ITV

Tag: DTH

  • Dish TV Board responds to Yes Bank’s notice, says EGM cannot be called

    Dish TV Board responds to Yes Bank’s notice, says EGM cannot be called

    New Delhi: In the latest turn of events, Dish TV has turned down Yes Bank’s call for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), stating that the meeting cannot be called, as it will be in violation of the extant laws.

    The decision was taken in a Board meeting of the Company held on Wednesday, wherein the members reviewed the requisition notice sent by Yes Bank on 21 September. The Bank which holds a 25.63 per cent stake in Dish TV India Ltd had demanded an EGM to be convened, to oust the current directors and managing director Jawahar Lal Goel from the Company.

    On Wednesday, the Board said that it considered the factual background, as also the legal advice and the opinions received from various legal experts.

    According to the Board, Yes Bank Ltd is a Banking Company and YBL’s shareholding in the Company is a consequence of the invocation of pledges. “Therefore, there are certain embargos under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with Securities and Exchange Board of India (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011, because of which the said resolutions cannot be placed before the shareholders,” the Board stated.

    It further highlighted that resolutions proposed to be placed before the shareholders of the Company as sought by YBL require certain prior steps to be undertaken by YBL under the applicable provisions of SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Regulations, 2011 and also prior approval to be obtained by YBL under the Competition Act, 2002; and, require prior approval of the ministry of information and broadcasting in respect of national security clearance as well as that of Company’s Lenders.

    “Accordingly, in view of the above and considering (a) its fiduciary duties and (b) that the Board shall be in violation of extant laws if it acts upon the Notice, the Board unanimously agreed that the EGM cannot be called,” it informed the stock exchange on Wednesday.

    Yes Bank had initially sent a notice to Dish TV on 6 September calling for a resolution for the removal of Rashmi Aggarwal, Shankar Aggarwal, Bhagwan Das Narang, and Ashok Mathai Kurien as directors, along with Jawahar Lal Goel as managing director of the company under Section 169 of the Companies Act, 2013. This would also remove Goel from the post of chairperson of the Company. It also sought the appointment of a new board of directors including Akash Suri, Sanjay Nambiar, Vijay Bhatt, Haripriya Padmanabhan, Girish Paranjape, Narayan Vasudeo Prabhutendulkar, and Arvind Nachaya Mapangada. 

    The proposal was to be tabled at the annual 33rd general meeting, which was to be held on 27 September. However, Dish TV deferred the meeting citing some regulatory approvals, following which Yes Bank sent a requisition notice calling for an EGM on 21 September.

    The Bank had alleged that the current Dish TV Board was “not acting in line with good corporate governance standards and is not a fair representation of the incumbent significant shareholders of the Company which holds about 45 per cent shareholding in the Company.”

  • Tata Sky brings international content through new launch – ‘Videshi Kahaniyan’

    Tata Sky brings international content through new launch – ‘Videshi Kahaniyan’

    Mumbai: Amping the content game, content distribution and Pay TV platform Tata Sky has introduced a new platform service – ‘Tata Sky Videshi Kahaniyan’ to offer ad-free International shows and movies dubbed in Hindi for its viewers.

    The new service will give subscribers access to a vast collection of content across Korean, Bulgarian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and other languages, said the platform on Monday.

    “International content has been gaining popularity as stories from around the world resonate with Indian viewers,” said Tata Sky chief commercial and content officer Pallavi Puri. “For ‘Tata Sky Videshi Kahaniyan’, we are partnering with One Take Media, pioneers in global content production & distribution, to bring our viewers high-quality entertainment from across the globe at an affordable price. Some of the Korean, Bulgarian and Spanish shows on the service are very popular worldwide and will bring a richness and variety to the entertainment offered by Tata Sky.”

    The new service will be available on both DTH and mobile app, and will showcase blockbusters such as ‘Goblin’, ‘I am not a robot’, ‘Emergency Couple’, ‘Eternal’, ‘Undercover’ among others.

    The brand has also roped in TV personality, Rupali Ganguly of ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’ fame for promoting the new service. “I am excited to see my love for International content come to life with Tata Sky Videshi Kahaniyan. I have enjoyed shooting for the campaign and am sure that this service will be a complete entertainment package,” she said.

    “We are thrilled to partner with Tata Sky and launch their new value-added service ‘Tata Sky Videshi Kahaniyan’, we have carefully collated the list of shows and movies for the service and are sure that the audiences will enjoy this collection,” said One Take Media Co-director Dimpy Khera.

