ITV

Tag: indiantelevision.com

  • AXN to hold video shoots for applicants of The Amazing Race Asian edition

    AXN to hold video shoots for applicants of The Amazing Race Asian edition

    MUMBAI: For the niche English entertainment channels the challenge this year will be to hook audiences better by offering a 360 degree experience.

    The action oriented AXN has done that succesfully over the years with efforts like Extreme Dhamaka and Hot ‘N’ Wild. This year it is doing an Asian version of the reality show The Amazing Race.

    Last month indiantelevision.com had reported that AXN was on the lookout for participants to join the show. Ten to 12 teams will be selected from across Asia to participate in the race, which will be produced for a 13-episode television series.

    Now the channel has announced that it has extended the application deadline. It is also holding open video shoots to help people make their application videos.

    Interested applicants can visit AXN’s website to find out the locations for the video recording services. The shoot will be conducted on 25 March 2006 and interested applicants can register their interest by 22 March online. Basically the channel is looking for teams with the chemistry, attitude, personality and the X-factor needed to conquer this gruelling race.

    SPE Networks GM Ricky Ow explains that the initiative is in line with the channels aim to give adventure-seeking audiences in Asia their best chance to experience the adventure of a lifetime. “So we decided to help them out by holding open video shoots and giving them some more time to apply. The open video shoots will add a lot of fun to the process.”

    Ow is also satisfied about the response to date. “So far, nearly 10,000 application forms have been downloaded from our website and we cannot wait to select some outstanding teams that will demonstrate the passion of Asians in a show that will surely excite and surprise viewers. The diversity of language and cultural practices in Asia will add a colourful mix of sensational drama and action, as we have seen in some excellent audition videos so far.”

    AXN further says that it has received many enquiries from potential contestants, one of the common ones being the need for both team members to have international driving licenses. The channel says that The Amazing Race Asia is a challenging adventure and contestants will need to drive through all kinds of conditions and over great distances. While the producers will accept entries where only one member can drive, applicants are still strongly encouraged to form teams with two drivers in order to be competitive.

  • ‘If pay model comes into place, I wouldn’t even think twice before launching four more kids’ channels’ : Zarina Mehta – Hungama TV chief operating officer

    ‘If pay model comes into place, I wouldn’t even think twice before launching four more kids’ channels’ : Zarina Mehta – Hungama TV chief operating officer

    Hungama TV has recently touched the number two position in the kids' channels space and the channel's chief operating officer Zarina Mehta is in an ecstatic mood. What's more, she is also upbeat about the new talent hunt for kids on the only Indian kids channel beaming in the country.

    The channel has roped in John Abraham for the same and the two kids who win the hunt will get a chance to star opposite the youth icon in a UTV produced movie. This can be termed as a perfect example of synergy between the two brands – UTV and Hungama TV.

    Her enthusiasm and zest for her baby (that's best how Hungama TV can be described) is infectious. In a free wheeling interview with Indiantelevision.com's Hetal Adesara, Mehta talks about the channel's future plans, the kids' space in India and the problems broadcasters are facing due to non implementation of conditional access system (CAS), which will help bring in pay TV revenues.

    Excerpts:

    Hungama TV recently achieved the number two position in the kids' channels space. What has contributed to the growth?
    Overall I think the growth has basically come from excellent distribution for which I have Star TV to thank and my own distribution team headed by Kevin Pereira.

    Secondly, localisation on the marketing and programming front, that has worked on the channel. Whether it is the Hungama Captains' Hunt, which is such a local area that reaches out to the kids directly and pulls them into the channel. They can actually see who is running the channel. Then a show like Hero, which is right now one of our massive driver shows has done really well on the channel so much so that the repeats of the show has got higher ratings that the first time airings.

    The third thing is excellent acquisitions. Doremon is the top rated kids show for the last four – six weeks. This week we got 36 GRPs just from Doremon.

    We did a brand study last year in May because we had a very critical brand problem, which we have now solved. The problem was the logo of the channel with the 'h,' which was perceived as too young. The responses we got from kids about the channel were 'not cool,' 'not for me' or 'my kid sister may watch.'

    The study was done among 2,000 kids and this is when we realised that we had a serious brand problem. So in October 2005, we re-launched with the new logo and in March this year, we changed the entire look and feel of the channel.

    We commissioned the BBC to do design our new on air look but I was very disappointed with what they did. Apart from the new logo with the swirl that they made for us, we re-did the entire on-air look of the channel in-house. This has also helped the channel. Hungama has now become a cool, friendly, fun and Indian channel for kids. The brand perception is shifting now and kids are spending more time on the channel.

    The interesting story about the 141 GRPs that we got a couple of weeks back is that our time spent went up. Hence loyalty and stickiness on the channel are going up, which is very comforting to know.

    How has your role been redefined after becoming COO of Hungama TV? What are the additional responsibilities apart from programming that you are now looking after?
    There are massive additional responsibilities now. Instead of just looking after programming and OAP, I have to look after everything. I am still learning the ropes but so far it has been a good experience.

