ITV

Tag: FTA

  • Gaian launches Maya Platform for enhanced programming content delivery

    Gaian launches Maya Platform for enhanced programming content delivery

    NEW DELHI: The satellite broadcasters may have a reason to rejoice. Gaian Solutions India, a leading Technology and Consulting company that develops products and solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry, has launched its Maya Platform.

     

    The technology offers exciting real time localised cloud content services thus offering powerful tools to enhance Broadcasters programming content. Maya has the potential to change Satellite Broadcasters revenues by orders of magnitude. It also offers innovative solutions to free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters.

     

    1. Maya’s localisation technology integrates internet feeds and cloud content delivery mechanisms right into the uplink broadcast eliminating the need for internet connectivity at the edge devices. This liberates broadcasters from any kind of ecosystem challenges in commercialising localised data services.

     

    2. Maya is platform agnostic ensuring seamless localisation across all delivery channels be it a satellite broadcast or an OTT platform.

     

    3. Maya’s IRD integrates cloud and satellite reception into one device.

     

    4. The full HD IRD player and streamer ensures savings on broadcasters HD migration budgets.

     

    5. It offers a full featured Back Office and Self-Care portal to automate the work flow of sourcing, delivery, approval, distribution, proof of play and billing of local advertisements

     

    6. Maya allows broadcasters to report breaking news, latest events and trending topics, as they happen on Social Media platforms

     

    Gaian Solutions President and CEO Chandra Kotaru said, “From the outset we have set the bar for technological innovation in digital TV, achieving an unrivalled array of industry firsts. As our knowledge and expertise has grown, so the technology we use has been renewed and redefined. And that process continues today, with rapid changes in the way TV is broadcast, enjoyed and combined with other services.”

  • TDSAT-Ad cap: TRAI done; amicus curiae takes over

    TDSAT-Ad cap: TRAI done; amicus curiae takes over

    MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) finally wound up its arguments on 25 November on broadcasting advertising cap regulations. Speaking for the third consecutive day, TRAI counsel Rakesh Dwivedi elaborated on Article 14 of the Constitution that talks about the fundamental right to equality.

    His point was that all channels are at a par. Although free-to-air (FTA) channels don’t get subscription revenues like others, they are benefited in some other way and thus they should also be treated as those that receive payments. Dwivedi also submitted data alleging that channels had grossly (highly) violated the ad regulation.

    With that the TRAI concluded its side of arguments and the first Amicus Curiae took over. Madhavi Divan started with the history of television and brought up many points like how TV was licensed, a few judgements, the Cable TV Networks Act, the TRAI act, the convergence bill that never saw the light of day as well as the fact that there was a bill to establish an independent authority. She argued that broadcasting services fall under the TRAI Act because originally they were planning to bring it under an independent act, which never happened.

    She also stated that duration of advertisements does not come under content. She read out a few important points from a book that gave insight in to the setting up of TRAI, how cable operators came into existence and other details about the industry. The bench wanted to know from her who is the enforcer of violation of the duration of advertisements. Divan said she would be attending to that tomorrow.

    Once she concludes her arguments in a day or two, the second amicus – Aman Ahluwalia would speak on the subject.

    The ad cap issue hearing appears to be entering its last round. It is just a matter of time – some say within two to three weeks that TDSAT will be ready to announce its verdict.

  • Colors sister channel Rishtey hikes ad rates

    Colors sister channel Rishtey hikes ad rates

    MUMBAI: Just over a year old and Rishtey – Viacom18’s free-to-air (FTA) channel in the UK – has taken the bold step of hiking its ad rates. Since Diwali, the channel that airs re-runs of Colors’ shows, a Pakistani series called Humsafar and some amount of original programming, has upped ad rates to double what they were at the beginning of the year, courtesy high demand and increased ratings.

     

    According to BARB ratings, Rishtey, which turned one this September, stood fifth in the Asian channels’ chart with 696000 while Colors came a close sixth with 624000.