  • Dish TV seeks more time to convene AGM, defers 27 Sep meeting

    Dish TV seeks more time to convene AGM, defers 27 Sep meeting

    New Delhi: Dish TV has sought additional time to convene the next Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was initially scheduled to be held on 27 September. The company has cited some regulatory approvals, that it needs to obtain before going ahead with the meeting.

    The DTH company has informed the BSE, that its Board of Directors has approved the application for postponing the AGM scheduled on 27 September. The new date of the meeting has not been disclosed yet, however, as per rules, the meeting could happen any time before 30 December.

    Earlier this month, one of its prime shareholders YES Bank, which holds 25.63 per cent stake in Dish TV India Ltd had sent a special notice to the company, seeking the removal of the current directors and managing director. The proposal was to be tabled at the upcoming annual 33rd general meeting.

    In its communique to the stock exchange on Sunday, the company has stated that the proposed changes in the Board are subject to applicable regulatory permissions and also other approvals which the Company requires to obtain. While it has already sent the applications to the Lenders for seeking their consent for the said change in the Board of Directors of the Company under applicable covenants, the approval is still awaited.

    “Accordingly, in order to ensure compliance of all applicable laws and guidelines in respect of the Notices sent by YBL and also to ensure that the Company does not default on any of the regulatory and lender covenants, the Board of Directors of the Company have approved making requisite applications as per provisions of the Companies Act for seeking extension of time under applicable regulatory provisions for convening the AGM of the Company, so that the Company has sufficient time to evaluate, analyse and to ensure compliance of all applicable regulatory, and other approvals as required by the law and avoid any non-compliance to contractual obligations,” it wrote.

    In its special notice to Dish TV, Yes Bank had sought the removal of Rashmi Aggarwal, Shankar Aggarwal, Bhagwan Das Narang, and Ashok Mathai Kurien as directors, along with Jawahar Lal Goel as managing director of the company under Section 169 of the Companies Act, 2013. This would also remove Goel from the post of chairperson of the Company.

    The Bank had alleged that the current Dish TV Board was “not acting in line with good corporate governance standards and is not a fair representation of the incumbent significant shareholders of the Company” which hold about 45 per cent shareholding in the Company.

    In its notice, Yes Bank had also proposed to reconstitute the board with – Yes Bank senior group president and general counsel Sanjay Nambiar, Yes Bank, country head, stressed asset management, Akash Suri, former KPMG executive Viiav Bhatt, litigation counsel Haripriya Padmanabhan,  Wipro’s IT business former Co-CEO Girish Paranjape, independent management consultant Narayan Vasudeo Prabhutendulkar and Arvind Nachaya.

    Dish TV had responded to the notice, stating that the proposed new directors could be appointed only after obtaining approvals from the ministry of information and broadcasting. and other requisite approvals for appointment of new directors, within the statutory timelines.

  • Yes Bank seeks removal of current directors of Dish TV

    Yes Bank seeks removal of current directors of Dish TV

    New Delhi: YES Bank, which holds 25.63 per cent stake in Dish TV India Ltd has sought the removal of the current directors and managing director of the direct-to-home service provider. The bank has recently issued a special notice asking the company to put its proposal to vote at Dish TV’s upcoming annual 33rd general meeting to be held on 27 September.

    “The present board of directors of the Company (“Board”) has approved a rights issue process, pending objections raised with the Board by the Bank time and again, solely to dilute the shareholding of the Bank and to prejudice the interests of inter alia the Bank which is the single largest shareholder of the Company as of date,” it said in its notice.

    Yes Bank has sought the removal of Rashmi Aggarwal, Shankar Aggarwal, Bhagwan Das Narang, and Ashok Mathai Kurien as directors, along with Jawahar Lal Goel as managing director of the company under Section 169 of the Companies Act, 2013. “Moreover, consequent to such removal, Goel shall cease to be the chairperson of the Company with effect from the date of this meeting,” the notice read.

    According to the bank, the Board “is not acting in line with good corporate governance standards and is not a fair representation of the incumbent significant shareholders of the Company” which hold about 45 per cent shareholding in the Company.

    “The Board is purportedly acting at the behest of certain minority shareholders holding merely six per cent of the shares in the Company. This is reflected from the fact that even though the Bank, vide various letters issued to the Board, asked the Board to desist from approving/conducting the proposed capital raising exercise by way of rights issue, the Board, without consulting the significant shareholders of the Company, went ahead to make a press announcement dated 28 May, 2021 regarding its intention to proceed with a Rs 1000 Cr. rights issue,” read the notice.

    According to the bank, the Board has “completely side-lined the multiple requests of the Bank to reconstitute the Board, inter alia, by appointment of the nominee directors.”

