ITV

Tag: DTH

  • Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav

    Hathway Cable to debut Divine during Ganesh Utsav

    MUMBAI: DTH service providers have been providing spiritual services to their subscribers for quite some time now. As have cable operators and MSOs who switch on coverage of local poojas during religious festivals and periods.

    Now here is national cable TV MSO Hathway Cable & Datacom that is all set to launch a spiritual channel come1 September during the festival of Lord Ganesh which is predominantly celebrated in Maharashtra.

    Called Divine, it is to be available on channel 47 on its cable TV network nationally.

    Divine will to operate throughout the year and will be focused on broadcasting live events around religious festivals and on licensed content. Hathway has a bank of licensed spiritual content, which will form the major programming content post-Ganpati Utsav.

    “We have no restrictions on the kind of programmes we will telecast tomorrow ourselves. We intend to bring to viewers fine spiritual content,” says Hathway Cable & Datacom general manager- marketing & communications Akhil Rampal.

    Divine is launching around Ganpati Utsav, therefore initially it will have round the clock live coverage of pandals from Mumbai and outside. Live aartis and darshans are going to be part of the programming strategy.

    “We are attempting to re-brand spiritual content and innovate on how it conventionally is delivered to viewers,” adds Rampal.

    Though not many advertisers have yet signed on to advertise on the channel, at the time of writing, the idea is to reach out to the community of regional local advertisers which are already on the cable TV network.

    Hathway will be rolling out a campaign to push the channel around its launch. It hopes many viewers will tune in to listen to the shouts of Ganpati Bappa Morya.

    It’s over to the elephant God to oblige.

  • Freedish slot e-auction on 15 Sept, reserve price Rs 4.3 cr

    Freedish slot e-auction on 15 Sept, reserve price Rs 4.3 cr

    NEW DELHI: The country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform Freedish has slated its 30th auction for 15 September, which also coincides with the day Doordarshan first started beaming in 1959.

    A DD announcement stated the auction is for ‘vacant DTH slot’ indicating only one slot, but went on to say that the reserve price per slot is Rs 4.3 crore, thus indicating there may be more. The slots have fallen vacant as the license period of one or more of the 80 TV channels on the platform have expired.

    Freedish had plans to add 24 new channels, increasing the number from 80 to 104 by September 2016.

    Freedish has not raised its reserve price, although the price for one channel went up to Rs 5.3 crore in the last auction when eight channels bid successfully. The reserve price had been Rs 3.7 crore till last year but was raised to its present level for the 25th e-auction in January.

    9X Jalwa Hindi music channel, Premiere Cinema and Sony Wah movie channels and Vision Shiksha educational channel was made available on Freedish after 30 May auction. The platform has space for 80 channels altogether including its own channels and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV along with 24 All India Radio channels.

    Sources told indiantelevision.com that Freedish is being encrypted through Indian Conditional Addressable System (iCAS) to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, but it would remain free-to-air. The e-auction will be conducted by M/s.C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Noida, which also conducted the first stage of the FM Radio Phase III auctions on behalf of Prasar Bharati. The eligibility terms and conditions and other relevant details for this e-auction have been displayed on the DD website: www.ddindia.gov.in.

    The participation amount (EMD) in the e-auction is Rs.1.5 crore which needs be deposited in advance before or by 12 noon on 15 September along with the processing fee of Rs.10,000 (non-refundable) in favour of PB (BCI) Doordarshan Commercial Service, New Delhi.

    Incremental amount for the auction will be Rs 10 lakh and the time for every e-auction slot will be of 15 minutes. This may be extended by five minutes if a bid is received just before the closing time. Of the reserve price, Rs 1.1 crore will be deposited within a month of placement and another Rs 1.1 crore within two months along with service tax of 14.5 per cent on the bid amount.

    The balance bid amount needs to be deposited within six months, failing which the deposited amount would be forfeited and the channel discontinued after a 21-day discontinuation notice.

    Channels already on Freedish are news channels such as Aaj Tak, News 24 and ABP News, and entertainment channels such as Star Utsav, Viacom18’s Rishtey and Rishtey Cineplex, and Sony Pal.

