ITV

Tag: DTH

  • DTH players revise subscription packages upwards

    DTH players revise subscription packages upwards

    MUMBAI: Bogged down by multiple taxation and regular hikes in taxes like service and entertainment, Indian direct-to-home (DTH) service providers have decided to pass on the burden to their customers.

    DTH operators like Dish TV, Tata Sky, Airtel digital TV and Videocon d2h are raising base pack prices. In the case of Dish TV and Videocon d2h, the uptick is to the tune of 10 per cent for all their packages.

    They say an increase is inevitable as they have been absorbing taxes for far too long and the industry viability itself is coming into question because the players have been bleeding.

    Airtel digital TV has hiked its base pack price from Rs 158 to 175 per month effective 9 April. Videocon d2h’s price hike comes into effect from 10 April. Dish TV was the first to hike prices of monthly subscription packages by 10 per cent effective 4 April.

    Tata Sky has increased prices for individual plans unlike the uniform hike by Dish TV and Videocon d2h. Some like Reliance Digital TV are still adopting a wait and watch policy.

    However, the DTH operators have also provided price protection to their customers by giving them an option to save money by recharging for a longer duration.

    Under the regulation, existing customers are protected from a price hike which can only be implemented after six months from the day it comes into effect.

    Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor says that DTH operators were absorbing the burden of service tax till now and have decided to pass it on to the customers to reduce that burden.

    “We have hiked prices by 10 per cent across the board. We are just passing the burden of service tax on to the customers,” says Kapoor.

    Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal is of the opinion that the price hike is not just about service and entertainment tax.

    “The input costs have gone up, the cost of content has also gone up plus there is inflation. The DTH operators have been dropping prices till now so this (price hike) is just one little step in the right direction by DTH operators,” explains Nagpal.

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera elucidates: “Service tax has been increased and entertainment tax in many states has also been increased so we are gradually passing the burden on to the customers.”

    A Reliance Digital TV spokesperson said that the company is evaluating hiking prices, “Yes, we are at present evaluating different options. At this stage, it is difficult to say how much would it be and when,” the spokesperson states.

    The spokesperson adds, “Also, as an industry we are heavily burdened with statutory levies (to the extent of around 35 per cent) – the recent decision to increase the Customs Duty on STBs by 5 per cent has only added to this burden.”

     

  • Lukup Media introduces on-demand TV service

    Lukup Media introduces on-demand TV service

    MUMBAI: Lukup Media has launched on-demand TV service powered by the Lukup Player, a hybrid set top box that delivers both mainstream TV channels and a large catalogue of content that can be viewed on demand.

    The on-demand service is exclusively available on the Lukup Play.

    Lukup Media Director Kallol Borah said, “The Lukup Player is designed to empower the viewer to personalize and take control of their media experience. They get to choose the time, place and device to view the content of their choice.”

    The Lukup Player can be used as an extension to existing set top boxes from DTH and cable operators. It will enable subscribers to view content on multiple TV screens in their homes using a single connection. The Lukup Player will also serve as a wireless hub inside homes, making it capable of streaming content to laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Subscribers can choose to view content on their devices outside home as well.

    According to the company, the Lukup Player’s touch screen based remote control personalises content search, enables personalised channels by importing content from cloud based services, social media sharing, intelligent alerts and recommendations, and multi-touch gaming.

    The product is expected to start shipping from June and will charge users a subscription fee for content that is bundled along with it. It is also available for pre-ordering. Some salient technical features of the product are- HD 1080p and 3D display, support for existing satellite, cable and terrestrial TV connections, WiFi, Ethernet based IP connectivity, unlimited recording and capacitive multi-touch remote control.

  • Zee Khana Khazana rolls out its first campaign ‘Kal kya banaoon?’

    MUMBAI: Zee Khana Khazana is launching its new ad campaign aiming to reinforce its positioning through its tagline ‘Ab Khana Sawal Nahi, Lajawab Hai!’

    Titled ‘Kal kya banaoon?’ the thought behind the TVC captures the mindset of every housewife, which is full of questions when it comes to making the everyday meal. The TVC shows a day in the life of a housewife who battles with the question ‘kal kya Banaoon’ all day, without getting an answer from anyone. Finally, she finds the answer in her own living room, with Zee Khana Khazana.