    In its notice, Yes Bank has also proposed to reconstitute the board with – Yes Bank senior group president and general counsel Sanjay Nambiar, Yes Bank, country head, stressed asset management, Akash Suri, former KPMG executive Viiav Bhatt, litigation counsel Haripriya Padmanabhan,  Wipro’s IT business former Co-CEO Girish Paranjape, independent management consultant Narayan Vasudeo Prabhutendulkar and Arvind Nachaya.

    Dish TV has responded to the notice, stating that the proposed new directors could be appointed only after obtaining approvals from the ministry of information and broadcasting. and other requisite approvals for appointment of new directors, within the statutory timelines.

  • Tata Sky unveils its first batch of Make-in-India set-top boxes

    Tata Sky unveils its first batch of Make-in-India set-top boxes

    New Delhi: DTH operator Tata Sky on Thursday unveiled its first batch of Made in India- set-top boxes which have been manufactured in partnership with Technicolor Connected Home and Flextronics.

    Talking about this landmark milestone, Tata Sky’s MD & CEO, Harit Nagpal said, “The India-made set-top boxes will help generate employment while reducing lead time. The boxes have been tested and re-tested beyond the factory floor for quality assurance, and we hope this endeavor will help us to serve the Indian consumers even better.”

    According to the DTH operator, the project builds further on the long-standing partnership between Tata Sky and Technicolor Connected Home, which provides set-top boxes and broadband access solutions for network service providers (NSPs) around the world. The mass production of the set-top boxes developed for Tata Sky by Technicolor Connected Home started in Chennai, in partnership with Flextronics in June 2021.

    Technicolor Connected Home, president, Luis Martinez-Amago said the announcement marks the accomplishment of objectives outlined in August of 2020, in which Tata Sky and Technicolor Connected Home committed to shifting the production and distribution of STBs – including Android TV-based Binge+ set-top box – within India.

    “This is another step in Technicolor Connected Home’s continuing investment in the growth of the important Indian market. The disruptions brought about by COVID-19 have illustrated the importance of having manufacturing and distribution operations that are as close to the subscriber base as possible. We remain committed to minimise risks and total cost of ownership of STB deployments,” he added.

  • Prasar Bharati invites bids for vacant MPEG-4 slots in 55th e-auction

    Prasar Bharati invites bids for vacant MPEG-4 slots in 55th e-auction

    Mumbai: Prasar Bharati has invited applications for the allotment of vacant MPEG-4 slots of DD Free Dish DTH platform for the period from 1 September 2021 to 31 March 2022 through the 55th e-auction. The e-auction process will be tentatively held on the afternoon of 23 August.

    The bidding process shall be open to all genre (language) channels at a starting reserve price of Rs 65.35 lakh for the period from 1 September 2021 to 31 March 2022.

    The slots will be allotted in accordance with policy guidelines for allotment of DD Free Dish slots, notified on 15 January 2019 and amended vide amendment notified on 30 March 2019, 1 November 2019, and 22 February 2021.

    Only satellite channels licensed by the ministry of information and broadcasting for downlinking in India would be allotted slots on DD Free Dish. Only license holder companies or their authorised distributor partners can apply for allocation of DD Free Dish slots.

    International public broadcasters permitted/registered/licensed by the I&B ministry can also participate in the e-auction.

    In case the applicant company is other than licensee, the document/agreement signed between the license holder company and applicant company authorising the applicant bidder for distribution of the channel and bidding on behalf of the licensee must be admitted.

    Successful bidders shall be required to make payments in five monthly instalments as per the payment schedule prescribed under the policy guidelines, for allotment for DD Free Dish slots. Each instalment will be one fifth of the difference of bid amount and participation fee.

    Participating channels must pay a mandatory non-refundable processing fee of Rs 25,000 and participation fee of Rs 10 lakh. The payment is to be made only through demand draft.

    For unsuccessful bidders the participation fee will be refunded within three weeks after the declaration of the results of e-auction.

    Successful channels will be required to arrange their own IRD box in advance at DTH Earth Station, Todapur, New Delhi, to place their channel on DD Free Dish platform.

    The last date of submission of online application and original demand draft towards participation fee is 23 August by 11 a.m.

  • Tata Sky celebrates its 15 years jingalala journey in latest campaign

    Tata Sky celebrates its 15 years jingalala journey in latest campaign

    Mumbai: Content distribution and pay-TV platform Tata Sky is celebrating its 15 years’ journey with a new campaign that highlights its deep-rooted relationship with its subscribers.

