ITV

Tag: indiantelevision.com

  • 88 per cent digitisation achieved in Phase II, says Varma

    88 per cent digitisation achieved in Phase II, says Varma

    NEW DELHI: The level of digitisation has reached around 88 per cent in the 38 cities covered in fourteen states and one union territory for Phase II of Digital Addressable System (DAS), a top Information & Broadcasting ministry official tells Indiantelevision.com.

    This includes seeding of set top boxes (STBs) done by direct-to-home (DTH) operators.

    I&B ministry secretary Uday Kumar Varma reveals that fifteen to sixteen cities have achieved total digitisation.

    However, he cautions that the government was still in the process of collating all the figures and would bring a detailed report after its review. The Secretary said he is personally in constant touch with the Nodal Officers and MSOs to ensure that the cities in remaining states also speed up the process of digitisation.

    He clarified that while announcing the switch-off of analogue on 31 March, the Government said it would watch the situation for around two weeks and was now reviewing the reports coming being receiving on the achievement so far.

    The Ministry had announced last week that analogue signals had been completely switched-off in the five states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

    Stay continues to be in force in the cities of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam. The metropolis of Chennai which was part of Phase I also has a stay order in force.

    The Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts had yesterday quashed petitions seeking extension of DAS thereby paving way for the analogue signals to be switched-off.

  • Sixth NT Awards celebrate the best in news business

    Sixth NT Awards celebrate the best in news business

    New Delhi: The news television industry came out in droves to celebrate success on 25 March evening at New Delhi’s Taj Palace Hotel. Representative of TV news channels reporting in Marathi, Hindi, English and Telugu all came together under one roof, forgetting rivalries, news breaks and to hold themselves under the spotlight at the Indiantelevision.com’s Sixth News Television Awards.

     

    Presented by LR Active Oil, with the support of many other industry partners, the NT Awards had a packed house as 116 awards in various categories were given away by dignitaries from politics, sport, society and culture.

     

    The chief guest for the evening was Information and Broadcasting Minister of State (independent charge) Manish Tewari. “While the government is all for taking self regulation forward, there is need to decide where freedom of press ends and reasonable restrictions begin,” he said.

     

    He also congratulated the winners and the organisers for celebrating the vibrancy and robustness of the television industry and presented a host of awards to winners.

     

    “We received more than 1000 entries from the various news channels and had lots of help from those in public life and from journalists in Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad to short list the winners. Ernst and Young helped us in tabulating the peer judging process,” says Anil Wanvari, CEO and Founder of Indiantelevision.com, “The awards are growing in strength and I thank the industry for all the support it has been giving our initiative.”

        
    The event was anchored by Cyrus Broacha and dashing Kavita Kaushik whose quips had news professionals in splits throughout the evening.

     

    Awards were given for the best in categories like crime shows, sports shows, technology, documentaries with limited episode, TV news presenter, TV news anchor, investigative feature, investigative news report, entertainment news show et al.

     

    Special awards were given to Contribution to News Television, Innovation and Leadership in App Development, Most Extensive Social Media TV News Brand, Best News Channel Website, and for News Cinematographer.

     

    Aroon Purie, founder-publisher and Editor-in-Chief of India Today and the Chief Executive of the India Today Group stated that contrary to the general view, self regulation has made great strides in Indian television. He added that the News Broadcasters’ Association is taking a pro-active stance to raise standards of content. “The verdicts are being accepted by the channels and apologies made whenever required,” he pointed out.

     

    Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief of IBN18 Network, praised the strides by regional channels and expressed the hope that Hindi news channels would mend their “moral compass” by taking up serious issues.

     

    The awards function came at the end of a news summit on “Getting out of the Squeeze – Learning to live in a digitising India” which saw I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma, I&B joint secretary Supriya Sahu and representatives of leading news channels, MSOs, technology providers and others in the television news industry taking part in different sessions.

  • Ek Chalis Ki Last Local director to produce two films

    Ek Chalis Ki Last Local director to produce two films

    MUMBAI: With just two films like Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local and Kismet Love Paisa Dilli to his credit, director Sanjay Khanduri has decided to produce two films besides helming them.

    Talking to indiantelevision.com, Khanduri said, “I am in the process of writing two scripts. I would be producing them as well. The only reason to turn producer is that by producing a film I would be able to take a call on the creative area too. The other reason for me getting involved in the process of filmmaking was to safeguard make my film.”

    Without wanting to go into details of his two projects, Khanduri said, “All I can say is the two films that I am currently working on are high entertaining octane films. We would start working on the film hopefully by this year.”

    Ek Chalis Ki Last Local made in 2007 revolved around two people who miss the last local train and how it changes the course of their lives forever. The film won high accolades from masses and critics for its innovative concept and screenplay. His recent release Kismet Love Paisa Dilli failed to garner good response at the box office.

  • Zee News Ltd Q3 ad rev strong, no big fall in carriage fee

    Zee News Ltd Q3 ad rev strong, no big fall in carriage fee

    MUMBAI: A double-digit ad revenue growth has helped Zee News Ltd (ZNL) put up a performance better than the market expectations in the festive quarter but a top executive of the company cautioned that a significant turnaround in spending by advertisers is yet to be visible.

