ITV

Tag: InCable

  • Big Magic Bihar & Jharkhand now available on Airtel Digital TV

    Big Magic Bihar & Jharkhand now available on Airtel Digital TV

    MUMBAI: As part of its distribution-strengthening strategy, BIG MAGIC Bihar & Jharkhand the regional entertainment channel from the Reliance Broadcast Network stable, inks distribution deal with Airtel Digital TV becoming available on Channel No.628. Airtel Digital TV subscribers will now add to BIG MAGIC Bihar & Jharkhand’s massive reach as it spreads out to a larger diaspora across India.

     

    Backed with an aggressive distribution plan and an endeavor to reach its rich regionally rooted content, to discerning audiences across the country, the channel’s availability on the massive DTH platform – Airtel Digital TV is a step in this direction. With an eclectic content mix that encompasses a wide slate ranging fiction, crime, reality, music, devotion, movies and mythology, tailored to offer a wholesome family viewing experience, the Channel is primed to get a huge loyal audience base instantly. Viewers can now savour television shows coated with the regional flavor ranging Police Files, Hindustan ka BIG Star, Bhojpuri Films, BIG Memsaab, BIG Bahuria and upcoming reality show BIG Folk Star.

     

    Commenting on the development, Reliance Broadcast Television Business COO Lavneesh Gupta said, “We are a leading player in the regional market and have delivered excellent performance. We see a huge opportunity in catering to a larger diaspora by partnering with Airtel Digital TV and our endeavor is to reach our content mix to the discerning audiences spread across the length and breadth of India. We are proud to partner with them as yet another step in this direction.”

     

    BIG Magic Bihar and Jharkhand is currently available on Dish TV, Hathway, Incable, Manthan, Digicable, GTPL, Siti Cable, Maurya, DEN and other all independent operators.

                                  

           

  • Kolkata LMOs to set up another cooperative post 2014 FIFA WC

    Kolkata LMOs to set up another cooperative post 2014 FIFA WC

    KOLKATA: The last mile owners (LMOs) in Kolkata are yet again gearing for owning their subscribers. While earlier a group comprising 100 LMOs had announced their plan of setting up their own cooperative, news now is that another set of ‘unhappy LMOs’ in Kolkata has united to set up their own control room and headend.  

       

    According to cable TV sources operating in the region, LMOs will declare their plans only after the end of the ongoing 2014 FIFA World Cup. The delay is to ensure that the 33 lakh cable TV subscribers in the area do not see any disruption in their cable TV services, especially during the football World Cup.

     

    The trend of more and more LMOs joining hands to set up their own cooperative has come from the rising concern over MSOs becoming the owners of the subscribers, which according to the LMOs have been owned by them for years. Sources hint that the industry will soon see some major announcements.

     

    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report on how around 100 LMOs in the region had united a few months ago to form a cooperative called ‘Bengal Broadband’.  The aim of this was to provide independent cable TV services to customers like any other multi-system operator (MSO), namely SitiCable, Manthan and Incable among others.

     

    ‘Bengal Broadband’ aims to start operation in the current fiscal 2014-15 and has already invested around Rs 4.8 crore in setting up the headend equipment and office infrastructure at Salt Lake College More in the city. The cooperative is looking at a subscriber base of one million in the first year of its operations. Not only this, it also aims at providing cable TV connections at a cost which is 15-20 per cent lower than the other MSOs.

     

    While Cable & Broadband Operators Welfare Association convener Swapan Chowdhury refused to comment on any such development, Cable Operators Sangram Committee general secretary Apurba Bhattacharya confirmed the news of LMOs in Kolkata venturing into forming a cooperative. “The operators are happy to get into this space. We will run the business ourselves.”

     

    A LMO, who is a part of the new venture said, “We are setting up our own control room and it will involve a cost of around Rs 1 crore. We will be able to offer services to customers at a cheaper rate. It will be an operators’ driven MSO.”