    The campaign #15YearsConstant highlights has been conceptualised in collaboration with Chimp&z Inc. It poignantly captures the continual bond Tata Sky shares with its subscribers. The video encapsulates the ever-changing life of a family, with a window-seat ticket to observe how they grew and outgrew the initial roots and took shape of an all-new abode, centring on the emotion, that despite the transitions, the one thing that has stood the test of time and has lived the journey of change with Indian families is Tata Sky.

    Tata Sky, chief communications officer, Anurag Kumar said, “Through this campaign we wanted to portray that the world has evolved and so has Tata Sky, but the bond that we share with our subscribers has remained strong and steadfast. Our sincere appreciation and profound thanks to all that made this journey memorable and gratifying.”

    Chimp&z, CEO and c0-founder, Angad Singh Manchanda said, “The narrative takes us on a poetic journey of growing up, with Tata Sky depicted as a subtle yet influential part of viewers’ lives. The video is a wonderful amalgamation of visual storytelling and lyrical artistry, which will make our audience reminisce their days of yore. Kudos to the entire team at Griffin Pictures and Chimp&z Inc, for bringing this concept alive.”

  • Pandemic drags down DishTV India’s FY’21 financials

    MUMBAI: India’s first DTH operator Dish TV India continues to slog it out to get out of the financial quagmire it has got itself into. That’s despite the fact that the company  has seen a loss of subscribers in its latest quarter ended 31 March 2021 and for the full year, its top line has dipped even as it continues to report losses. According to its audited Q4 FY 21 results released yesterday, Dish TV India  has reported consolidated subscription revenues of Rs  685.2 crore (Rs 776.6 crore in Q4 FY’20) and operating revenues of Rs  751.7 crore (Rs 869.06 crore). EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 426 crore (Rs 543.2 crore). Net loss was Rs 1415.3 crore as against a loss of Rs 1456.2 crore  in the same quarter last year.

    Subscription revenues for the whole year have fallen from Rs 3192.8 crore in FY ’20 to Rs 2987.4 crore in FY’21, even  as operating revenues saw a reduction to Rs 3249.4 crore as against Rs 3556.3 crore in FY20.  EBITDA for the full year fell to Rs 2017 crore as against Rs 2106 crore in FY’20. However, to its credit, it has reduced the red ink on its bottomline to Rs 1189.9 crore as against Rs 1654.8 crore in the previous financial year.

    What helped it shore up its performance in the latest financial year is its hard focus on shaving expenditure which it has reduced by 15 per cent to Rs 1232.4 crore as against Rs 1450.4 crore in FY ’20.  

    Dish TV management said the company has been hit by the sporadic lockdowns due to the ongoing pandemic during the year and the last quarter. “The later part of the fourth quarter saw re-emergence of urban to rural migration, amongst migrant workers. The sporadic lockdowns have left many in the aspiring class with reduced disposable incomes while taking a toll on overall consumer confidence. Subscriber churn, thus remained on the higher side during the quarter and full year,” said Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua in a press release.

    Additionally, the company largely relied on internal cash flows for capital expenditure and for debt reduction. Hence, it kept a tight rein on capital expenditure which in turn limited new subscriber additions, and when compounded with high subscriber churn, it  led to a net reduction in its subscriber base.

    Overall, Dish TV repaid Rs 213 crore of its debt in the quarter, reducing its loan  exposure to Rs 809.9 crore at end FY’21 as against  Rs 1817.5 crore at end FY20.  

    Said Dish TV chairman & managing director Jawahar Goel: “The year gone by was difficult but has left us stronger with all the innovations and process improvements in place. However, with continuing uncertainties, we maintain a cautious stand. A strong balance sheet boosts confidence in such tough times and our focus on paying down debt and other liabilities is in that direction only.”

    Dua said that investors need to take heart about the positive manner in which Dish TV has pivoted to take advantage of the opportunities that the pandemic has thrown up. “Effectively, the pandemic rushed the need to innovate. Be it artificial intelligence for resolving customer complaints, enabling work-from home for customer care agents and employees, developing set-top-boxes and other key accessories in India, moving trade partners to a fully digital recharge mode or upgrading our OTT platform, Watcho, we rose to the challenges thrown by the trying year while touching new highs in EBITDA margins.”

    What according to the two of them shows promise is the growth in sign-ons to DishTV’s OTT service Watcho to 25 million by FY 21 year end as against just a million users in January 2020.  Said Dua: “At Dish TV India, it has always been our endeavor to meet the entertainment needs of all our subscribers all the time. Watcho is a step in that direction and delivers a seamless, streaming entertainment experience to viewers through future ready technology and diverse content.”

