ITV

Tag: HBO channels

  • Cut cable ops’ payout if channel withdrawn from bouquet: Trai

    Cut cable ops’ payout if channel withdrawn from bouquet: Trai

    NEW DELHI: Broadcast and cable regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), today said that the charges levied on a cable operator by a broadcaster would get reduced if a TV channel is withdrawn from a particular 
    bouquet.

     
    Pointing out that certain amendments in an earlier tariff order have been carried out, the regulator said that the changes are being made so that if a broadcaster reduces the number of channels in a bouquet, the ceiling charges of the bouquet will get reduced accordingly.

    This means that if HBO, for example, gets out of the One Alliance bouquet, then cable ops and MSOs cannot be charged One Alliances earlier subscription rates, which should be reduced equivalent to the HBO channels cost.

    According to Trai, in the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services (Second) Tariff Order 2004, reduction in ceiling charges was specified in the second provision of clause three for multi-system and cable operators. This provided reduction in ceiling charges taking into account the rates of similar channels, as on 26 December, 2003, in case of reduction in the number of channels being shown by a MSO or a cable operator.

    It is considered that the same principle should also apply in case a broadcaster reduces the number of pay channels being supplied or when a pay channel converts into a free to air channel, Trai has said in an official statement today.

    The details of the order can be taken from the regulators website, www.trai.gov.in.

  • Siti offers 50% revenue sharing deal to One Alliance

    NEW DELHI: Even as the channels distributed by One Alliance, a joint venture between Discovery India and Sony Entertainment TV India, continue to be off prime bands on Siti Cable networks, the latter has offered to One Alliance, fresh revenue sharing deals to join the headend in the sky (HITS) project.
    According to sources in Zee Telefilms, the parent company of Siti Cable, the new commercial deal offer was sent yesterday. The deal offers One Alliance around 50 per cent of the revenue that the Sony, Discovery and HBO channels mop up at present as subscription revenue once they come on to the HITS platform.
    The sources said that talks would be opened on similar lines with ESPN-Star Sports shortly.
    The One Alliance channels, comprising Sony, AXN, SET Max, HBO, Discovery and Animal Planet, had been taken off the prime band on Siti Cable networks in various cities, including the metros of Delhi and Mumbai, owing to differences on the HITS project and Sony’s apprehensions on joining the platform promoted by Zee Telefilms’ cable arm.
    One Alliance president Shantonu Aditya, however, pointed out that there was more than just commercial issues to be resolved. Aditya said, “We have asked them (Siti) for certain technical and legal clarifications regarding their HITS plan, for which we are still awaiting a response. It is only after this that the commercial aspects can be discussed.”
    With the 1 September deadline for the first phase area-wise rollout of conditional access system almost round the corner, Siti Cable is aggressively pushing its HITS project through which it’s implementing addressability in Indian cable homes in a digital format. The HITS project is being marketed under the brand name Galaxzee.
    One Alliance apart, even Star India has not yet agreed to join the Zee-promoted HITS platform citing reservations on ‘turning around’ of channels from India after they are downlinked at Zee’s master control room for CAS encryption, which would amount to uplinking from India, according to Star.
    Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea had gone on record on 14 August after a meeting of the CAS implementation panel saying that Star and Sony channels had not yet agreed to join Zee’s HITS platform. The repartee from Mukerjea came after Zee Telefilms vice-chairman Jawahar Goel, standing in for his elder brother Subhash Chandra, had reiterated during the meeting that Siti cable would offer all pay channels for Rs 128 when CAS is rolled out.
    Meanwhile, yesterday Zee also started the test signals of its KU-band television transmission through which a direct-to-home (DTH) service would be provided under the brand name Dish TV. Zee had said that it would ideally like to launch its DTH service along with CAS on 1 September.

  • Scientific Atlanta forges alliance with cable operator Susquehanna

    Scientific Atlanta forges alliance with cable operator Susquehanna

    Cable TV viewers in the US will now be able to play interactive games like backgammon, checkers and poker on Explorer digital interactive set-tops, thanks to Scientific Atlanta’s alliance with Susquehanna Communications.

    Susquehanna subscribers, who play on its Classic Games channel, will be able to compare their performance with other system subscribers on top 10 leader boards.

    Scientific-Atlanta, a leading supplier of digital content distribution systems, gave the cable operator Classic Games through a simple software download to a cable headend. It is stored on an application server and delivered as per the subscriber’s requirement to the Explorer digital interactive set-top. 

    Susquehanna is among the top 20 cable companies in America with a 2,00,000 customer base. The service is first being offered in York and Williamsport, Pennsylvania and Brunswick, Maine.

    The deal comes shortly after an ITV gaming report, predicting the market for interactive television games in Europe and America to cross 8.5 million users by the end of the year. By offering enhanced facilities like interactive games, Susquehanna expects increased digital penetration and subscriber loyalty, by ensuring active participation. 

    Susquehanna’s Digital Premium Services gives subscribers 14 showtime channels, The Movie Channel, nine HBO channels, six channels of Cinemax, as also a maximum of 45 channels airing commercial-free digital music, an interactive on-screen guide and parental controls. 38 digital pay per view channels are also on Susquehanna’s offer list.