  • Freedish slot e-auction on 15 Sept, reserve price Rs 4.3 cr

    Freedish slot e-auction on 15 Sept, reserve price Rs 4.3 cr

    NEW DELHI: The country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform Freedish has slated its 30th auction for 15 September, which also coincides with the day Doordarshan first started beaming in 1959.

    A DD announcement stated the auction is for ‘vacant DTH slot’ indicating only one slot, but went on to say that the reserve price per slot is Rs 4.3 crore, thus indicating there may be more. The slots have fallen vacant as the license period of one or more of the 80 TV channels on the platform have expired.

    Freedish had plans to add 24 new channels, increasing the number from 80 to 104 by September 2016.

    Freedish has not raised its reserve price, although the price for one channel went up to Rs 5.3 crore in the last auction when eight channels bid successfully. The reserve price had been Rs 3.7 crore till last year but was raised to its present level for the 25th e-auction in January.

    9X Jalwa Hindi music channel, Premiere Cinema and Sony Wah movie channels and Vision Shiksha educational channel was made available on Freedish after 30 May auction. The platform has space for 80 channels altogether including its own channels and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV along with 24 All India Radio channels.

    Sources told indiantelevision.com that Freedish is being encrypted through Indian Conditional Addressable System (iCAS) to keep a tab on the number of subscribers, but it would remain free-to-air. The e-auction will be conducted by M/s.C1 India Pvt. Ltd., Noida, which also conducted the first stage of the FM Radio Phase III auctions on behalf of Prasar Bharati. The eligibility terms and conditions and other relevant details for this e-auction have been displayed on the DD website: www.ddindia.gov.in.

    The participation amount (EMD) in the e-auction is Rs.1.5 crore which needs be deposited in advance before or by 12 noon on 15 September along with the processing fee of Rs.10,000 (non-refundable) in favour of PB (BCI) Doordarshan Commercial Service, New Delhi.

    Incremental amount for the auction will be Rs 10 lakh and the time for every e-auction slot will be of 15 minutes. This may be extended by five minutes if a bid is received just before the closing time. Of the reserve price, Rs 1.1 crore will be deposited within a month of placement and another Rs 1.1 crore within two months along with service tax of 14.5 per cent on the bid amount.

    The balance bid amount needs to be deposited within six months, failing which the deposited amount would be forfeited and the channel discontinued after a 21-day discontinuation notice.

    Channels already on Freedish are news channels such as Aaj Tak, News 24 and ABP News, and entertainment channels such as Star Utsav, Viacom18’s Rishtey and Rishtey Cineplex, and Sony Pal.

  • ItzCash gets bullish on DTH, cable, movie and mobile bookings

    ItzCash gets bullish on DTH, cable, movie and mobile bookings

    MUMBAI: Essel group company and digital payments facilitator ItzCash generates around 20 per cent to 22 per cent of its Rs 3,000 crore business from satellite cable / DTH recharge by subscribers for Dish TV. Now the company has set itself a scorching growth target of 42 per cent per annum as it bids to notch up business worth Rs 5,000 crore by 2018.

    It is banking on the rapid growth in pay TV subscriptions, its new strategic partnerships with India’s largest online ticketing entertainment brand Bookmyshow, mobile bookings and Zee TV group’s on the go OTT platform dittoTV to help it get to that target.

    BookMyShow has added a new Cash Top-Up feature to its ‘MyWallet’ to make it even easier for everyone to transact on the app or website. The partnership allows users to recharge their MyWallet by paying cash at the nearest ItzCash World outlet. While in its partnership with dittoTV, the company aims to capitalise on its offline network to offer revolutionary Rs 20 easy-recharge for monthly subscription.

    Says ItzCash chief growth officer Bhavik Vasa, “Our partnership with BookMyShow and dittoTV will benefit the larger sections of the society while enhancing customer experience. While with these tie-ups, our partners will leverage our deep entrenched retail network, we plan to aggressively build on our customer base in the online entertainment industry.”