    Mansi Parekh will be seen as portraying the role of the worried Indian housewife, with ‘kal kya banaoon’ thought always on her mind.

    In the first phase the TVC will be available on DTH platforms, Digital and Social media and across Zee network channels. The ad film has been created by Scarecrow Communications.

    Zee Khana Khazana business head Amit Nair told Indiantelevision.com that the channel plans to continue to spend about 20 per cent of its marketing budget on digital media. “Brand activations, TV and Digital are the key mediums we will rely on. As it’s a niche channel with a focused target audience, the concentration is more on women specific radio time bands and integrations, digital advertising on women specific portals, concentration on social media and onground activations in a big way.”

    The ad will also travel to Multiplexes and other networks in the second phase. Zee Khana Khazana is currently available at Rs 30 per month on Dish TV, Videocon D2h and on digital cable. It will soon be available on other DTH platforms, the company said.

    On digital, the channel had done brand campaigns on the top ad networks and Google, YouTube.

    Talking about BTL activities Nair said, “We just concluded the four city BTL activity called Super cook that had a grand finale at Inorbit Malad on the 29 March. Through this activity winners in the four cities will get a chance to come onto our show ‘Ab Har Koi Chef’ and cook with our super chef ‘Chef Jolly Singh’. We are also planning to concentrate a lot on BTL activations like contest and workshops in malls, special workshop for women in societies, tie ups with different events conducted by parallel brands etc in the future.”

    The ads will be running the TVC across the network on all national channels excluding regional ones. The channel will also air the TVC on the HD channel of Zee and Zee Cinema.

    The TVC is directed by Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi. Meanwhile, it is produced by Satish Fenn of Ever After.

  • KXIP’s gets aggressive on sponsorship front

    MUMBAI: It‘s hoping to pocket a king‘s ransom this year. IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab is eyeing 30 per cent growth from team sponsorship, buoyed by the encouraging response it has got from advertisers.

    The franchise co-promoted by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta, Dabur’s Mohit Burman, Wadia Group’s Ness Wadia and Apeejay Surendra Group’s Karan Paul has roped in 14 brands as partners. That‘s way up from the 11 it had last year.

    KXIP has signed NVD Solar as title partner for three years till 2015 to replace direct-to-home (DTH) operator Videocon d2h had taken the lead sponsor status for last year‘s IPL.

    “We will manage a 30 per cent revenue growth in terms of sponsorship this year. Almost 65 per cent of our local revenue comes from sponsorship. We were not happy with revenues we managed last year. We felt that there was scope for improvement,” KXIP COO Col. Arvinder Singh.

    The franchise has got eight new partners this year in addition to the six existing partners which have renewed sponsorship deals.

    Apart from NVD Solar, those who have signed on the dotted line with the KXIP team include Lux Cozi as Official Comfort Partner, ACC, Arise Inverters and Batteries, Raindrops Basmati, USL and McDowell’s no. 1 as Official Team Partners.

    Kingfisher as the Official Good Times Partner, Pavilion Sport as Official Licensing and Merchandising Partner, Noida University as the Official University Partner, Mountain Dew as the Official Beverage Partner, Meshi Creations as the Official Entertainment Partner, 92.7 Big FM as the Official Radio Partner, Kabirz as Official Food Partner and TK Sports as Sportswear Partner are others who have decided walk hand in hand with the KXIP team during IPL6.

    Singh also stated that the franchise dealt directly with sponsors this year rather than going through agencies. KXIP reached out to almost 60 advertisers for team sponsorship.

    “So we created a team that approached companies which made a big difference. Half of the deals done were managed by directly talking to them. Last year we had 11partners while this time we have 14 partners with two partners taking two spots each. Some deals took three weeks to close this year while others took a couple of months. Some deals are for a year while others are for three years,” he stated.

    Singh adds that it is a question of sitting down with clients and understanding their business objectives. “We have to match their objectives with our marketing parameters. We see if there is synergy in what we are doing and if a tie up is mutually beneficial. Different companies have different goals some want visibility, others want activation while some want to use our platform for better fan engagement.”