     

    “During the analogue regime, the revenue share between the MSO and LMO used to be 20:80 but after DAS, it has come down to 65:35. The business model is not at all lucrative. If this continues, we will die and not be able to arrange our daily bread and butter,” added another LMO who is a member of the group that is setting up the control room.

     

    Small operators will become a part of a larger LMO network, said another, without divulging much details.

  • IMCL makes managerial changes

    IMCL makes managerial changes

    MUMBAI: It was in January this year when the IndusInd Media & Communications Limited (IMCL), a subsidiary of Hinduja Ventures Limited (HVL) brought in huge top management changes, which sent shock waves to the entire industry.

     

    The media arm of HVL, which appointed Tony D’silva as the group CEO-media of HVL and also the IMCL MD and CEO had then said that the restructuring is to enhance synergy across its various media initiatives.

     

    Now, the multi system operator (MSO) has got in more resources to build the business as it goes in the phase III and phase IV of DAS markets. Strengthening team D’silva is Amar Chintopanth who has joined as the new group chief financial officer – Media of HVL. Chintopanth will report to  D’silva.

     

    Commenting on the appointment,  D’silva said: “I am delighted to welcome Amar to the team at Hinduja Ventures and I’m sure his rich experience in the financial space will help us immensely as we work towards the next phase of digitisation and growth.”

     

    “I am honoured to be part of the Hinduja Group and thank the HVL Board for entrusting me with this responsibility,” said Chintopanth on his new role. He added, “My immediate focus is to continue the emphasis on taking advantage of opportunities presented by digitisation in the cable business.”

     

    Not only this, the company has also roped in Rouse Koshy, a former Hathway hand who is now IMCL- All India- head of operations. IMCL has also appointed Aslam Mulla as its vice president operations west region. The trio joined the company in mid-March.   

     

    With D’silva having to juggle between the new HITS project and also looking at IMCL, the new entrants in the company will surely help him take IMCL to new heights.   

  • “Romedy Now is content agnostic!”

    “Romedy Now is content agnostic!”

    MUMBAI: With niche, infotainment channels getting more adventurous in terms of content, it may no longer surprise viewers to catch ‘The Walking Dead’ on Fox Traveller or ‘Da Vinci’s Demons’ on National Geographic Channel. Joining this group is Romedy Now, which at the time of its launch aired romantic comedies but will now be getting into all sorts of content; series, fiction or reality.

     

    “Romedy Now is content agnostic and not necessarily film-centric,” Times Television Network CEO English Entertainment Channels, Ajay Trigunayat, told indiantelevision.com during a recent interview. “Romedy Now can play series, movies; fiction, non-fiction and short-formats. We are open to anything, and we have a programming slate that will unveil itself in the next few months. It is very radical from the way TV approaches business. We aim to make the consumer a part of our scheme. If something falls under one’s wants, needs and desires, one will consume it. In our consumer segmentation, we found that the consumer is still the same consumer.”

     

    But weren’t ‘love and laughter’ the original peg of the channel? Trigunayat explained that since Romedy Now was the first of its kind, they decided to latch on to the two most basic human values to make the channel a unique destination. “The two basic values like love and laughter have become latent. They have become ignored aspects of life. When everyone is chasing a professional life, it is affecting their relationships with their friends and family and their own health. Love and laughter has a unique connection. If a girl was given a choice between a rich man and a witty man, she would probably choose the one with a great sense of humour but she will be tempted to choose wealth. It becomes endearing for a viewer to follow such chronicles and love the characters and laugh at them, and indirectly live their lives. ‘Love, Laugh, Live’ is not just the tagline of our channel, it is the basic mantra we abide by,” he said.

     

    Trigunayat went on to clarify that even when they first decided to launch Romedy Now, the plan was to start airing series followed by films. “Airing of series and many other content formats was always the blueprint of the channel. Just that series including Witches of East End slated to premiere in the fall, got delayed to January and Friends with Better Lives (FWBL) scheduled to premiere in January got pushed to late March. That’s why the channel had to start with movies and later telecast the proposed series alongside the existing programmes as they went along,” informed Trigunayat.

