli. ”Retailers, distributors and sales people say, take Star Plus. The rural sample is 6,000 metres. We have to triangulate what the trade says with the BARC data, as they will want the spectacular as they will want the ads to be in the biggest properties. Currently, we have put the money for our clients on FTA. We have to get a larger body of evidence.”

Jha said that DD FreeDish is augmenting its capacity by 24 channels and gearing up for this by moving to MPEG4 STBs, which are going to be made available to subscribers soon. “Currently, we are empanelling the STB manufacturers for MPEG4 boxes,” he explained. “Within four months, the STBs will roll out. Post that, the existing subscribers will be able to receive the 80 channels, whereas the new subscribers with MPEG 4 boxes will get 104 channels after the auctions conclude and tenants got on board.”

Malli expressed that this was good news, it was not something that the advertising community would put its money immediately on .”At least, we know what we are investing in with the MPEG-2 boxes now,” he said. “We will have to see how many MPEG4 STBs roll out, how they are accepted before we put our might behind them.”

Jha responded to this by saying that, in the new regime of MPEG4, DD FreeDish will be able to tell the advertiser community, exactly how many subscribers there were because the conditional access was being built in to the STBs. “Over time, we hope the entire universe of FreeDish will migrate to the new boxes,” he said.

Jha is bullish about the prospects of free TV. “Customers in rural areas cannot afford the high sticker prices of Rs 3,000-7,000 per year that commercial DTH players are charging consumers,” he said. “Customers need to pay just Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 for the STBs once to be able to receive a bouquet of good channels free. Hence, we are quite confident of DD FreeDish and the alternative we offer to Indian TV viewers.”

October 4, 2016
Pak bans Indian TV content, films from being screened

NEW DELHI: Even as Pakistani theatres decided not to show Indian films in the wake of the current tensions between the two countries, that country’s media regulator has asked all channels in the country to “immediately” stop broadcast of illegal Indian content amid theongoing tension between the two nations.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) in a statement said it has been receiving complaints that several local private channels were showing Indian talk shows, reality programmes and dramas without permission.

“The complaints have shown serious concerns on this issue (illegal Indian content) in the wake of current situation between India and Pakistan. Complainants have urged PEMRA to impose immediate ban on broadcast and distribution of illegal Indian channels and illegal Indian DTH,” PEMRA said in a statement.

PEMRA said that it had already taken steps to stop illegal broadcast of Indian channels and warned that all distribution networks and TV channels should follow the laws and “immediately” stop the broadcasting of Indian contents.

“This will send a positive signal to the public about the satellite TV channels and distribution networks’ commitment with rule of law and the country – about which a huge number of talk shows preach daily,” it said.

According to PEMRA rules, local channels can only show five per cent foreign content but it has been seen that several channels mostly rely on foreign contents, mostly Indian, Turkish, American and European.

Interestingly, the only Indian general entertainment channel which was showing Pakistani content, Zee’s Zindagi, has also decided to stop such broadcasts from 2 October.

Last week, Raj Thackeray-led MNS issued an ultimatum to Pakistani artistes and actors, including Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar, to leave India by 25 September or else they would be “pushed out”. Concerts of Pakistani singers Shafqat Amanat Ali and Atif Aslam scheduled in Bengaluru and Gurgaon, respectively, were also cancelled.

And though actor Salman Khan backed Pakistan artistes following the ban on them by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association, Pakistani cinemas have stopped screening Indian films in “solidarity” with the country’s armed forces.

“We have stopped screening Indian movies at our cinemas from Friday till the situation improves and normalcy returns,” said Nadeem Mandviwalla, whose Mandviwalla Entertainment runs eight cinemas in Karachi and the capital, Islamabad, according to a report in a New York-based Indian newspaper. Indian films had been popular both at the cinema and on pirated DVDs in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s domestic film industry has seen a revival in recent years, but is dwarfed by India’s Bollywood. Pakistani actors have increasingly been appearing in big budget Bollywood films in the last few years.