    Singh explained that NVD Solar came on-board as title partner as the company since it is expanding its operations to North India. “They will launch products using the franchises players as a platform. On the other hand, Lux Cozi does activation with their wholesale and retail people. They run gratification contests where people can see matches,” he added.

    NVD Solar managing director Saibal Hazra was extremely gung-ho about the assoction. He said: ” KXI is one of the most dynamic IPL teams. We wish them all the luck for the upcoming tournament and hope this association can reap benefits for both the parties.”

    The franchise has meanwhile gone ahead and launched a loyalty programme to strengthen its bond with supporters. Other initiatives like launching a mobile application, a live in-app FanWall and an initiative with the Punjab Police to support women empowerment have also been instituted to engage with fans and contribute to the society.

    Clearly, Kings XI Punjab has got its act together on the partner front. Let‘s wait and watch if it will match that performance on the field too.

  • Digitisation to propel pay TV revenue growth in Asia Pacific: Study

    Digitisation to propel pay TV revenue growth in Asia Pacific: Study

    MUMBAI: The cable TV digitisation in India and other Asian countries will drive pay TV revenues in Asia Pacific which are expected to reach $43.9 billion in 2018 from $33.86 billion in 2013, according to Digital TV Asia Pacific report.

    Digital cable television will comprise the largest chunk of the overall pay TV revenue pie. It is expected to grow from $12.42 billion in 2013 to $23.16 billion. Direct-to-Home (DTH) will be the second pay TV revenue contributor by 2018 with an estimated $11.6 billion in revenues, up from $8.5 billion in 2013.

    Both digital cable TV and DTH will grow even as analogue cable TV revenue will shrink from $8.9 billion currently to to $1.83 billion as cable TV digitisation gains momentum. IPTV revenues during the same period are expected to reach $7.17 billion in 2018 from $4.01 billion.

    The report also said that pay TV penetration will rise from 56 per cent in 2012 to 67 per cent in 2018, adding 154 million subscribers to take the total to 587 million.

    China will provide 313 million pay TV households by 2018, with India supplying a further 158 million. However, pay TV penetration will be higher in South Korea (95 per cent) and Hong Kong (96 per cent).

    Digital TV research‘s Simon Murray said, “Pay TV revenues will more than double in five countries Indonesia (tripling), Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam] between 2012 and 2018, but will fall in Hong Kong and South Korea.”

    The Asia Pacific region is undergoing a rapid digital TV conversion that will see penetration increase from 16 per cent in 2008 to 44 per cent in 2012 and on to 90 per cent in 2018 – or up by 440 million homes between 2012 and 2018. By end-2013, digital penetration will reach 53 per cent, or 420 million homes (up by 78 million on the end-2012 figure), says the report.

    Murray continued: “Despite the rapid conversion, digital TV will still have plenty of room for growth for some time to come. Only six of the 15 countries forecast in this report will have fully converted to digital by 2018. By then, Indonesia and the Philippines will have digital penetration of only 42 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Indonesia will still have 29 million analog homes and India will have 31 million analog homes.”

    Of the 440 million digital homes to be added between 2012 and 2018, 128 million will come from DTT. However, the number of analog terrestrial homes will fall by 204 million. Digital cable will contribute a further 187 million additional homes, with analog cable losing 141 million. Pay DTH will supply an extra 35 million and pay IPTV 71 million more.

    The report also forecasted that pay IPTV subscribers will overtake that of pay DTH in 2016.

  • Tata Sky to show Disney’s international titles on pay-per-view

    Tata Sky to show Disney’s international titles on pay-per-view

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky has said it will showcase titles from Disney on its pay-per-view (PPV) service, making it the first time a Hollywood Studio is offering all its premium titles on one DTH platform in India.

    Disney enthusiasts can now order and watch their favourite Disney movie such as Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Toy Story 1,2 and 3, Lion King 1 and 2, Tangled, Disney Pixar UP, Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Cars 1,2 and 3 and many more only on Tata Sky for a period of three months.

    “Disney delivers the world’s best family entertainment through its wealth of great stories, wonderful characters and magical experiences. By working with Tata Sky we are bringing the world’s most popular content into the homes of Indians anywhere and everywhere and anytim,” said Disney UTV Executive Director – Syndication, International Distribution & Disney Media Distribution, Studios Amrita Pandey.