     

    Romedy Now plans to soon launch two new comedies – 1600 Penn, and Back in the Game – in addition to Kitchen Confidential, Ally McBeal, Witches of East End and FWBL and is in negotiations to acquire new content plus library content.

     

    On the subject of marketing and distribution, Trigunayat said, “Right now, we have two major marketing properties that we are focusing on viz., ‘Sunny Sundays’ and ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ (TGIF). We plan to launch five more similar properties in the next quarter. We are in negotiations with some major television networks, and expect to close the deal by the end of next month.”

     

    When asked about advertisers, Trigunayat said the channel had about 50 clients on board including telecom services like Airtel. “We are a highly premium channel and expect a good return. Across all five channels of the Times Group, we rely heavily on print advertising. When we first started our digital distribution, there were still a few analogues to be dealt with, but they are rapidly declining and digital is growing now. If there is no analogue, there shouldn’t be any carriage fees, ergo we are not paying a carriage fee,” he said.

     

    The total advertising revenue across English movies and English GEC’s is Rs 500 crore with an additional Rs 400 crore coming in as subscription revenue. Going by GroupM and Madison forecasts, the category is expected to garner more than Rs 1,000 crore in FY 15 in advertising, subscription and miscellaneous revenues.

     

    Romedy Now is available with multi system operators (MSOs) like Hathway, DEN, Incable, Manthan in the east and ICC in Pune. It is also available across major DTH operators except Tata Sky. Currently, Romedy Now is concentrating on eight metros and intends to expand in the next 12 to 14 months.

  • “IndusInd to soon start pre-paid cable TV services”: Tony D’silva

    “IndusInd to soon start pre-paid cable TV services”: Tony D’silva

    Almost a-year-and-a-half ago Hinduja Ventures Limited (HVL) brought Tony D’silva – a man with more than four decades of experience across sectors such as media, FMCG and pharma – on board as the president of the company to spearhead its Headend in the Sky (HITS) business.

     

    Now, D’Silva has been given responsibility as MD & group CEO of IndusInd Media &  Communications Ltd (IMCL)  with long time  MD &  CEO of HVL’s flagship cable company Ravi Mansukhani stepping down earlier this week. As he takes on a bigger role, he is looking at betterment of the company with introduction of newer services. He sounds quite optimistic while suggesting prepaid model for billing and doesn’t hesitate in saying that he wants to give the local cable operators (LCOs), the rightful ownership of their subscribers.

     

    In an exclusive interview with Indiantelevision.com’s Seema Singh, D’Silva talks about his plans for InCable and HITS.

     

    Excerpts:

     

    What does becoming the MD and CEO of IMCL and CEO of Hinduja Group-media mean to you? How is this development going to change Hinduja Group’s media businesses and your life professionally? What are your immediate challenges?

     

    I have mixed feelings because the challenges are very steep. The future is exciting but there are grey areas to be covered before we achieve the state of growth with digitisation and monetisation. While I am looking forward to the challenges, I am wary of the fact that many hurdles need to be crossed. Bringing along processes is difficult and ultimately to monetise this business, the only way is to go prepaid.

     

    The industry must refocus itself to become customer friendly and start customer care services. Everybody in the digitised world is looking at increased revenues. The only way to make more money is by starting packaging, bundling and including small packages with regional and sports channels. The customers need to be segmented. Those who can afford to pay more can take higher priced packages, while those who can’t can opt for the basic pack. Unfortunately, there is a mental block in the mind of the consumers towards cable TV. They are not ready to shell out much for cable TV experience, but there is no such block to pay for broadband or triple play or video on demand (VOD).