Super Cinemas General Manager Khurram Gultasab confirmed his group would also not be screening Indian films. He said the move had been made by cinema owners themselves, rather than on government directions. The group runs ten cinemas in cities across Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Other Pakistani cinemas posted on social media saying they would not be showing Indian films after Thursday’s violence.

October 3, 2016
Pak bans Indian TV content, films from being screened

NEW DELHI: Even as Pakistani theatres decided not to show Indian films in the wake of the current tensions between the two countries, that country’s media regulator has asked all channels in the country to “immediately” stop broadcast of illegal Indian content amid theongoing tension between the two nations.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) in a statement said it has been receiving complaints that several local private channels were showing Indian talk shows, reality programmes and dramas without permission.

“The complaints have shown serious concerns on this issue (illegal Indian content) in the wake of current situation between India and Pakistan. Complainants have urged PEMRA to impose immediate ban on broadcast and distribution of illegal Indian channels and illegal Indian DTH,” PEMRA said in a statement.

PEMRA said that it had already taken steps to stop illegal broadcast of Indian channels and warned that all distribution networks and TV channels should follow the laws and “immediately” stop the broadcasting of Indian contents.

“This will send a positive signal to the public about the satellite TV channels and distribution networks’ commitment with rule of law and the country – about which a huge number of talk shows preach daily,” it said.

According to PEMRA rules, local channels can only show five per cent foreign content but it has been seen that several channels mostly rely on foreign contents, mostly Indian, Turkish, American and European.

Interestingly, the only Indian general entertainment channel which was showing Pakistani content, Zee’s Zindagi, has also decided to stop such broadcasts from 2 October.

Last week, Raj Thackeray-led MNS issued an ultimatum to Pakistani artistes and actors, including Fawad Khan and Ali Zafar, to leave India by 25 September or else they would be “pushed out”. Concerts of Pakistani singers Shafqat Amanat Ali and Atif Aslam scheduled in Bengaluru and Gurgaon, respectively, were also cancelled.

And though actor Salman Khan backed Pakistan artistes following the ban on them by the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association, Pakistani cinemas have stopped screening Indian films in “solidarity” with the country’s armed forces.

“We have stopped screening Indian movies at our cinemas from Friday till the situation improves and normalcy returns,” said Nadeem Mandviwalla, whose Mandviwalla Entertainment runs eight cinemas in Karachi and the capital, Islamabad, according to a report in a New York-based Indian newspaper. Indian films had been popular both at the cinema and on pirated DVDs in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s domestic film industry has seen a revival in recent years, but is dwarfed by India’s Bollywood. Pakistani actors have increasingly been appearing in big budget Bollywood films in the last few years.

Super Cinemas General Manager Khurram Gultasab confirmed his group would also not be screening Indian films. He said the move had been made by cinema owners themselves, rather than on government directions. The group runs ten cinemas in cities across Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Other Pakistani cinemas posted on social media saying they would not be showing Indian films after Thursday’s violence.

October 3, 2016
Friend MTS announces major initiatives at IDOS 2016

GOA: Friend MTS (FMTS), a leading digital piracy containment technology and service provider, announced here at IDOS 2016 that India would be strategic to its plans over the coming years.

Industry stalwarts from the broadcast and cable industry, spanning all segments of cable, OTT and DTH, at IDOS 2016 acknowledged the opportunity and challenges in a digital world, including that online and digital piracy is a growing menace that needs to be addressed and tackled sooner rather than later.

The participation of FMTS at IDOS 2016 highlights this very fact as India goes digital and Indian content, its owners and creators not only surge ahead, but also grapple with digital downsides like online piracy.

FMTS EVP Paul Hastings said, “We have engaged with almost all the stakeholders in India, ranging from broadcasters to DTH operators to OTT players to Films and Television Guild. There is recognition across the board that the next generation piracy containment service based on forensics-global identification- monitoring and takedown from FMTS will be a game changing offer to the Indian market”.