    ItzCash has a presence across various segments serving 35 million consumers having 110 million accounts and over 75,000 franchisees branded as “ItzCash World” in 3000 plus cities and towns.

    To be fair, the company has been growing at 40 per cent per annum year on year in the entertainment sector. And that’s what’s making Vasa that much more confident.

    Says he: “ India is fast becoming a digital country and will soon be the world’s second largest market with 650 million internet users and 520 million smart phone users by 2020 as per a recent Google-BGC Digital Payments report. The food and entertainment sector tops the list of adoption and growth of digital payments.”

    Adds BookmyShow vice-president business intelligence and marketing Marzdi Kalianiwala: “At BookMyShow, we believe in customising our offerings to address the needs of our consumers. While acceptance for online payments is on the rise, a significant set of users still remain to be apprehensive about it, either due to lack of proper internet infrastructure facilities or security concerns, which prevents them from actively using BookMyShow to meet their entertainment demands. By introducing Cash Top-Up to our ‘MyWallet’, we are eliminating these barriers and extending our services to those who prefer cash as their preferred mode of payment. We are delighted to partner with ItzCash, which will enable users book tickets on the BMS app and website without having to use their credit/debit cards or net banking.”

  • ItzCash gets bullish on DTH, cable, movie and mobile bookings

    ItzCash gets bullish on DTH, cable, movie and mobile bookings

    MUMBAI: Essel group company and digital payments facilitator ItzCash generates around 20 per cent to 22 per cent of its Rs 3,000 crore business from satellite cable / DTH recharge by subscribers for Dish TV. Now the company has set itself a scorching growth target of 42 per cent per annum as it bids to notch up business worth Rs 5,000 crore by 2018.

    It is banking on the rapid growth in pay TV subscriptions, its new strategic partnerships with India’s largest online ticketing entertainment brand Bookmyshow, mobile bookings and Zee TV group’s on the go OTT platform dittoTV to help it get to that target.

    BookMyShow has added a new Cash Top-Up feature to its ‘MyWallet’ to make it even easier for everyone to transact on the app or website. The partnership allows users to recharge their MyWallet by paying cash at the nearest ItzCash World outlet. While in its partnership with dittoTV, the company aims to capitalise on its offline network to offer revolutionary Rs 20 easy-recharge for monthly subscription.

    Says ItzCash chief growth officer Bhavik Vasa, “Our partnership with BookMyShow and dittoTV will benefit the larger sections of the society while enhancing customer experience. While with these tie-ups, our partners will leverage our deep entrenched retail network, we plan to aggressively build on our customer base in the online entertainment industry.”

    ItzCash has a presence across various segments serving 35 million consumers having 110 million accounts and over 75,000 franchisees branded as “ItzCash World” in 3000 plus cities and towns.

    To be fair, the company has been growing at 40 per cent per annum year on year in the entertainment sector. And that’s what’s making Vasa that much more confident.

    Says he: “ India is fast becoming a digital country and will soon be the world’s second largest market with 650 million internet users and 520 million smart phone users by 2020 as per a recent Google-BGC Digital Payments report. The food and entertainment sector tops the list of adoption and growth of digital payments.”

    Adds BookmyShow vice-president business intelligence and marketing Marzdi Kalianiwala: “At BookMyShow, we believe in customising our offerings to address the needs of our consumers. While acceptance for online payments is on the rise, a significant set of users still remain to be apprehensive about it, either due to lack of proper internet infrastructure facilities or security concerns, which prevents them from actively using BookMyShow to meet their entertainment demands. By introducing Cash Top-Up to our ‘MyWallet’, we are eliminating these barriers and extending our services to those who prefer cash as their preferred mode of payment. We are delighted to partner with ItzCash, which will enable users book tickets on the BMS app and website without having to use their credit/debit cards or net banking.”

  • Bharati Airtel to switch off IPTV service?

    Bharati Airtel to switch off IPTV service?

    MUMBAI: It persisted with its service for more than seven years. But now Bharati Airtel, which launched its IPTV offering in 2009, is reportedly shutting it down.