     

    That’s where the entire industry should move. They should look at offering more value added services (VAS) and TV Everywhere services. This is what needs to be monetised. My focus will be on bringing the infrastructure to meet these requirements, putting procedures and making the whole business transparent so that every stakeholder in the value chain gets a share of the revenue.

     

    As the Group CEO – media and MD & CEO of IMCL, you will be responsible for restructuring the entire media business and value creation, how are you planning to do that? 

     

    We have two-three different businesses. My role is to monetise all these businesses so that the value of the group’s media businesses can grow. While phase I and II of digitisation was all about packaging, bundling etc, phase III and IV is all about HITS. I am very clear that ultimately it is the local cable operator who should own the network. Even in the HITS business, Grant Investrade Ltd (GIL) will be the white label which will be a pure technology service provider, with VOD and VAS.

     

    My aim is also to push the broadband segment which is lagging so far. We have a vast infrastructure for broadband which hasn’t been utilised. It is one area we will start developing now. We are not using that broadband, we are renting it out and they are monetising it. Now, we will restructure that segment as well.

     

    I will look at restricting the business to area specific responsibility. Our focus will be on customer care, which involves interface with customers through call centres and backend support. We will also focus on the LCO: MSO relationship as cable operators are another crucial part of our business model. The third is the broadband and new services.

     

    I would also want to make all our centres, profit centres.

     

    As far as HITS is concerned, it is a separate business with a different team and focus.

     

    Recently, Grant Investrade Ltd announced an investment of Rs 300 crore in the cable distribution business. How do you plan to utilise that investment? Will your approach for the growth of the company be different from your predecessor? How will you ensure HITS turns out to be profitable?

     

    The previous management did a great job. There is no other way than HITS to deal with phase III and IV. With HITS, the average cost of delivering data that comes to be Rs 18 per customer through optical fibre will go down to Rs 8.

     

    The HD box is the future and we will give HD boxes in the price of SD boxes. The operator in the HITS business is competing with DTH. The LCOs have the money but they face difficulty in buying bulk boxes. Thus, we are giving them the option of cash and carry. The operator has the option of buying boxes as per his need.

     

    My profit is by profit of numbers. As my subscribers increase, my cost will come down. Initially, I may incur losses but then it’s a volume game for me. If we are serious about digitisation, the government should have first cleared our HITS project. We are saying the LCOs can own the consumers and can do the packaging. We will help them seed boxes. It is different than JAINHITS. We have three to four different boxes and they get an option to choose.

     

    How much has been invested in HITS? Is more investment needed? When do you see the licence being cleared by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry?

     

    We have been waiting since 14 months to get the licence. We have already spent close to $10 million in the technology which is handled by Castle Media and people. Another $100 million will be invested in HITS project. This investment will happen once we get the licence.

     

    We are suffering because of the wait. When we started the project, the dollar rate was close to Rs 43, now it is Rs 63. Who will take the responsibility to pay for the escalation?

     

    There is a turf war going on between the LMOs and MSOs? Are you looking at resolving these issues?

     

    We are losing the focus in this fight, which is the customer. Industry is beginning to realise that just having subscriber numbers is not enough. We may not be the largest MSO in the country, neither am I aiming for that. My mission is to make InCable the most respected MSO in India. And that’s what the business model should be.

     

    By when will the VAS and VOD services come in to effect? Will HITS benefit IMCL? Do you think the customer in phase III and phase IV will readily pay for these services?

     

    A lot of this is application and we have a full fledged plan. Hopefully, when we launch HITS we will launch it with these services. These services will also be provided on InCable. IMCL will be HITS’ customer. The values and charges will be the same for IMCL as for other LCOs.

     

    The content requirement differs in phase III and phase IV and so HITS becomes an important platform. We will provide different packages based on the requirement. In fact we are encouraging LMOs and MSOs to strike their own deal with broadcasters.

     

    The customers in phase III and IV has money as well. We are targeting 20-25 per cent of the phase III and IV market through HITS. And that market is available.