     

    The carriage payout to cable networks has only marginally dropped in the digitised markets and subscription growth has been subdued.

     

    ZNL’s ad revenue rose 14.8 per cent to Rs 595.6 million in the fiscal-third quarter from Rs 518.8 million a year earlier, despite a ‘significant opportunity’ loss in terms of advertising revenues from the government.

     

    “There was a better utilisation of ad inventory during the festival season and we also offered branding and event-based solutions to advertisers. But this is not to say that the ad slowdown has lifted and there is a big turnaround. We will outperform the market which is growing in single digit,” ZNL chief executive officer Alok Agrawal told Indiantelevision.com.

     

    ZNL’s ad revenue growth for the full-fiscal will be in single digit. TV news broadcasters have been fighting the government on ad rates and are not accepting DAVP (Directorate of Audio Visual Publication) advertising. “The standoff continues and NBA (News Broadcasters Association) members are not carrying DAVP ads,” said Agrawal.

     

    ZNL posted a 14.2 per cent growth in net profit to Rs 185.5 million in the third quarter ended 31 December from Rs 162.5 million a year earlier.Its operating profit (Ebidta) in the third quarter stood at Rs 196.7 million against Rs 189.7 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

     

    The news broadcaster, which has seven channels in its portfolio, reported consolidated revenues of Rs 858.4 million in the third quarter, an increase of 10.1 per cent from Rs 779.7 million a year ago.

     

    Subscription revenue stood at Rs 222 million, down 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter, and up 15.2 per cent from the earlier-year period.

     

    Operating expenditure jumped 12.2 per cent to Rs 661.7 million due to increase in employee costs and other expenses.

     

    Carriage fee has only fallen marginally in the digitised markets. “There has been no significant reduction in carriage fee in the completely digitised markets of Delhi and Mumbai. It has not definitely gone as per the plans of the news broadcasters,” said Agrawal.

  • Tewari to meet LCOs on Wed over revenue sharing under DAS

    Tewari to meet LCOs on Wed over revenue sharing under DAS

    NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Minister Manish Tewari will meet a delegation of Delhi-based local cable operators (LCOs) on Wednesday to hear their complaints with regard to the ‘unreasonable‘ revenue sharing under the digital addressable system (DAS).

    The minister agreed to meet the LCOs after around 300 LCOs from different parts of Delhi forced their way into the venue of the Broadcast Engineering Services (India) Expo this morning and shouted slogans against Tewari and I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma, who was also present.

    Tewari was heckled as he attempted to leave the venue after his inaugural address at the three-day conference. The minister then asked the LCOs to meet him in a delegation at his office Wednesday morning.

    A S Kohli, a leading cable operator and part of the protesting LCOs, told indiantelevision.com that he expected around 1,000 LCOs from all parts of Delhi to gather on Wednesday.

    Cable Operators Federation of India President Roop Sharma who will also meet the Minister tomorrow told Indiantelevision.com that it was unfortunate that the pleas of the LCOs for a more rational share in the tariff, and the recent blackout in parts of East and North East Delhi had failed to make the government react.

    She said that consumers who wanted both pay and free-to-air channels under DAS regime would have to pay anything between Rs 250 to Rs 300 or even more against amounts ranging between Rs 80 to Rs 150 that they have been paying under analogue.

    LCOs in Delhi have been complaining against the revenue sharing between LCOs and MSOs. LCOs from east and north-east Delhi recently resorted to a day‘s blackout of cable TV to draw the government‘s attention to the revenue sharing formula, which they claim is unfair for the LCOs.

    Another LCO Ashok Pandit said several representations have been made to both the ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) about how the revenue sharing under DAS was unworkable. The revenue sharing ratio is 55:45 between MSOs and LCOs in the basic service tier of Rs 100 for 100 free-to-air (FTA) channels, and of 65:35 in a mix of pay and FTA channels.

    He pointed out that even the MSOs had admitted that it was the LCO who did the entire work of fitting the connections or climbing electricity poles to lay the cable TV wire, and added that it was, therefore, wrong to deprive the LCO of his rightful share. Furthermore, he said many subscribers in east Delhi were paying as low as Rs 75 despite the fact that some of them had more than one TV set in their homes, and would therefore refuse to pay more.

  • Gujarat Samachar to launch TV channel; Thakkar to head ad sales

    Gujarat Samachar to launch TV channel; Thakkar to head ad sales

    MUMBAI: Gujarat Samachar, the largest read Gujarati daily, is venturing into the television regional-language news business through one of its owners, ahead of the state assembly elections.

    Shreyans Shah, co-owner of the daily newspaper, is floating a new company, Aas Pass TV, to house the television project. The Gujarati-language channel will have a prime focus in news while entertainment programming will also form a part of the mix.

    Shah is planning to launch the channel in November. The name is yet to be decided.

    Shah has tapped TV9 senior vice-president Nilesh Thakkar to head ad sales and marketing. Designated as director-sales and marketing, Thakkar will be reporting to Shah.