    The company has been sending out notices to its less than 50,000 subscribers that it would be pulling the plug on it by 31 July first and now on31 August, according to news reports.

    The service is available in Bengaluru and Delhi. In Delhi, it has been offering two packs, according to the Airtel website: SD 399 (Rs 399 for 196 SD channels, including 48 time shift channels), and HD599 (Rs 599 for 196 chax fonnels, 48 time shift channels and 12 HD channels). Bengaluru subscribers could avail of only the SD399 pack. A free wifi modem was thrown in when customers bought a set top bor Rs 3,500.

    In both the cities, it appears to be making a sweet offering: IPTV, though running on top of the consumer’s broadband connection, would not consume bytes from his or her existing broadband plan. Additionally, the service allowed users could access seven days of recorded programmes.

    Reports are that Airtel has written to its triple play customers saying that it would be offering an upgrade to its Airtel Digital TV DTH service at zero installation and activation cost (worth Rs 500), complementary HD USB set top box (Rs 1,300), 10 HD channel bouquet free for a month (Rs 111), free three months of recording (Rs 90), and a complimentary 8 GB pendrive (Rs 300).

    Some irate Airtel customers have been clogging consumer complaints websites online expressing their unhappiness about the one-sided decision to shut down its IPTV service and pushing them to subscribe to Airtel Digital TV.

    Airtel is switching ofF its IPTV service at a time when Reliance Jio is working on rolling out its own offering to customers. It imported a consignment of IPTV settop boxes a couple of months ago.

    Attempts to contact Airtel officials were unsuccessful.

  • Bharati Airtel to switch off IPTV service?

    Bharati Airtel to switch off IPTV service?

    MUMBAI: It persisted with its service for more than seven years. But now Bharati Airtel, which launched its IPTV offering in 2009, is reportedly shutting it down.

    The company has been sending out notices to its less than 50,000 subscribers that it would be pulling the plug on it by 31 July first and now on31 August, according to news reports.

    The service is available in Bengaluru and Delhi. In Delhi, it has been offering two packs, according to the Airtel website: SD 399 (Rs 399 for 196 SD channels, including 48 time shift channels), and HD599 (Rs 599 for 196 chax fonnels, 48 time shift channels and 12 HD channels). Bengaluru subscribers could avail of only the SD399 pack. A free wifi modem was thrown in when customers bought a set top bor Rs 3,500.

    In both the cities, it appears to be making a sweet offering: IPTV, though running on top of the consumer’s broadband connection, would not consume bytes from his or her existing broadband plan. Additionally, the service allowed users could access seven days of recorded programmes.

    Reports are that Airtel has written to its triple play customers saying that it would be offering an upgrade to its Airtel Digital TV DTH service at zero installation and activation cost (worth Rs 500), complementary HD USB set top box (Rs 1,300), 10 HD channel bouquet free for a month (Rs 111), free three months of recording (Rs 90), and a complimentary 8 GB pendrive (Rs 300).

    Some irate Airtel customers have been clogging consumer complaints websites online expressing their unhappiness about the one-sided decision to shut down its IPTV service and pushing them to subscribe to Airtel Digital TV.

    Airtel is switching ofF its IPTV service at a time when Reliance Jio is working on rolling out its own offering to customers. It imported a consignment of IPTV settop boxes a couple of months ago.

    Attempts to contact Airtel officials were unsuccessful.

  • Tata Sky gets favorable court order against YouTube

    Tata Sky gets favorable court order against YouTube

    MUMBAI: An Indian court has provided relief to Indian DTH TV operator Tata Sky. It had approached the Delhi high court last month with a plea that the video sharing site YouTube should take down user generated videos which taught viewers how to hack the encryption of its set top boxes. Tata Sky had also demanded that the latter should respond promptly to complaints about illegal videos. YouTube had responded that it could have responded to the DTH operators complaint had it been less vague.

    The court ruled in its favour, according to a report in the Times of India. “In terms of Rule 3(1)(e) of the Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines, YouTube is obliged not to host content that violates any law for the time being in force,” Justice S Muralidhar said.