     

    Phase III and IV need 90 million STBs. How many of these will be seeded by IMCL? Is DTH a competition for phase I and phase II? Will you set up new headends for phase III and IV?

     

    We will not seed STBs if our licence is not cleared.

     

    It is true that in phase I and II cities, the MSOs have to up their antennas and come up with VAS services. 70 per cent of the boxes are SD boxes when the market world over is moving to HD. Are we expected to replace all the boxes later? That will be an expensive proposition. Most part of DTH and mobile is pre paid, so we should move towards that. This will promote transparency. We should be launching prepaid in couple of months. HITS will be a complete prepaid model.

     

    No new headends will be set up in phase III and IV.

     

    In how much time can we expect changes at IMCL?

     

    I have given myself two months to at least start changing the process, procedures and start customer friendly actions by upscaling our call centres like those of DTH players.

     

    By when will the ARPUs for MSOs go up? What would the increase be? Do you see it rising to Rs 500 in the next one year?

     

    The customer will pay if you give him the services he wants. He has no restriction on the amount of money he pays for his mobile phone services. So there is no restriction on the money he pays. But don’t expect the ARPUs to go up if you do not upscale your services.

     

    With gross billing, will there be more transparency in the system? Are you ready to share the carriage fee with LCOs?

     

    I have serious concerns with gross billing. Who is responsible for service tax and entertainment tax? I do not have a problem if it is a prepaid model. The authorities have to realise that relevant issues need to be addressed before gross billing begins.

    As of today, the carriage fee has supported the business model for the MSOs. We get the money from there. If the model changes, we will be happy to share the carriage fee.

     

    Can we expect the launch of local cable TV channels from your end? Any numbers you are looking at?

     

    We already have local cable TV channels. But now, as per regulation, these channels need to be encrypted. In InCable, we are revamping the system and encrypting the local channels. We have a separate company that deals with these channels.

    In HITS, the local cable TV channels will be handled by the LCOs.

     

    How do you plan to strengthen your broadband service? Any expansion plans in newer regions? Is there a plan to launch Docsis 3.0 broadband? What will differentiate you?

     

    Broadband is one of the key to monetising. We have broadband, but not well utilised. We will use DOCSIS 3.0 and promote it now. We need to focus on the requirements.

     

  • DEN, Hathway and InCable get interim relief on ent tax

    DEN, Hathway and InCable get interim relief on ent tax

    MUMBAI: The big four  of Indian cable TV – DEN Networks, Hathway Cable and Datacom, InCable and Siti Cable – heaved a sigh of relief as 21 January ended. The reason: the Delhi High Court – which was hearing their appeal seeking to restrain the state government’s entertainment tax authorities from taking any coercive action against them for not paying entertainment tax – gave them relief, if at least for some time. The  HC passed an interim order, forbidding the tax folks  from taking any steps  against  three of the MSOs – Den, Hathway and InCable.

     

    The cases that were heard in one day saw the appeals of  DEN and Hathway being joined  together while InCable and Siti Cable presented its case separately.  With the order coming into effect, MSOs have been relieved of the duty of collecting entertainment tax from the LCOs and submitting it to the government till the judgment on the case is passed. The next hearing will be on 13 March.

     

    The respondent (the entertainment tax collection authorities) have been given four weeks to file its reply to the case. In the meanwhile, its hands are tied. However, what was not clear at the time of writing whether  the onus is back on the LCOs to pay the tax to the government.

     

    Although the MSOs are receiving the tax from LCOs, they claim they aren’t getting the full amount. Hence, the balance amount normally has to be coughed up by the MSO whether it is paid the same or not by the LCO. This is pretty unfair, they have stated.

     

    The  MSOs approached the Delhi HC as  the inexplicable  pressure was being thrust on them to cough up taxes.