    “Disney has been one of the favorite and the most popular channels among our subscribers especially the younger generation. We are very excited to add the premium Disney line-up on our showcase channel for subscribers to enjoy during the entire holiday period.

    The 2012 Hollywood box-office blockbuster, Marvel’s The Avengers did exceedingly well when we showcased it on our platform and we are positive the recently added Disney’s Classics will be enjoyed by the Disney fans on Tata Sky,” said Tata Sky VP-Content Mukund Sharma.

    The weekday block is available at a price pack of Rs 50 where one feature will be showcased over two days. The weekend block runs from Friday to Sunday at a price pack of Rs 75.

  • Four cities go fully digital ahead of sunset date: MIB

    Four cities go fully digital ahead of sunset date: MIB

    MUMBAI: The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has said that 67 per cent digitisation target has been achieved in 38 cities with four cities – Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Allahabad – achieving nearly 100 per cent digitisation.

    Eight other cities – Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, and Ghaziabad – have achieved 75 per cent digitisation.

    Another 28 cities have achieved digitisation of more than 50 per cent individually, the MIB said. These cities are Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Allahabad, Jodhpur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jaipur, Pune, Faridabad, Nashik, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Vadodara, Sholapur, Kanpur, Varanasi, Bangalore, Indore, Ranchi, Lucknow, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bhopal and Howrah.

    As on 23 March, a total of 10.8 million set-top boxes (STBs) have already been installed in Phase-II cities against the target of 16 million, as per the data received from the DTH operators and the MSOs.

    The sunset date for the phase II of digitisation is 31 March after which analogue signals will be switched off in these 38 cities. During phase I, the three metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata have gone digital. In Chennai, digitisation could not be completed as the Madras High Court issued a stay order on a petition filed by local cable operators.

    The MIB said it has been consistently monitoring the progress made towards digitisation during Phase II of the process with I&B Minister Manish Tewari reviewing the progress on a daily basis.

    The Task Force set up by the MIB has also been meeting every week to take stock of the progress of digitisation in Phase-II. The Ministry has already conducted second round of meeting with nodal officers of 38 cities on 8 March to ascertain preparedness in these cities.

    As part of the public awareness campaign to sensitise the consumers on the benefits of digitisation, the Ministry has also stepped up the Public Awareness campaign through print and electronic media. All India Radio as well as private FM broadcasters have been broadcasting radio jingles on its National and regional networks for creating public awareness.

    The Ministry has already brought out a print advertisement in all 38 cities in the respective regional languages. SMS campaign is presently underway in these cities.

    As part of the awareness initiative, television channels have been frequently running video spots, black out advertisements, and scrolls to make the people aware regarding the benefits of the process and the deadline of the switch over from analogue to digital in the 38 cities set to be digitised under Phase II.

    The Control Room of the Ministry, which also has a toll free number, has been receiving a number of calls from consumers of Phase-II cities.

    In order to facilitate a seamless transition on the due date of 31 March 2013, the Ministry has asked major MSOs to depute their representatives in the Control Room to address and clarify various queries relating to acquisition of STBs, various schemes of purchase of STBs and package rates offered by MSOs.

  • Media Pro conducts raids against hotels in Orissa and WB for piracy

    Media Pro conducts raids against hotels in Orissa and WB for piracy

    MUMBAI: Media Pro Enterprise India, the joint venture between Star Den and Zee Turner, has said it has organised raids against local hotels/commercial establishments in Orissa with the help of Police for allegedly pirating signals of their channels distributed without any agreement.

    The company has filed an FIR against two Puri-based hotels and one Bhubaneswar-based hotel for illegally broadcasting Media Pro Channels. The raid was conducted after the hotels refused to pay heed to the notices by the company.

    A senior official of Media Pro stated, “These hotels have violated the provisions of the Trai tariff order which prohibits the unauthorized broadcast of Media Pro channels without any mutual agreement with Media Pro. It is mandatory for all commercial subscribers to reach a mutual agreement with the relevant broadcaster and/or their authorized cable/DTH operator, including hotels with ratings of three-star and above, heritage hotels or any other hotel, motel, inn and such other commercial establishments providing boarding and lodging and having 50 or more rooms.”

