ITV

Tag: Focus Group

  • Focus Group to launch Kannada news channel

    Focus Group to launch Kannada news channel

    MUMBAI: Focus Group is now focusing on south India with its upcoming news channel Focus TV Kannada News.

    According to the sources, the channel will launch by the end of this year which will have 24×7 news programming.

    The channel will be available on all major cable and DTH operators. It will be a FTA (free-to-air) channel. The format of the channel will be MPEG4/DVBS2. The frequency rate is 4054 Hz. The testing for transmission service has started on INSAT4A satellite at 83 degrees east. The news channel will get the satellite transponder downlink signal from eight feet to 16 feet C-band dish antenna.

    Focus NE (formerly called NE TV) was the first 24-hour satellite channel of North-East India, which covered the eight states of the region. It was also the first earth station and teleport of the northeast.

    The group formerly had Focus News, Focus Haryana, Focus Bangla, Focus Odisha, Focus NE, Focus Hi-Fi under its umbrella. Some of the regional channels like Focus Haryana, Focus NE and Focus Hi-Fi were shut down a couple of years back.

    Neeraj Sanan was first roped in as the group CEO in 2014 and quit in 2015. After that its managing editor Shailesh Kumar who joined in the same year, quit around the same time as Sanan.

    Also Read: 

    Focus Group changes channel packaging for more focus 

    Focus News managing editor – regional Shailesh Kumar quits   

    Focus Bangla aims to capture its audience

  • Focus Group changes channel packaging for more focus

    Focus Group changes channel packaging for more focus

    MUMBAI: Gearing up for a full fledged launch very soon, upcoming Hindi news channel Focus News has undergone a makeover. Dropping its earlier logo and colour combination, the channel has revamped with fresh colours of red and white.

    Ideated by JWT and executed by Clayground, the same logo format will be adopted for its other regional channels namely Focus Haryana, Focus Bangla, Focus Odisha, Focus NE and Focus Hi Fi, in the next two weeks. The on air look has also been changed, which has been done by an in house team.

    The new logo has the map of the world fitted inside the ‘o’. Speaking on the change, Focus Group CEO Neeraj Sanan says, “Red and white are the colours of news channels. We wanted a unique dimension with an interesting shade.”

    While the regional channels have been fully distributed, the national channel is currently available only on Videocon d2h, Tata Sky and from 1 November on DD Freedish. The group is awaiting its last leg of clearance from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for its satellite transfer request.

    Focus News is currently situated on Measat which makes it cumbersome while dealing with cable operators as it has to give a dish and IRD box for every operator. It is looking at shifting to Intelsat.

    Once the new satellite is confirmed, it will be available on cable platforms as well. Post getting its distribution fixed, the channel will embark on a marketing plan in the Hindi speaking markets. Sanan is aware that the channel so far has kept itself low on distribution with only a limited presence on the DTH platforms. Therefore the logo change will be noticed by most.

     “We are creating a brand for the future,” he concludes.

     

  • Three months deadline to channels for responding to clarifications: MIB

    Three months deadline to channels for responding to clarifications: MIB

    NEW DELHI: Even as it said it will not respond to applications of permissions for licences if an applicant has delayed in responding to queries by more than three months, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry today gave a final grace period of 15 days to 73 applications.

     

    The Ministry said in a note today that a stock-taking had shown that in 20 per cent to 40 per cent cases, applicants took anything between three months to one year to reply to the information sought by the Ministry. So, the ministry has said that henceforth, it will close requests where clarification has been due for more than three months.

     

    A final call has been given to all to send in their clarifications that are pending within 15 days.

     

    At the same time, it said that it is committed to granting permissions and other regulatory approvals as soon as clearances and clarifications are obtained in a speedy and transparent manner. It said that no permissions can be “held up intentionally.”

     

    However, the company’s response sometimes becomes crucial to expeditious disposal of such requests.

     

    Failure by the companies to reply, delays the whole process leading to an impression that the permissions are held up by the Ministry.

     

    The Ministry also sent separate emails to the concerned companies.

     

    Applicants include major players like Big RTL Broadcast, INX News, UTV Entertainment, Sarthak Entertainment, Focus group, News Express among others. Some of these have filed applications for more than one channel.