ITV

Tag: East

  • DAS Phase III status report: East and West

    DAS Phase III status report: East and West

    MUMBAI: Though the deadline was announced well in advance, the action on-ground took quite some time to get rolling. And now it’s certainly too late to finish on time. “It’s chaos and carnage together. Digitisation, which was meant to be a panacea has turned out to be a poison for cable operators and it’s sad that there is no one to stand by their side,” said a retired official from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on condition of anonymity.

     

    As per the official’s assessment, on an average, 40 per cent seeding of set-top-boxes (STBs) has been done successfully and it will be impossible to meet the 31 December, 2015.

     

    Digitisation is an East – West – North – South affair and the progress report is quite similar everywhere. This report by Indiantelevision.com covers the proceedings of the eastern and western parts of the country.

     

    East

     

    The North Eastern part of the country has always been one of the most neglected areas when it comes to central government’s attention. The story is no different when it comes to DAS too. “People here are not aware of 10 per cent of the laws. There is nobody to go to and talk about grievances. Not everyone can go to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) as they cannot afford to. So they have two options, to either opt out entirely from the cable business or succumb to unfair means. While there are grievances involved, we cannot expect work to go on a brisk pace and it’s all delayed,” Task Force member from Assam Iquebal Ahmed tells this website.

     

    While Ahmed refrained from putting a number to the progress but as per the assessment of other cable operators, approximately 30 per cent of the seeding has been done so far.

     

    And this 30 per cent is still on higher side the story is even worse in West Bengal. “Only eight to 10 per cent of the seeding has been done so far,” estimates Siticable Kolkata director Suresh Sethia. But he also says the work has picked up recently and it is not impossible to meet the deadline provided there is a surge in consumer demand.

     

    “The government has to advertise more aggressively by putting more newspaper inserts to drive consumer requirement. The message needs to be very clear that people need to have set top boxes before 31 December or there will be no TV,” stresses Sethia.

     

    The crisis of STBs, which is very widely spoken about is not something Sethia is bothered about. “As far as we are concerned, we have enough hardware to meet the demand,” he says confidently.

     

    West

     

    The west side story is a lot better in comparison. “About 60 per cent of the seeding has been done in Gujarat and if we continue with the way we are forging forward, there is a good possibility of us reaching the target by March if not December, provided the deadline is not postponed. However, if the deadline is postponed, the momentum of work will break since the pressure will ease off and then we might not be able to achieve it by June,” says GTPL Hathway COO Shaji Mathews.

     

    Mathews is of the opinion that deals with broadcasters cannot be a reason behind the delay. “Even in Phase I and II, analogue deals continued in digitised areas for a brief period. The transition takes time and will gradually fall in place,” he adds.

     

    However, the progress report in Maharashtra is not as hunky dory as that of Gujarat. The Maharashtra government, like the Central government, is adamant on no extension of deadline. The respective collectors have also communicated the same across every nook and corner. But there is a huge lack of awareness among consumers, says a senior member of Nasik District Cable Operators Federation.

     

    He further adds, “Do we have the infrastructure ready? Why are we not talking about that? The MSOs will benefit the most from this chaotic scenario. They are not releasing the boxes now and the reason is that when the demand hikes up at the last moment, they can jack up the price and sell. DEN is charging Rs 1600 for a STB! Can a phase III consumer afford it? The government needs to look into the deeper issues and generate more awareness instead of showing its muscle power.”

     

    What the scenario at the ground level will be post 31 December, 2015, only time will tell.

     

    Indiantelevision.com’s next report will focus on the ground realities in the Northern and Southern parts of the country. Stay tuned.

  • Black List teams with TNT & TBS to promote diversity in the industry

    Black List teams with TNT & TBS to promote diversity in the industry

    MUMBAI: TNT and TBS are partnering with The Black List – an online community where video content creators find scripts to make and writers to write them and where writers find producers, studios and networks to make their scripts and employ them. The three are partnering on an initiative to promote diversity in the industry by identifying talented writers to develop scripts and concepts for the networks. TNT and TBS are the first television networks to team up with the Black List following the site’s expansion into episodic content.

     

    The networks will be looking for writers from diverse backgrounds for possible blind script deals and staffing consideration on TBS and TNT series, with the goal of signing script deals with particularly strong writers in the half-hour comedy and hour-long drama genres.

     

    Launched in October 2012, the Black List has hosted more than 10,000 screenplays and teleplays and has completed more than 13,000 script evaluations. More than 40 writers have found representation at major agencies and management companies, while more than 20 writers have sold their scripts as a direct result of introductions made via the site. At any given moment, more than 2,000 screenplays and teleplays are being actively hosted on the site for perusal by over 2,300 film industry professionals, ranging from agency assistants to studio chairs and network heads.

     

    As part of its program with TNT and TBS, the Black List will solicit teleplays to be evaluated via the Black List website by its community of industry professionals and readers. The Black List will then provide TNT and TBS with a short list of five finalists in each genre. The finalists will be chosen based on criteria the networks provide and on the evaluations received. The networks will then have the option to offer blind script deals. The list of finalists may also be shared with TBS and TNT’s current showrunners, who will have the option to offer staff positions.

     

    “As we continue to expand the original programming lineups for TNT and TBS, it’s important that we forge partnerships not only with established producers but also with fresh talent,” said president, TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) head of programming Michael Wright in a release. “We’re confident that through this initiative with the Black List, we’re going to find an abundance of exciting, highly creative work from a wide array of emerging writers.”

     

    In addition to TNT and TBS, the Black List is currently partnered with the Writers Guild of America, East; the Writers Guild America, West; the Sundance Institute; and Warner Bros Pictures.