Friends MTS’ South Asia partner Rahul Nehra added, “FMTS anti-piracy service offerings will help content owners realize substantially higher revenues and we will be working relentlessly with all stakeholders, including the government, film associations across regions and Indian Broadcasting Foundation to prepare, prevent and profit from this digital revolution.”

October 3, 2016
Friend MTS announces major initiatives at IDOS 2016

GOA: Friend MTS (FMTS), a leading digital piracy containment technology and service provider, announced here at IDOS 2016 that India would be strategic to its plans over the coming years.

Industry stalwarts from the broadcast and cable industry, spanning all segments of cable, OTT and DTH, at IDOS 2016 acknowledged the opportunity and challenges in a digital world, including that online and digital piracy is a growing menace that needs to be addressed and tackled sooner rather than later.

The participation of FMTS at IDOS 2016 highlights this very fact as India goes digital and Indian content, its owners and creators not only surge ahead, but also grapple with digital downsides like online piracy.

FMTS EVP Paul Hastings said, “We have engaged with almost all the stakeholders in India, ranging from broadcasters to DTH operators to OTT players to Films and Television Guild. There is recognition across the board that the next generation piracy containment service based on forensics-global identification- monitoring and takedown from FMTS will be a game changing offer to the Indian market”.

Friends MTS’ South Asia partner Rahul Nehra added, “FMTS anti-piracy service offerings will help content owners realize substantially higher revenues and we will be working relentlessly with all stakeholders, including the government, film associations across regions and Indian Broadcasting Foundation to prepare, prevent and profit from this digital revolution.”

October 3, 2016
IDOS 2016: Prasar Bharati could share infra with private players: Sircar

GOA: Prasar Bharati has thrown an invitation to all private broadcasters and it reads: come and use our under-utilised resources and infrastructure to increase your reach in digital format terrestrially. What’s more, the Indian pubcaster will help in the distribution.

According to Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, the best spectrum available for broadcasting was between 470-585 MHZ, which is with the pubcaster Doordarshan lying highly underutilised. And, private TV channels can join hands as the organisation plans to make linear TV available to the public on their hand-held devices via digital terrestrial transmission (DTT).

“Twenty channels can be relayed per two antennas as such (via DTT) in four metros. All that people have to do with DVB-T2 is attach an affordable dongle on their mobile handsets and watch TV channels on the go. We can give it away free to consumers to experience it and then charge for it in the second year,” Sircar said while speaking at IDOS 2016 here on Friday.

As Doordarshan has 1,400 broadcast towers and in the event of complete conversion to digital, DD may not need all those towers for the sake of broadcasting its own channels. The tower infrastructure could therefore be shared and private broadcasters could look at Prasar Bharati as an alternate delivery medium, Sircar explained. There would then be digitised cable, DTH and DTT on offer to the consumer.

In conversation with indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, Sircar admitted that DD’s viewership may be falling and which was getting reflected in BARC’s audience measurement.

“The grand days of DD happened not at the hands of DD’s personnel producing content but duringRamayan, Buniyaad, etc, all of which were made by private producers,” he said. “Hence DD should not make the content on its own. The people over here don’t know how to. The time slot sale to private producers is the best way to go,” he said, adding Prasar Bharati will primarily work on sharing its resources and reduce (in-house) content creation.

To drive home his point on indifferent quality of present programming on DD, Sircar said the reach of the pubcaster’s resources hasn’t diminished and added, “We allowed private players to come on DD’s FreeDish platform. Yes, they are willing to pay from Rs 1.5 crore (Rs. 15 million) a year in the beginning to Rs 5.5 crore ( Rs. 55 million) today for a slot on FreeDish. That’s because it’s getting them viewership.”

However, the former bureaucrat, now in the last lap of his present assignment, was evasive and forthcoming at the same time on FreeDish’s actual reach. “Nobody knows how many set top boxes for FreeDish are there, but the industry knows about missing subscribers of (private) DTH players. Those are our FreeDish subscribers. They could number 30 million or so,” he asserted, adding that DD had not initially put in CAS, but now intends to do so with Indian CAS, take the boxes up to MPEG4 , and add more transponders for distribution, thereby increasing the DTH platform’s capacity to 250 channels in a phased manner.