     

    Indiacast business head (UK and Europe) Govind Shahi, says, “In the last 12 months, Rishtey has been constantly growing in term of eyeballs and is currently in demand by all brands that want to be seen by an ethnic audience. We are facing a situation where the demand is far outpacing the supply. Given the performance of the channel, which has more than doubled in terms of ratings and the demand supply chain, we thought it was the right time to go for a price hike.”

     

    While this is Rishtey’s first ad rate hike, the new rates will be applicable only to new customers with existing contracts remaining unaffected.

     

    Shahi is confident of the channel remaining on the upper side of the highest ad revenues for the year and says: “We are by far the number one South Asian FTA channel in the UK. Even at an overall level (FTA +Pay), we will end the year among the top two in terms of ad revenues. In fact, just in the last week, it has challenged the market leader in prime time slots a couple of times, which is a testimony of the success.”

     

    When it comes to the shows, Rishtey claims Parichay and Laagi Tujhse Lagan have been high performers in the past two weeks.

     

    According to industry sources, a prime time 30 second slot on Rishtey could go up to ?600 (Rs 61,105) for a mainstream advertiser depending on the ratings, while it could go up to ?100 (Rs 10,165) for an ethnic advertiser. As it is, a 30 second slot on the Bigg Boss finale is seeing heights of ?250 (Rs 25,460) from ethnic advertisers.

     

    With mainstream advertisers including Diagio, Cadbury, BT, Boots and Asda and ethnic ones such as Tilda Rice, Southall Travel, East End foods, Lycamobile, DBS Law and Westmill foods, Shahi exults: “We have the entire gamut- from FMCG to supermarkets to finance/banks to charities.”

  • TDSAT & Ad cap: TRAI almost done with its arguments

    TDSAT & Ad cap: TRAI almost done with its arguments

    MUMBAI: The third day of the arguments presented by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) saw several crucial points being touched upon and the TDSAT also noting down points that could be pondered upon for rumination.

    The TRAI counsel Rakesh Dwivedi pointed out that if one reads section 7 (11) of the Cable TV Networks (CTN) Act then it must be read with the ad cap regulation because the regulator was using it only to enforce this section.

    Section 7 (11) states that the authority has the power to ‘seize equipment used for operating the cable television network if it is found to be breaching its other sections’.

    According to the TRAI, programmes and advertisements are different and the regulator is trying to prevent intermixing of these two and ensuring an increase in quality of service.

    The regulator also gave its version regarding Article 19 (a) of the Constitution saying that airwaves and frequencies are a public property of the government and so there is no fundamental right that can apply to it. Electronic media and press are different and cannot be treated equally. Broadcasters are companies and not citizens so fundamental rights don’t apply to them, Dwivedi argued.

    The point about misuse of clock hour was once again raised by Justice Aftab Alam to which the TRAI reverted by saying that the clock hour regulation instituted by the TRAI and the CTN Act are the same thing and they cannot be interpreted in any other way. Broadcasters are thinking of a bankable hour, that can be carried over within 24 hours but the TRAI says that a clock hour is fixed.

    The bench questioned the TRAI that if it could have enforced the ad cap law under the CTN Act then it need not have made a separate regulation or a direction or use the TRAI act for it.

    To this, counsel said that the CTN Act only applies to cable operators at this stage. And just because they have two powers that are coinciding they cannot take away one power. The point where broadcasters come into the picture of this Act, is for the advertising and programming code, which they have to adhere to by virtue of them having to apply for an uplinking and downlinking licence.

    The TRAI counsel also requested that merely because it had framed a regulation or passed a direction the bench may not nullify it because it has passed it under the TRAI act and not the CTN act, although it has powers under both. He also requested that if the bench were to find anything wrong with the ad cap regulation, they may modify it. However, Alam said that it cannot be done since it was a delegated regulation. To this TRAI asked the bench to consider it as a direction and then modify it keeping in mind the best interest of the viewers.

    One of the arguments, that the counsel raised, relates to Article 14 of the Indian Constitution that speaks about the fundamental right to equality. He stated that it would be in fair spirit if cable operators and broadcasters are not equated with each other at this juncture. The TRAI counsel presented data which clearly showed that broadcasters were airing TV commercials for an unbearable duration every day in between programmes and hence it had decided to apply the ad cap to them first. The limits on TV commercial time will be imposed on cable operators later by the TRAI, the counsel revealed. And the fact that cable ops will be made to comply later does not mean that broadcasters should be excluded from the ad cap now.