  • Four national MSOs file writ petition against Ent Tax

    Four national MSOs file writ petition against Ent Tax

    MUMBAI: Entertainment tax has become a bothersome issue for both MSOs and LCOs. Right from the amount of tax levied to ownership of collection, state government mandates have got the two cable TV factions locking horns. While government regulations mandate MSOs to collect tax from the LCOs and submit it, the LCOs would rather take the onus on themselves.

     

    Four Indian national MSOs – Den, Hathway, Siticable and InCable have filed separate writ petitions in the Delhi HC to challenge several aspects of the entertainment tax being imposed as well as the tax collecting authority’s stance towards the MSOs in the state of Delhi.  The cases are all set to be heard today in a joint hearing.

     

    While Hathway Cable & Datacom was put through an enquiry on its own premises, others have decided to legally protect themselves before something similar happens to them. Siticable claims that it has been fulfilling all duties effectively. An ex parte order was taken out against it for non compliance in April and May 2013 which Siticable had appealed against. When that didn’t go very far, it decided to lodge its writ petition seeking redressal and  justice.

     

    Siticable’s first hearing was yesterday when the lawyer on behalf of the tax authority asked for a day’s time to come up with its side of the case. “We had deposited the tax and had also filled the form 10 as per requirements. Yet the authorities were after us. So we went to court to request that no coercive action be taken by them ,” says Siticable CFO Sanjay Goyal.

     

    Hathway is of the opinion that entertainment tax collection is a duty that has been undertaken by the LCOs for several years now and that is how it should be. Its writ petition states that the order passed against it was unreasonable.

     

    MSOs say that they are alright with collecting the tax and passing it on to the department but traditionally it had been the job of the LCO to do that. However, in case of  a lapse of payment by the LCO, the MSO should not be asked to cough up the remaining money is what they say.

     

    The case will come up for hearing today. Who knows whether the Delhi High Court will give a stay order or decide on its fate tomorrow itself.

  • TRAI extends CAF deadline to 15 December

    TRAI extends CAF deadline to 15 December

    MUMBAI: The multi system operators (MSOs) have time till 15 December to submit Consumer Application Forms (CAFs). The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) principal advisor N Parameswaran has shown forbearance and given the MSOs another 15 days to submit 100 per cent CAFs. The earlier deadline to submit CAFs was today, 20 November.

     

    The extension comes after Parameswaran’s meeting with the national MSOs held today in New Delhi. Though the MSOs had their concerns to address, in the meeting that lasted for one and a half hours, TRAI concentrated on two key issues — one, meeting the deadline for submitting CAFs for phase II by 15 December, and another, implementing gross billing from December for phase I.

     

    The meeting was attended by Hathway Cable and Datacom, Siti Cable, InCable, DEN Network, Digicable and GTPL.

     

    “We spoke at length on the issues that each MSO faces in order to comply with the deadline,” says a MSO on request of anonymity. “With LCOs not cooperating with us for submitting duly filled CAFs, and also the ongoing court cases that LCOs have filed to ensure the consumer stays under them, achieving the deadline is difficult,” he says.

     

    “The regulator will show leniency in states like Hyderabad, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat that face problems, but in others it will not act as a Santa Claus if the deadline is not met,” says IndusInd Media and Communications Limited MD Ravi Mansukhani.

    According to Mansukhani, the bills are being generated by the MSOs, but the LCOs are not delivering them to the subscribers. “The TRAI has asked us to ensure that the bills should reach the subscribers by December. The regulator has asked us to either convince the LCO to deliver the bills to subscribers or to send them directly to each subscriber,” says Mansukhani.

     

    About 30 to 90 per cent CAFs have been collected so far. “The regulator has taken an average of this figure, which is around 50 per cent, and has said it is not enough. We have been asked to comply with this final deadline,” he mentions.

     

    The MSOs spoke at length on improving their relations with LCOs. “We want each party to realise and reap the benefits of digitisation,” states a MSO.

     

    The MSOs also raised logistic issues they were facing for collecting CAFs. “Unlike phase I which involved the big five players, phase II has several small players involved as well. And this is creating hindrance,” opines Mansukhani.