    “Such establishments have to take broadcast signals directly from the broadcaster unless the broadcaster has authorized any operator to provide such signals. In this case, these three hotels qualify as commercial subscribers of such a category and were taking unauthorised feeds from an unauthorised local cable network,” he added.

    The company also said that in similar raid, the police had initiated an FIR against one commercial property in Kolkata, seized Set Top Boxes (STBs) and the manager was put inside bars for five days for illegally broadcasting the signals.

  • DD’s DTH gets an additional transponder on INSAT 4B

    DD’s DTH gets an additional transponder on INSAT 4B

    NEW DELHI: The Prasar Bharati Board has been asked to take an expeditious decision on expanding the number of channels on Doordarshan‘s direct-to-home (DTH) platform DD Direct Plus to 97, following the decision of the Department of Space to give it an additional transponder of INSAT 4B.

    The Space Department had initially declined to give an additional transponder, forcing Prasar Bharati to lower its expansion plan for the country‘s only free-go-air DTH platform to 75 from the current 59.

    Prior to the latest decision of the Department of Space, Prasar Bharati had already received and processed the tenders for upgradation to 75 slots.

    Prasar Bharati‘s ultimate plan is to increase the number of channels on the platform to 150.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry stated this when answering a query from indiantelevision.com relating to an observation by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology relating to delay in expansion of DD Direct Plus.

    The sources said that Prasar Bharati had earned revenue of Rs 920.5 million from the auction of 37 slots on the platform. The remaining 22 channels are those of Doordarshan itself.

  • Demand for TV transponders to triple in five years: PwC

    Demand for TV transponders to triple in five years: PwC

    NEW DELHI: The number of satellite transponders required by Indian TV broadcasters and DTH operators is expected to double or triple over the next five years.

    A new report from the Cable and Satellite Broadcasters Association of Asia (Casbaa) entitled “Easing India’s Capacity Crunch” forecasts that transponders required by the DTH industry will rise from 73 in 2012 to more than 220 in 2017 to meet burgeoning demands by Indian consumers.

    The report prepared by PwC was released at the Casbaa India Forum 2013.

    This rapid growth in transponder demand will be driven by the expected increase of TV channels in India, fuelled by strong growth of the Indian television industry over the next few years (expected CAGR of 14%).

    The continued proliferation of pay-TV services, coupled with cable digitisation, growth of regional channels and entry of foreign players will provide a fillip to growth. Given these driving factors, India can potentially have about 1,600 licensed channels by 2017, of which about 1,300 channels (80% of licensed channels), are expected to be operational.

    High growth in the number of HD channels is expected, due to growth in digital platforms coupled with increasing penetration of high-end TV sets that support HD viewing experiences. By 2017, India is likely to have approx 130 HD channels. This growth in the number of channels will lead to higher demand for C-band and Ku-band transponders.

    In the report, Casbaa and PwC make a series of suggestions for improving the management of India’s satellite industry, to make it more efficient and market-friendly.

    The report notes that Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is working hard to launch new satellites and procure additional spectrum to meet the burgeoning demand. Nevertheless, says the report, “it is unlikely that any single satellite operator will be able to fulfil even current demand, let alone the future demand for satellite capacity.” Foreign satellite operators will need to be encouraged to invest in capacity to serve the Indian market.

    “In spite of the urgent requirements for satellite capacity, there are challenges placing practical restrictions on leasing transponder capacity from foreign satellite operators by Indian players,” said John Medeiros, Casbaa’s Chief Policy Officer. “Key hurdles include procedural requirements and delays and short contract durations inducing uncertainty for both Indian players and outside investors.”

    Smita Jha, leader of PwC India’s Entertainment and Media practice, said: “Satellite capacity constraints impede the growth momentum of the Indian TV sector and impact the ecosystem of the industry. The capacity crunch could restrict the launch of local regional channels and special interest channels and could lead to a distortion of competitive balances in multiple ways.”

    The report encourages the Indian government to formulate policies and processes to spur growth in satellite services, and to explore opening up additional frequency bands for use by TV industry players. It suggests measures such as allowing DTH operators more freedom to easily lease more space on authorised satellites they already use, lengthening the allowable term of satellite transponder contracts, improving publicly-available market information from the government and ensuring adequate spectrum is available for satellite use in India.