    I have a great team at Hungama and the people are really passionate about their work. There's Kevin Periera, who is the head of distribution and operations; Siddhartha Roy Kapoor is our group head of marketing who looks after UTV and Hungama TV. Then there is Aparna Bhosle who is vice president programming for the channel, Nilofer Dhund who is vice president sales, Venkatesh G is our head of OAP and Shilpa is the head of research.

    My task is to make sure that the different elements of the channel work powerfully together so that one plus one is eleven, not even four. And that's what I think we are slowly achieving. Marketing, sales, distribution and programming have to work together. We had passionate people before but they were not working together as a team. Now that has changed.

    What are the new shows that you have acquired recently?
    There are three new shows that we have acquired and each one of them is really big. But at this point in time, I cannot talk about it because we haven't yet signed on the dotted line.

    This year, we will be going to Cannes for Mip Junior in October. Last year, we screened each and every show that was there on the market, so now we know the kids' market place.

    What about new local content?
    We have a reality talent hunt show called John Aur Kaun?, which is a magnificent idea. We'll be going across five major cities in search for two kids who will get an opportunity to star in a UTV produced movie starring John Abraham. UTV has signed a two movie deal with John and more than anything else, it is a perfect example of fabulous synergy between UTV and Hungama TV.

    We were thinking of a big idea for Hungama TV and then Siddhartha came up with this one and I immediately lapped it up. My skill is to manage people and recognise a good idea (not necessarily come up with it) and make it happen.

    John has also been roped in as the brand ambassador for the channel. What role is he going to play in this respect?
    John is willing to do the movie with two kids because he recognises how popular he is with the 4 – 14 TG. Then we thought that if we are doing a movie with him; then let's take him on as the channel's brand ambassador. He agreed to that too.

    We are going to figure out ways to synergise the relationship between John and Hungama TV. We are just working all that out and we have at least three innovative ideas but it will take another month or so to finalize the same. When John comes back from his world tour, we will be ready to announce the specifics of what we are doing with him besides John Aur Kaun?
    'I will never ask John to act in 'Hero' or 'Sanya' as it will be a detriment to his brand and also mine'

    Speaking about John, how important do you think is it for a kids channel to have a brand ambassador? If we look at the other channels, Nick had Saif Ali Khan and Animax had Irfan Pathan as brand ambassadors… but nothing much came out of it so to speak…
    Honestly, if I may say, I don't think they used them correctly. I am never going to use John to say – "Watch Hungama TV." I am going to innovate, which is why it has taken me more than seven – eight months to think how exactly to use him in an innovative long term manner, wherein he can bring a long term brand equity to the channel. It is absolutely a no – no that I will ask him to ever act in Hero orSanya. I will never ever do that as I think it is a detriment to his brand and mine because if Hero can't stand on his own two feet then he is not a hero.

    A brand ambassador has to go deeper into the brand and build a meaningful relationship with the kids and I am figuring that out. I will make it work. It cannot be done the way the others did it. Even Sab TV had done it with Karisma Kapoor… it didn't work.

    For my brand it is going to be a deeper connection with the kids. How? I can't answer that right now. The channel will be a medium for kids to connect with John. In no way should either of the brands be diluted by this association… especially his brand.

    Are there any other new local shows apart from this talent hunt that in the pipeline?
    We are doing a whole new series of Hero, which will be launched in June. We have a fantastic new story written by Aarif Ali and I'm sure kids will love it.

    I am also planning a new series of Sanya. Moreover, I think it has a good merchandising and licensing opportunities. All the merchandising and licensing that is happening currently is all international stuff. I want to break to that and I also want Hero and Sanya to become licensing and merchandising powerhouses.

    It's going to take the earth and the moon to do it because somehow Indians tend to buy foreign things, which is sad but true. So we need to break that but I'm going to try.

    So will we be seeing a separate division for licensing and merchandising?
    I must admit that this is one thing where we are nowhere near our competition. However, having said that, we have licensed Yu Gi Oh!with the Pepsi taazzos and it is doing quite well.

    Funnily enough, the very first merchandising property in the kids' space was the Shakalaka Boom Boom pencil and they were a runaway success (except that they got pirated since they were cheap and easy to copy).

    We are lacking there but we are looking at it seriously now. It is going to be quite some time before we actually start making money there or even giving Cartoon Network and Disney any competition there but it will be a beginning.

    There are seven kids channel in the country at present. Together, how much have they managed to grow the market?
    From January 2005 to mid April 2005, there were a total of seven kids' channels, which together contributed 300 GRPs. Compare that to the same time period this year (2006) and the number of channels are the same but the GRPs have climbed up to 500. It's a fantastic, unbelievable and sensational growth.

    I have to compliment my competition as well as us, because together we are driving value to the kids' space. There are a lot of things that we are competing for but there are certain things that we need to do together. We need to change the perception of advertisers towards the kids' space. We have to make them understand that the current big thing that is growing today is the kids' space and everything else is declining. I really believe that 2006 – 2007 is the year of the kids' channels. For me, I value my competition because if they weren't there I would be lazy and bored. I actually want my competition to work because then the space works and it is important for the space to work.