    Dua is quite optimistic about the company’s fortunes pointing to the important role TV continues to play in viewers lives in India, and believes that a revival in discretionary spending, due to economic activity normalizing going forward, will improve business revenues. The company is going ahead with the procedures relating to raising funds through a rights issue totting up to Rs 1,000 crore.

  • Dish TV India joins hands with JOP Network for dubbed movie service “Hits Active”

    New Delhi: Dish TV has joined hands with content house, JOP Network Pvt Ltd to re-introduce dubbed movie service– Hits Active, in a new Avatar to broadcast International and South Indian hit movies dubbed in Hindi.

    Hits Active is an ad-free service showcasing all genres of blockbusters. The service will go LIVE from 1 June.

    JOP Network Pvt Ltd, director, Urvi Agarwal said “We are glad to associate with Dish TV India, India’s leading DTH Company and offer our rich bouquet of hit South Indian and International movies to Dish TV and D2H viewers on ‘Hits Active’. The service is targeted at the Indian masses for all age groups who enjoy watching regional and international content across the world but in their preferred language – Hindi.”

    Dish TV India Ltd, executive director and group CEO, Anil Dua said, “Keeping consumer interests at core during these challenging times, we at Dish TV India, aim to bring best-in-class entertainment to customers while sitting in the comfort of their homes. Our collaboration with a like- minded brand JOP Network resonates with our ideologies and is sure to help us make content viewing an enriching and engaging experience for all our subscribers. With addition of dubbed movies on our value added channel ‘Hits Active’, we further intend to take the entertainment quotient a notch higher and entertain a massive set of audience across India.”

    To avail HITS Active service, subscribers can give a missed call from their registered Mobile Number on 18005682536 for Dish TV & 18003150217 for D2H platform.

  • Binge app sees traction from non-metros- DAS 2, DAS 3 cities: Tata Sky’s Pallavi Puri

    KOLKATA: Pay TV meanders along in India, even as the near future will expectedly watch digital adoption accelerating at a rapid pace of disruption. The legacy direct-to-platform (DTH) players are taking note of the shift in consumer habits to keep up with the trend. Tata Sky has been one such player to embrace streaming services to retain consumers.

    The leading DTH player has recently extended its OTT content aggregator service to a mobile app, Tata Sky Binge Mobile App that offers a single subscription and a one-time payment proposition alongside numerous titles across entertainment apps on one single platform.

    “Over the last year, our subscribers said that they wanted the on-the-move experience of Binge. We know that a lot of the OTT content consumption is happening on mobile. Hence, the subsequent step was to broaden the offering through a mobile app, and make it available to a wider audience segment, enabling them to watch their choice of content individually on their mobile phones,” Tata Sky chief commercial & content officer Pallavi Puri explained the rationale of the move.

    The company has launched the app with a product film on Tata Sky’s channel 100, along with a social media campaign #KhojoNahiDekho, Puri stated. The campaign spotlights how people spend a lot of time toggling on the apps and searching for content to watch, and yet often end up watching nothing. 

    Hence, the focus of the communication is to encourage people to stop searching and start binge-watching content from across multiple entertainment apps with a one-stop solution – Tata Sky Binge mobile app, she explained further. “We have a robust and phase-wise marketing strategy in place to scale up the product as we go along,” Puri said.

    In the beginning, the company wants to popularise the app, establish its benefits, rather than focusing on target numbers. Through this app, Tata Sky is targeting every Tata Sky subscriber who has a smartphone. Audience segments that prefer a more personalized content viewing experience, that can be accessed on-the-go, will like and gain from this app, Puri noted. Moreover, the company has introduced the Rs 149 mobile-only plan to appeal to a larger audience.

    Puri is of the view that the launch of this app has strengthened Tata Sky’s OTT aggregation portfolio. Subscribers can now avail the Binge offering through Amazon FireTV Stick – Tata Sky edition, Android-enabled smart set-top box, Tata Sky Binge+, and the very latest Binge Mobile app basis their choice of device and convenience.

    Notably, Tata Sky’s arch-rival Dish TV also has its OTT app Watcho that has already crossed 15 million subscribers. The app provides original content, even woos users with user-generated content. However, Tata Sky wants to focus on OTT content for its app at this point. Based on insights from its subscribers, it may further enhance the overall Binge proposition.

    “The initial traction has been very encouraging. We are seeing great traction from non-metros – DAS 2, DAS 3 cities. With its first-rate end-user interface, unified search, and a seamless hyper-personalised content recommendation and viewing experience, we are hoping Binge will become our subscribers’ favourite very soon,” Puri commented.