    “We are aiming to launch the channel in the second week of November. The focus obviously will be on political news and our launch timing is favourable as Gujarat assembly elections are coming up,” Thakkar tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Thakkar comes in with over 19 years of experience in sales and marketing. Prior to joining TV9, he was with Mahua as senior VP. He had also worked with MCCS, which runs Star News, Star Majha and Star Anand, as regional manager from January 2005 till 2011. In 2007, he was promoted as all India sales head for Star Majha.

    The channel will also be airing advertiser-funded programmes (AFPs).

    In the Gujarati TV news space, TV9 Gujarati dominates the market.

    “Gujarat is a tough market,” admits Thakkar. “The viewership for Hindi general entertainment and news channels is very strong. But we have a business plan and Gujarat Samachar is a very well known newspaper.”

    Gujarat Samachar is the largest read Gujarati daily. It is published from seven cities in Gujarat and also from Mumbai, the US and the UK.

  • Everest Brand Solutions adds Parle’s Wafers to its kitty

    MUMBAI: Everest Brand Solutions has bagged the creative duties of Parle‘s wafer brand.

    The account was earlier handled by Grey.

    Everest Brand Solutions president Dhunji Wadia confirmed the news to Indiantelevision.com.

    The agency won the Parle Wafers account after a multi agency pitch that involved other agencies on Parle‘s roster like Ogilvy and Grey.

    In January this year, Parle shifted its Rs 500 million media business from Maxus-TME to TME-MPG. Earlier, TME handled the confectionery part of the business while Maxus was responsible for the biscuits and snacks range.

  • BloombergUTV biz head Deepak Lamba quits

    BloombergUTV biz head Deepak Lamba quits

    MUMBAI: Deepak Lamba has resigned as business head of the English business news channel BloombergUTV.

    Lamba had joined the channel in January 2010.

    Highly placed sources in the company informed Indiantelevision.com that Lamba has put in his papers and will be serving his notice period till the end of this month.

    It is learnt that Lamba will remain in the media space, and joining a media conglomerate with a larger role.

    Prior to BloombergUTV, Lamba was with MTV Networks India as director of Viacom Brand Solutions.

    He was unavailable for comment till the filing of this report.

  • TV Today scrip up 15% on market buzz of Birla Group taking stake in promoter company

    TV Today scrip up 15% on market buzz of Birla Group taking stake in promoter company

    MUMBAI: TV Today Network shares Monday climbed 15.23 per cent on the market buzz that Aditya Birla Group is picking up 25 per cent stake in Living Media India (India Today Group), the Indian media conglomerate that holds interests in magazines, television, radio, printing and the Internet.

    Shares of TV Today Network, which runs a clutch of news channels including Aaj Tak and Headlines Today, closed at Rs 68.10 on the BSE.

    Indiantelevision.com could not verify the news. Senior officials of the company, including CEO Ashish Bagga, could not be reached.

    LMI owns 57.1 per cent stake in TV Today Network, according to data available till 31 December 2011.

    NDTV shares also got a lift, climbing 9.4 per cent to close at Rs 48.90.

    The BSE Sensex shed 1.51 per cent, or 264 points to close Monday at 17,222.14 due to banks, metals and capital goods stocks.

  • News channels to exercise restraint in coverage of birth of Abhi-Aish child

    News channels to exercise restraint in coverage of birth of Abhi-Aish child

    NEW DELHI: Television news channels have made a special case for coverage of Big B‘s family matters. In a rare show of concern for protecting privacy, the Broadcast Editors Association (BEA) has called for restraint among the media for coverage of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai‘s first child.

    Rai, 38, is due to give birth to her first child this month.

    When contacted by indiantelevision.com, BEA VP Pankaj Pachauri denied that this had been done at the behest of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry or Amitabh Bachchan.
       
    He said the aim of the guidelines issued by BEA is to ensure that there is no meaningless sensationalism around the story.

    The guidelines say that there will be no pre-coverage of the event and the story of birth of the baby is to be run only after, and on basis of, an official announcement. The story will not run on breaking news band.

    It has been stated that no camera or OB vans will be stationed at the hospital or any other location related to the story, and will go for photo opportunity or press conference only if invited.

    The media will not carry any MMS, or photo of the child, or do any astrology show on this issue. The duration of any story should be around a minute/ninety seconds and there should be no astrology show associated with the dates 11.11.11. Media will not be permitted unauthorised entry into the hospital.

    Meanwhile, Sr Bachchan yesterday denied in a tweet having requested the Ministry to issue guidelines to television channels for the coverage of his daughter-in-law‘s delivery.

    The tweet in reply to a query by a mediaperson said: “I&B and media matter! Firstly I have no such intention ever; secondly do you really think I&B would listen to me? No way baby! But more interesting stuff coming in on this topic! Apparently media has been told by I&B to not have OB Vans outside hospitals! But wait! Yesterday a journalist from electronic sent me SMS, which indicated that this decision was from the electronic media. That news came to me via a journalist … so someone put two and two together and made it Bachchan … Ha ha ha !!!”