     

    The MSOs only have a few days to convince the LCOs to get ahead with both CAFs and billing. “It is a tough task, but we will have to give our best,” concludes Mansukhani.

     

    Seems like a difficult Christmas for the MSOs if they fail to meet deadlines.

  • SureWaves looks to capture Kolkata ad market

    SureWaves looks to capture Kolkata ad market

    Kolkata: SureWaves MediaTech, a Bangalore-based digital media-technology company, which tied up with local cable regionals like Manthan, Den, Incable, WWIL among few others and started operating in Kolkata about six months ago, is now looking forward to further growth in the region.

     

    The company offers the SureWaves Media Grid, an integrated advertisement aggregation, content delivery, network management, media planning and reporting platform. The company has tied up with over 250 channels and has been able to penetrate in over 100 different markets across the country. Now, it plans to approach the satellite channels to extend its solution as with digitisation process, the country is expected to see satellite channels increasing in coming days.

     

    “National advertisers like HUL, Parle, Aircel, Vodafone, Nestle, Honda look at the West Bengal market because of its local flavour. We plan to have a physical office in Kolkata like Mumbai and Delhi once the market conditions are conducive,” said Rajendra Khare, founder of SureWaves.

     

    The total amount spent on television advertisements is somewhere close to Rs 15,000 crore and the eastern region, which is primarily dominated by West Bengal accounts to around 20 per cent of the market. “In next three to five years, we are looking at a share of eight to ten per cent of the Bengal market once things are stable. It can be achieved only when we know how fast we educate the clients,” Khare said.

     

    The penetration of TV in Bihar too is good, says Khare, talking about other markets in the region. According to him, all the seven north-eastern states have distinct characteristics making spending decisions of the national advertisers easier.

     

    SureWaves, which has received Rs 10 crore as early stage venture capital from India Innovation Fund and Accel Partners, is further looking at infusing funds through PE route for business expansion. “The company is already on its way to become a game changer in the way geo-targeted advertising currently works in the country,” said Khare.

    SureWaves provides real-time data monitoring of ads, which has, for the first time, made cable TV advertising accountable.

  • Big Magic strengthens distribution network, hops on board Videocon d2h

    Big Magic strengthens distribution network, hops on board Videocon d2h

    MUMBAI: Big Magic, the flagship GEC from the Reliance Broadcast Network stable amplifies its reach with the announcement of a distribution deal with Videocon d2h. After meeting with a great success in the heartland of India, it is Big Magic’s endeavor to extend its assorted entertainment offering across the Hindi Speaking markets and this alliance takes it to an additional 8mn subscriber base.

    The alliance allows Videocon d2h to offer its viewers an excellent television viewing experience, while the GEC reaches its content to a relevant audience base across relevant markets. Its programming mix which ranges from family dramas, crime shows, reality shows, cookery shows, game shows to weekend movies promise to offer a stimulating and refreshing entertainment experience. The Channel, which launched in April 2011, is in the process of strengthening its reach, offering audiences a programming offering that is backed by their very own predilections.

    Speaking on the occasion, Big Magic business head Sunil Kumaran said: “We are happy to announce our alliance with Videocon d2h, which allows Big Magic to immediately grow reach by an additional eight million subscriber base. We are confident of our product, which has been designed as per audience penchants and want to strengthen our reach. We look forward to reaching a matchless entertainment offering to maximum audiences of India.”

    Videocon d2h CEO Anil Khera added: “Big Magic has performed well since its launch. We are extremely happy to provide this channel on our platform as it promises content across various genres. We are certain that our audience will enjoy and appreciate the addition of this channel on our platform.”

    Big Magic is already available across key DTH players ranging Airtel, DD Direct, Dish TV, Reliance Digital TV along with Hathway, Incable, Digicable, DEN, 7 Star, ABS, Siticable, Star Broadband and GTPL amongst others.