    The counsel said he would be addressing the issue of clubbing channel genres together on Monday.

    The bench asked the TRAI why it wasn’t willing to wait till digitization was completed to impose the ad cap regulation. The TRAI argued that by September 2014, nearly 50 per cent of the country will be digitized. Hence it was a good enough reason to bring in ad time limits rules now so that TV air time could be slowly modulated over the period. The TRAI counsel agreed the regulation may not be perfect in its current form, but that does not give the TDSAT a reason to strike it down.

    Regarding FTA channels, Dwivedi said that the broadcasters had not given the TRAI any financial or commercials analysis of the minute by minute usage of ad time and data to support that ad revenues will indeed fall when the ad cap comes into effect. Hence, the regulator had made a general reccee of the channels and deduced what needed to be done and only then drawn up the ad cap regulation. It also stated that FTA channels don’t have too many ads so TRAI did not know why they were objecting to it.

    At the end of the proceedings, an important observation was made by the TDSAT that if the ad cap regulation is struck down, no law can be contended except section 7 (11) of the CTN Act, because broadcasters have accepted this act. Articles 14 and 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution are against the imposition of the ad cap regulation and then the only thing that remains is the interpretation of the 7 (11) section of the CTN Act.

    The TRAI will continue with its arguments on Monday and the broadcasters are scheduled to speak after that.

  • TDSAT & Ad cap: TRAI continues arguments

    TDSAT & Ad cap: TRAI continues arguments

    MUMBAI: Continuing to present its side to the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) put forth its arguments to the bench consisting of Justice Aftab Alam and member Kuldip Singh.

    It started off continuing on yesterday’s argument trail saying that the law does not state that if the laying requirements are not fulfilled then it becomes void. That is, TRAI cannot execute its regulation on channels. That broadcasters are covered by both the Cable TV Networks Act and the TRAI act is a parliamentary mandate and there is nothing illegal in what it is doing. There are several precedents where a subject matter could be covered by more than one statute,  TRAI counsel  Rakesh Dwivedi stated.
        

    TRAI also claimed that it has a clear parliamentary mandate exercised through the central government to regulate advertisements. It contested the broadcasters’ arguments that TRAI has just a recommendatory role, by highlighting that it has an additional function under section 11 (1) (a) of the TRAI  Act and that does not mean its plenary functions under section (11) (1) (b) are taken away. Therefore, apart from its recommendatory function under (a), its powers also remain under (b). Both the sub clauses complement each other and there is no clash, the counsel stated.

    Reiterating that it has the authority, it said that what it is aiming to do is in perfect accordance with the powers the ministry and it has under section 7 (11) of the Cable TV Act. Likewise, the counsel, said it is not as if the government is seeking to have a higher allowance for advertising air time and is in disagreement with the limit of 12 minutes that the TRAI is seeking to impose.

    To support its argument, the counsel also read out various preceding judgments. According to the TRAI, broadcasters are licensees under the Telegraph Act and so the regulator has full power to ensure compliance within the licence term.
    Singh asked if TRAI can direct Google on the duration and number of ads it can run. To this, the TRAI counsel replied by saying: ‘I am the regulator and I will decide who, when and how much to regulate.

    Coming to the point raised yesterday about a statement TRAI had made in 2004 that “there should not be any regulation at present on advertisement on both FTA and Pay channels” it said that much water had flown under the bridge since it made its statement and the situation was different today. So, it can deem it appropriate to regulate since an expert opinion at one point of time does not mean that it will stay forever, the counsel stated.

  • TRAI notifies draft DAS tariff & interconnect rules

    TRAI notifies draft DAS tariff & interconnect rules

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made life a little simpler for MSOs. Last weekend (20 September 2013) it notified the amendments to interconnection regulations applicable for Digital Addressable Systems (DAS) and also to the tariff order for DAS the drafts of which it had released for industry consultation on 4 June 2013. 