Asked about DD’s role as a pubcaster and obvious comparison with the BBC, Sircar was quick to point out that the British pubcaster gets thousands of crores of rupees every year from consumers in licence fee, apart from government funding.

Still, unable to restrain himself from taking a dig at the present Indian system regarding pubcasting, Sircar quipped, “They (BBC) know for sure what is expected from a pubcaster. The problem with DD is that we don’t know our real goal and mission.”

Quizzed further on muddled policies and the pubcaster’s objectives, Sircar, with is tongue firmly in cheek, quipped, “I am Jawhar Sircar, not Bharat Sarkar.” The punning on his last name and Sarkar (Hindi for Indian government) was telling.

Also read

http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/prasar-bharati-responds-to-trai-consultation-paper-open-to-sharing-dtt-infrastructure-160926

October 1, 2016
IDOS 2016: Prasar Bharati could share infra with private players: Sircar

GOA: Prasar Bharati has thrown an invitation to all private broadcasters and it reads: come and use our under-utilised resources and infrastructure to increase your reach in digital format terrestrially. What’s more, the Indian pubcaster will help in the distribution.

According to Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, the best spectrum available for broadcasting was between 470-585 MHZ, which is with the pubcaster Doordarshan lying highly underutilised. And, private TV channels can join hands as the organisation plans to make linear TV available to the public on their hand-held devices via digital terrestrial transmission (DTT).

“Twenty channels can be relayed per two antennas as such (via DTT) in four metros. All that people have to do with DVB-T2 is attach an affordable dongle on their mobile handsets and watch TV channels on the go. We can give it away free to consumers to experience it and then charge for it in the second year,” Sircar said while speaking at IDOS 2016 here on Friday.

As Doordarshan has 1,400 broadcast towers and in the event of complete conversion to digital, DD may not need all those towers for the sake of broadcasting its own channels. The tower infrastructure could therefore be shared and private broadcasters could look at Prasar Bharati as an alternate delivery medium, Sircar explained. There would then be digitised cable, DTH and DTT on offer to the consumer.

In conversation with indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, Sircar admitted that DD’s viewership may be falling and which was getting reflected in BARC’s audience measurement.

“The grand days of DD happened not at the hands of DD’s personnel producing content but duringRamayan, Buniyaad, etc, all of which were made by private producers,” he said. “Hence DD should not make the content on its own. The people over here don’t know how to. The time slot sale to private producers is the best way to go,” he said, adding Prasar Bharati will primarily work on sharing its resources and reduce (in-house) content creation.

To drive home his point on indifferent quality of present programming on DD, Sircar said the reach of the pubcaster’s resources hasn’t diminished and added, “We allowed private players to come on DD’s FreeDish platform. Yes, they are willing to pay from Rs 1.5 crore (Rs. 15 million) a year in the beginning to Rs 5.5 crore ( Rs. 55 million) today for a slot on FreeDish. That’s because it’s getting them viewership.”

However, the former bureaucrat, now in the last lap of his present assignment, was evasive and forthcoming at the same time on FreeDish’s actual reach. “Nobody knows how many set top boxes for FreeDish are there, but the industry knows about missing subscribers of (private) DTH players. Those are our FreeDish subscribers. They could number 30 million or so,” he asserted, adding that DD had not initially put in CAS, but now intends to do so with Indian CAS, take the boxes up to MPEG4 , and add more transponders for distribution, thereby increasing the DTH platform’s capacity to 250 channels in a phased manner.

Asked about DD’s role as a pubcaster and obvious comparison with the BBC, Sircar was quick to point out that the British pubcaster gets thousands of crores of rupees every year from consumers in licence fee, apart from government funding.

Still, unable to restrain himself from taking a dig at the present Indian system regarding pubcasting, Sircar quipped, “They (BBC) know for sure what is expected from a pubcaster. The problem with DD is that we don’t know our real goal and mission.”