    The court also said that in cases where YouTube would be required to act immediately, it should not insist upon the complainant to demonstrate that the complaint falls in the categories identified by it for taking action.

    Even as YouTube told the court that it had pulled down the offending Tata Sky videos, others continue to be present on the video platform. One describes how users can hack Airtel and Dish TV India STBs by using software on a pen drive.Another one talks about hacking into a Dish TV box by using a code.

  • Tata Sky gets favorable court order against YouTube

    Tata Sky gets favorable court order against YouTube

    MUMBAI: An Indian court has provided relief to Indian DTH TV operator Tata Sky. It had approached the Delhi high court last month with a plea that the video sharing site YouTube should take down user generated videos which taught viewers how to hack the encryption of its set top boxes. Tata Sky had also demanded that the latter should respond promptly to complaints about illegal videos. YouTube had responded that it could have responded to the DTH operators complaint had it been less vague.

    The court ruled in its favour, according to a report in the Times of India. “In terms of Rule 3(1)(e) of the Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines, YouTube is obliged not to host content that violates any law for the time being in force,” Justice S Muralidhar said.

    The court also said that in cases where YouTube would be required to act immediately, it should not insist upon the complainant to demonstrate that the complaint falls in the categories identified by it for taking action.

    Even as YouTube told the court that it had pulled down the offending Tata Sky videos, others continue to be present on the video platform. One describes how users can hack Airtel and Dish TV India STBs by using software on a pen drive.Another one talks about hacking into a Dish TV box by using a code.

  • Lower e-commerce spending slows down TV ad growth: Madison

    Lower e-commerce spending slows down TV ad growth: Madison

    MUMBAI: H1 2016 has not been a good time for the advertising industry – TV specially – according to leading Indian ad agency Madison Media.

    Against the projected 20 per cent TV ad growth for the full year, only 11 per cent growth has been achieved in H1 2016. This compares poorly with the gee-whiz 35 per cent growth rate achieved in H1 2015 over H1 2014 on the back of a substantial increase in e-commerce spends and the ICC World Cup.

    The drop in the TV ad growth rate is also the main reason why the total ad market growth in H1 2016 has only been 12.9 per cent, says Madison Media. This has led to a downgrade of the earlier projected growth rate for 2016 from 16.8 per cent to 13.2 per cent. The drop in value of advertising growth has been accompanied by a reduction in the volumes of adverts on most TV programming genres, with the exception of Hindi movie and Kannada channels.

    The Madison-Pitch report says that the TV industry attracted around Rs 10,198 crore in ad spending in H1 2016 as compared to Rs 9186 crore in H12015. FMCG advertisers splurged 16 per cent more in H1 2016 at Rs 5,346 crore (Rs 4,622 crore in H1 2015) but contributed 72 per cent to the growth rate of the industry. E-commerce as a category shaved spending by 37 per cent as it fell from Rs 629 crore in H1 2015 to Rs 394 crore in H1 2016.

    “The drop in growth rates in TV is led by a lower contribution of e-commerce which is a category known to pick and choose high priced inventory / impact programmes and substituted by FMCG users who resort to everyday advertising and seek high value for money,” explained Madison Media & OOH CEO Mr Vikram Sakhuja.

    Clothing fashion and jewelry ad spending also slipped into the negative zone with a 22 per cent plunge from Rs 308 crore in H1 2015 to Rs 241 crore in H1 2016.

    The telco internet and DTH segment, however, maintained its growth of last year with spends of Rs Rs 1198 crore (Rs 1068 crore in H1 2015),

    In a release sent out last week, Madison Media said it expects this trend to continue and if it does, the overall ad industry should be on course to hit a spend of Rs 50,000 crore by end 2016. However, the agency says it is culling down its TV growth rate number from 20 per cent to 11 per cent.

    Which Madison World chairman Sam Balsara says is not good news at all. “The drop in growth rate of TV advertising does not augur well for the economy as generally a spurt in ad spends leads to higher GDP growth.”