    It has some further changes following industry feedback. Amongst these include: 

    * The removal of the minimum channel carrying capacity of 500 channels for MSOs.

    * It has clarified that subscribers can either opt for channels on a-la-carte basis or bouquet or combination of both, as per their choice. 

    * It has disallowed MSOs from seeking a channel from a broadcaster while at the same time seeking carriage fees from it. 

    * It has forbidden MSOs from charging placement fees. 

     The amendments in the Telecommunications (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Fourth) (Addressable) Systems) Tariff (Second Amendment) Order 2013 modify the ‘twin conditions‘ that regulate the a-la-carte rate of channels vis-a-vis the bouquet rates at retail level protecting subscribers’ interests. It also clarifies the position that subscribers can either opt for channels on a-la-carte basis or a bouquet or a combination of both, as per their choice. 

    Considering the fact that the operators would be required to make appropriate changes, both in pricing and packaging, the Authority has decided to make the ‘twin conditions’, prescribed through this tariff order mandatory with effect from 1 January 2014. However, during the period from the notification of this tariff order till 31 December 2013, operators would be required to offer channels, complying to either of the two conditions, specified in the ‘twin conditions’. 

    The operators are, however, free to make their offering, complying to the ‘twin conditions’, if they wish to do so before 1 January 2014. 

    Further, in case a channel forms part of more than one bouquet then the above conditions will have to be satisfied for all such bouquets. Further, if the operator offers discounts to its subscribers on bouquet rates, the above said ‘twin conditions’ should also be satisfied with such discounted bouquet rates. 

    Therefore, the Authority felt it appropriate to extend the a-la-carte provisioning of channels to cover both the FTA and pay channels carried over the network of an operator.

    Accordingly, vide the tariff amendment order dated 30 April 2012, it was mandated that every operator providing services to its subscribers using an addressable system shall offer or cause to offer all channels, whether pay or FTA, offered by it to its subscribers on a-la-carte basis. In sync with this provision, the word “pay” has been deleted from the heading of clause 6 and also from the clause 6(2) of the principle Tariff order dated 27 July 2010. With the removal of word ‘pay’, an operator can specify a minimum commitment period, not exceeding three months for both ‘pay’ and ‘FTA” channels, subscribed on a-la-carte basis. 

    The TRAI has noted that “it has been observed that, some of the DTH service providers have been imposing pre-condition for subscribing to a particular bouquet before add-on-bouquets and/or a-la-carte channel(s) can be subscribed. The Authority is of the view that such conditions are unreasonable and the consumer should be free to choose any combination of the channel(s) or bouquet(s) offered by the operator. In the tariff amendment order dated 30 April 2012, a provision was made which allowed the DAS subscriber to subscribe to basic service tier or basic service tier and one or more pay channel or only free to air channels or only pay channels or pay channels and free to air channels at his option i.e. consumer is free to choose any combination of the channel(s) or bouquet(s) offered by the operator. 

    Accordingly, sub-clause (4) of clause 6, applicable for addressable platforms other than DAS, has been suitably amended and a proviso has been added to bring in parity amongst various addressable platforms as well as to ensure that consumers of these platforms are on equal footing. 

    The Interconnection Regulation applicable for DAS has the following safeguards with regard to charging of carriage fee: carriage fee to be transparently declared in the RIO of the MSO; the carriage fee is to be uniformly charged; the carriage fee not to be revised upwardly for a minimum period of 2 years, and the details of the carriage fee are to be filed with the Authority and the Authority has a right to intervene in cases it deems fit. 

    The Authority has decided that the phrase “having the prescribed channel capacity” appearing in sub-regulation 3(2) of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection (Digital Addressable Cable Systems) Regulations 2013  should be deleted as the same will have no relevance with the deletion of the minimum channel carrying capacity criteria from the regulations.

    For the time being, the Authority has decided not to specify the capacity to carry a minimum number of channels by the MSOs, on the expectation that market dynamics will take care of the emerging situation. However, in the event the Authority notices that the market dynamics are not allowed to function freely by the service providers, resulting in creation of an artificial capacity constraint, it will intervene appropriately. 