Quizzed further on muddled policies and the pubcaster’s objectives, Sircar, with is tongue firmly in cheek, quipped, “I am Jawhar Sircar, not Bharat Sarkar.” The punning on his last name and Sarkar (Hindi for Indian government) was telling.

Also read

http://www.indiantelevision.com/regulators/trai/prasar-bharati-responds-to-trai-consultation-paper-open-to-sharing-dtt-infrastructure-160926

October 1, 2016
Eleventh IDOS to commence in Goa today

GOA: The 11th Indian Digital Operators Summit (IDOS 2016) is slated to be flagged off today evening – 30 September — at south Goa’s prestigious Hotel Leela. India’s largest gathering of India’s broadcast, distribution, investment, technology players and the regulators is happening at a time when the industry is grappling with issues related to the government mandated digital addressable system (DAS) which seeks to digitize India’s 100-million viewer strong cable TV ecosystem.

While two phases of DAS have been progressing gradually, the third phase has been stalled awaiting a decision from the Delhi high court. The logjam despite, the countdown to the fourth phase deadline of 31 December 2016, has commenced.

It’s challenging times for the whole video distribution ecosystem. OTT live streaming and VOD platforms, telco companies are all marching into what was traditionally a broadcaster, cable TV operator’s or DTH or HITS operator’s turf. And, though they are yet to come up with robust business models, some of them have deep pockets. DTH players, on the other hand, are beginning to bear the fruits of their early investments in delivering quality, transparent services across India.

Churn rates are stable, and, in fact, the subscriber numbers for many of these players are rising.

A large part of the smaller cable TV community — especially in phase III and phase IV – is fragmented, undercapitalised and is fearful for its future and, in some areas, is resisting digitisation. Larger MSOs have brought in some organization to the ground in phase I and phase II over the past few years and will continue doing so as the years pass by, even in the interiors. Niggling issues such as interconnection and tariff agreements, carriage fees with broadcasters continue to seek resolution.

Free to air DTH services such as DD FreeDish serve the needs of some of the viewers in the heartlands. And HITs platforms are waiting on the sidelines and are hoping to plug the infrastructure gap for delivering video signals to the undercapitalized cable operators in the phase III and phase IV areas.

The regulators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and the ministry of information and broadcasting, are seeking to put in place a regulatory framework which would fuel DAS nationally, keeping everyone’s interests in mind.

“It is against this backdrop that IDOS 2016 is being held,” says Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO & editor in chief Anil Wanvari.

“Over the years it has proved to be a fertile ground for moving the needle on distribution further. We hope this year’s DAS will also help in supporting the progress.”

Among the major speakers at IDOS are: DEN Networks CEO SN Sharma, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawahar Sircar, Hathway Cable CEO Jagdish Kumar, Times Television Network CEO M.K. Anand, Sony Pictures Networks India executive vice president and head – digital business, Uday Sodhi, Indusind Media CEO Tony D’Silva, Walt Disney Co India vice president Nikhil Gandhi, Asianet Satellite Communications president & COO G.

Sankaranarayana, India Cast EVP Amit Arora, Ortel Communication CEO Bhibhu Rath, CastleMedia executive director Vynsley Fernandes, Reliance BIG TV business head Vivek Garg, GTPL COO Shaji Matthews, Akamai head of mobile strategy Vijay Kolli and regional vice president, media sales Sid Pisharoti, Chrome Data CEO Pankaj Krishna, and TRAI adviser Sunil Kumar Gupta.

The conference will end on 1 October late evening.

Among the partners who have come forward to support IDOS 2016 are:
Walt Disney Co India (Title Partner); Discovery India (Summit Partner), Elemental and Hathway (Associate Partner), Akamai Technologies (CDN Partner), Friends MTS, Sony Pictures Network and Zee Distribution Networks (Support Partners), SES (Name Badge Partner), and IndiaCast (LanYard Partner).

September 30, 2016