    Analysing the issue of placement fee, TRAI has noted that the DAS technology provides for an Electronic Programme Guide wherein the channels being carried on an MSO’s network can be arranged in a simple, easy to understand, manner so that the subscriber can easily go through this guide and select the channel of his choice instead of flipping through all the channels.

    The genre-wise display of channels in the EPG, where all the channels of a particular genre are listed under relevant genre, has been mandated through regulations. Moreover, in digital systems, signal quality of the channels is independent of the placement of the channel. 

    Further, the Interconnection Regulation already has a provision (sub-regulation 3 (11)) that if an MSO, before providing access to its network, insists on placement of the channel in a particular slot or bouquet, such precondition amounts to imposition of unreasonable terms. Thus, adequate provisions already exist in the regulations. Accordingly, sub-regulation 11A of regulation 3 of the interconnection regulation has been deleted. 

    The amendments follow a judgment of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal and a consequent fresh consultation paper by TRAI and reactions on it from stakeholders. 

     

  • Digital TV homes to double in Eastern Europe

    Digital TV homes to double in Eastern Europe

    MUMBAI: Rapid conversion means that the number of digital homes in Eastern Europe will nearly double between 2012 and 2018, bringing the total to 121 million, according to a new report from Digital TV Research. In fact, the Digital TV Eastern Europe report estimates that 13 million digital TV homes will be added in 2013 alone.

    Digital TV penetration crossed the halfway mark of TV households in 2012, up from only 20 per cent at end of 2008. Fast take-up (and analog terrestrial switch-off) will push digital TV penetration to 61.4 per cent by end of 2013 and onto 97.3 per cent by 2018. Ten of the 21 countries covered in this report will be completely digitised by 2018, with Estonia the first to full conversion – in 2012.

    The number of analogue terrestrial TV households fell by 30 million between 2008 and 2012, leaving 37.2 million. However, only 13 million DTT homes were added, therefore the digital pay TV platforms benefitted from the analogue terrestrial homes converting to digital. With nearly all of the analogue terrestrial TV homes disappearing, there will be 43.3 million DTT homes (or about a third of the TV households) by 2018.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “Much of the emphasis has fallen on the remaining 21.7 million analogue cable subscribers. Many of these homes will upgrade to digital cable, but some will shift to IPTV and DTH. However, many of the remaining analogue cable subscribers are refuseniks, who don‘t want to pay more for TV services. Free-to-air DTT (or even pay DTT) is an attractive option for these homes.”

    “Slow implementation of analogue terrestrial switchover favored the pay TV operators as it gave them more time to convert homes to their packages before FTA DTT became established. Poland and Romania are prime examples of this. However, we expect the impact of DTT in these two countries to result in (small) declines in their pay TV subscriber counts,” he added.

  • SC admits LCOs plea against Tdsat’s DAS order

    SC admits LCOs plea against Tdsat’s DAS order

    NEW DELHI: The supreme court today admitted for hearing an appeal by united cable operators welfare association (Ucowa) challenging the revenue sharing model under the digital addressable system (DAS) for cable television.

    Chief justice Altamis Kabir, justice Vikramjit Sen and justice S A Bobde also issued notice to the telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) and the information & broadcasting ministry.

    The court also decided to list for hearing this appeal along with the appeals filed earlier by Incable and Digicable.

    All the three appeals are against the judgment of the telecom disputes settlement and appellate tribunal (Tdsat) of 19 October last year.

    In its petition, the Ucowa said the tariff order and regulations were aimed at helping the television broadcasters and the direct-to-home platforms.

    They said it was also clear that the channels were deliberately not revealing their retail tariff per channel.

    The counsel stressed that they were not opposed to introduction of digital DAS but some infirmities had to be corrected.

    The LCOs had failed to get any relief from Tdsat on their plea that the revenue sharing pattern of 55:45 on the basic service tier (free to air television channels) of Rs 100 and 65:35 on the upper tier of Rs 150 (combination of FTA and pay channels), and their appeals were dismissed.

    The appeals by the MSOs had been filed against the unfair fixation of the wholesale rate the price broadcasters can charge of channels for DAS at not more than 42 percent of the non-Cas area rate. The MSOs are concerned about the rate that would be fixed after DAS is implemented countrywide (by December 2014).

  • ‘If there are large eyeballs to address with local content, we will do it’ : Sumantra Dutta – Star country head, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan

    ‘If there are large eyeballs to address with local content, we will do it’ : Sumantra Dutta – Star country head, Middle East, Africa and Pakistan

    Star is eyeing growth in Middle East, Pakistan and Africa. Which is why it has created the new post of country head for these three markets and appointed Sumantra Dutta, who has been in the News Corp family for 14 years, to take up this role from 1 July.

     

    Dutta rejoins Star from News Outdoor India (News Corp‘s out-of-home subsidiary), where he served as the company‘s managing director.

     

    Dutta was also involved in the FM radio start-up venture and successfully established Radio City as a strong brand with a revenue that fell just below market leader Radio Mirchi which had a seven-station presence compared with Star‘s four.

     

    Prior to this, Dutta led Star India‘s advertising sales and marketing teams.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Dutta talks of his new role and the company‘s growth plans in the three markets that he will spearhead.

     

    Excerpts:

    By creating the new post of a country head for Middle East, Africa and Pakistan, has Star identified these three as high growth markets?
    Middle East is emerging as the hot spot for growth. Pakistan is also expected to boom because of globalisation. Africa is an almost virgin market for us and there is scope in taking our channels to various countries there. The businesses in these three markets is under exploited. The task is to identify the opportunities, develop distribution, push ad sales.

    Will Star‘s effort include localising content for the Middle East market?
    India and the Middle East share similarities in TV content consumption. In India, Star Plus is the leader channel and the Star bouquet is very strong. The task is to aggressively grow the Star brand in the region. The need to develop connect with the larger audience base is always there. We will study the market and find the right profiling, language and content offering.

    Even Zee network had to experiment with local content for further growth. Is the advertising revenue skewed heavily towards local content?
    The television ad spend in Middle East is broadly in the region of $1.5 billion. The free-to-air (FTA) channels account for 90 per cent of the total ad pie and within this category, Arabic content gets the lion‘s share.

    So will Star get into local content with local partners?
    There is scope to grow ad revenues even within the pay-TV segment. The Middle East is booming – be it in real estate, tourism, or other areas of business. Star has clear plans in servicing the burgeoning demand in this market. If there are large eyeballs to address with local content, we will do it. But our first task is to study the market and identify the gaps.

    How challenging is the Middle East market to conquer?
    The challenges are similar to that of India. It is a highly competitive environment and has about 360 channels beaming into the region. The only differentiator is that media buying and planning is much more sophisticated in India. The idea is to put the learnings of this market in place in the Middle East.
    ‘I have the added advantage of being associated with Star‘s start-up businesses. The size of the business is really in the opportunity that it throws open for the company to exploit‘

    Isn‘t the distribution scenario also a lot more different?
    Distribution is much more organised than in India. The region has DTH (direct-to-home) and FTA. In India, cable TV continues to be strong. The idea is to also find newer channels and revenue streams. The mobile telephony base, for instance, is big and Star has not tapped this segment.

    What is Star‘s strategy going to be in these three markets?
    It is too early for me to define that now. But we need to go into a higher growth trajectory. Faster, higher, stronger – that is the credo. We will play the same game but with more attitude. We will be growing the team – because you are only as good as your team. The idea is to go and knock the ball out of the park.

    Don‘t you feel that you are being continuously marginalised into businesses that are relatively smaller in size than what you were earlier handling being part of Star India‘s core team in the broadcasting arena?
    I have the added advantage of being associated with Star‘s start-up businesses. I moved from the high of television to the FM radio space. I was out not to just launch a FM radio station, but to kick-start the entire category. In the outdoor advertising business, the challenge was to bring respect to the category and get the local administration lease out long-term contracts. The size of the business is really in the opportunity that it throws open for the company to exploit.

    Since News Corp is globally getting out of the outdoor business, is the India part up for sale?
    I wouldn‘t like to comment on this.

    For somebody who has been associated with Star for such a long period, which are your most precious moments?
    The launching of Star News in 1998 and National Geographic Channel in 1999 were momentous events. But nothing beats the launch of the Amitabh Bachchan-hosted game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) in July 2000 as it changed the fortunes of Star in India.

  • News Channels: Sensation-fatigue, government’s attitude and regional channels will decide future content

    For noted media columnist Shailja Bajpai, her wish-list for 2008 includes cleaning up the news channels and getting back to ‘news as news should be. Or as it was in the olden days of print media and just Doordarshan’.

    The latest entrant in the Hindi news genre, Anuradha Prasad – with her News 24 – could perhaps bring some comfort to Bajpai, as Prasad has positioned her channel as one with the aim of “bringing news back to news”. But that will be one Hindi channel anew with that sort of focus from the beginning, whereas the market is in a high state of flux and for sure, eyeball journalism has been getting a better share in the space.

    A few aspects of news channels are quite married into each other and cannot be discussed separately: the growing number of channels in the genre, the issue of ethical journalism, where the advertising is going, the rating system and the government’s Content Code.

    Interestingly, though channels have taken their respective positions (which some differentiate as the ‘perception route’ Vs the ‘numbers route’), there is a lot of cross talk within the channels themselves, and thus it is that we find a Hindi channel editor talking of values of credible journalism and an English channel editor talking of the ‘robustness of Hindi news’.

    It is a melting pot on the boil and the process is not going to crystallise in the next few months, but overall, there is a sense of a lot of soul churning and of the new, just decade-old industry trying to see where it goes and how it survives – and on which formula.

    An analysis of the market share of the derided-by-some sensational (tabloid?) channels shows they have a consistent high rating, and India TV is a case especially in point, where it has become the No. 3 from a much lesser position.

    So where is the market going? Chintamani Rao, CEO, India TV has been consistent: “We are going where the people are going, that is where the market is.” And he cannot be denied this claim because of the consistent rise in the ratings of his channel.

    The other pointer in the same direction is NDTV 24/7 going FTA after the rolling out of Cas in the three metros, as it was a clear indicator that people were staying away from it if it stayed ‘pay’, despite the ‘ideological’ position of sane, serious and credible journalism.

    Hindi news channel NDTV India, despite sliding sharply on the ratings front since last April, has stuck to its ‘credible’ credo and promises to ‘stay the copurse’.

    NDTV Group CEO Narayan Rao, like his surname-sake Chintamani Rao, is consistent in his opposition to what the latter holds as the winning formula. Narayan Rao had told us during his mid-year statement on Hindi news channels: “It is a short term passing phase. In the long term, for any news channel, it is credibility and authenticity that matters. Whatever the situation is, we never opted to go down a certain route. We still have the same philosophy as we had when we conceived the channel.”

    In between comes CNN-IBN and IBN 7, in English and Hindi respectively. The statements from both Rajdeep Sardesai (Editor-in-chief for the group and directly handling CNN-IBN, and Ashutosh, Managing Editor at IBN 7 echo Narayan Rao on the issue of credibility, but are far more eager to experiment with both content and form.

    IBN 7 has brought some of the best exposes through sting journalism but says it is steering firmly away from sensationalism, whatever the cost. Ashutosh says that if it benefits society at large, he is all for stings, but “why should any politician having illicit sex in a state guest house be considered serious journalism, unless this act is coming in the way of his public functioning?”

    At the same time there is an in internal debate on what to show and for how long, and whether the sensational or even trivial has some place as ‘entertaining information and visuals’ punctuating serious news.

    For instance, one channel was showing a half hour repetitive shot of a lion hugging a man from behind the grills of his cage. The side talk at IBN 7 was, this is an interesting shot and people would like to see it, but IBN 7 would perhaps just have a 10 second take on it.

    This is where the moral debate is rooted in business terms: that eyeballs are important, but some say they will not veer a centimetre to get them, and some say a centimetre is OK if we can restrain ourselves to that. The other view is, of course, eyeballs is everything.