    Overall, the key is to drive our effective rates (ER) up from the current abysmal rates that we have. We should stop selling at low rates because we are worth much more. Even with the cable operators, we should use our clout together. These are the things we should do together. At the same time there is no denying that there is a huge sense of competitiveness amongst Cartoon Network, Disney and Hungama TV. This hots up the space and makes it that much more exciting. No media planner or buyer can ignore us… they may not give us the ERs that we deserve but it is moving in the right direction.

    Programming-wise, what do you think is the way forward for kids' channels – live action or animation?
    It has to be a mix of the two. Originally produced live action is great but we have to admit that it is very expensive. I cannot afford to have more than two or three originally produced live action shows on my channel. I think the rest of the channel has to be filled with acquisition – whether it is live action or animation.

    That is the best way to go. I am very happy with the balance we have currently on Hungama TV.

    Are there any new distribution platforms that you are looking at for your content?
    We were the first to go on the mobile with our Hungaming channel. We launched it in October. Sadly we didn't make a noise about it.

    Kids can download and play the Gol Gol Ghulam and Full Toss games. Also in the pipeline is the Hero game, which is currently being developed. This has been done in association with Indiagames.

    What is the latest on the deal with Sun TV for the two regional kids' channels?
    No comments.

    A couple of years back; at the Ficci Frames seminar you had mentioned that by 2010, we will have 20 kids' channels in India. How realistic does that figure look to you today?
    I still think so. As far as I am concerned, we already have plans to launch two more channels and we definitely need to grow the pie.

    The only thing that is stopping us is the state of cable in the country. Pay TV revenues have to kick in and viewers have to pay for what they get. They cannot keep expecting free stuff as it is not fair to the broadcasters, cable operators or anybody who is running a business. Why should a consumer get it free? It doesn't make sense to me.

    In the market the prices of everything keeps going up but our prices keep going down. Why should it be like that? The government also has to take a hard stand on this. Basically what they are doing is that they are not allowing the market to open. When pay TV kicks in the market will boom again. By not implementing CAS they are actually depressing the growth of the market.

    But do you think CAS will be implemented considering its history in the country?
    I don't know. It is so sad that it is not happening because it is the only way to implement a pay model. And then the other thing is DTH and we are all hoping that DTH will work.

    We have 65 million cable and satellite (C&S) homes and the reporting is a meager five million homes. This is utter nonsense and this is only because viewers are not paying. Cable operators may be underreporting but viewers are actually not paying.

    Let DTH come in and reach that five million homes; I will switch off cable and go to DTH because I need to earn. The fact is that we are spending a lot of money. I don't think any of the broadcasters are profitable as yet. There are a lot of issues that need to be sorted out. But India is the best place to be in and it is the best kids' market in the world. Only if the pay model comes into place, I wouldn't even think twice about launching two or even four more channels.
  • Chandra to pump in Rs 7.5 billion into WWIL, Dish

    Chandra to pump in Rs 7.5 billion into WWIL, Dish

    MUMBAI: Subhash Chandra has big investment plans for the two de-merged entities of Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL). Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd. and Dish TV, engaged in the cable TV and direct-to-home (DTH) businesses respectively, will together be pumping in Rs 7.5 billion to fund their expansion plans.

    WWIL will have an investment requirement of Rs 5 billion over the next three years to give a big push to digitisation of cable TV, broadband and voice services. The cable company also expects to rope in an investor. “WWIL has a business plan which would take in an investment of Rs 5 billion over three years. The strategic thrust will be on rollout of digital cable. We are also looking at triple play offerings. We have a network which can be made available to telecom operators for voice,” Essel Group chief executive officer of corporate strategy and finance Rajiv Garg tells indiantelevision.com.

    WWIL is looking at a debt-equity ratio of 1:1. “The net worth of the company currently is not that strong to support that sort of debt. We would like a 1:1 debt-equity ratio,” Garg says.

    Operating revenues from ZTL’s cable line of business stood at Rs 1.5 billion for the fiscal ended 31 March 2006 while net profit was at Rs 7 million.

    For Dish TV, the DTH outfit, there is a Rs 2.5 billion investmen plan over the next two years. The net expenses for DTH operations thus far is Rs 3.8 billion, says Garg. “We project a gross revenue of Rs 3.2 billion from our DTH business in FY07. We aim to have 2.4 million DTH subscribers in the fiscal while the average revenue per user (ARPU) should go up from Rs 190 to Rs 250 a month because of the launch of value-added services,” he adds.

    The operating revenues for the DTH business stood at Rs 818 million in FY06. On the back of subsidies and marketing expenses, the DTH operations incurred a loss of Rs 790 million during this period.

    The de-merged DTH and cable companies are likely to opt for an initial dilution of up to 26 per cent to investors. They are open to both private equity and strategic investors.

  • I&B minister to take CAS review meeting

    I&B minister to take CAS review meeting

    NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi will review developments on CAS vis-a-vis court cases.

    The meeting was scheduled to happen either today or early next week. Pointing out that the government is committed to implementing CAS, Dasmunsi told indiantelevision.com on Friday, “I’ll review CAS in a meeting and try to understand the issues that have beset it.”

    The minister however, refused to spell out in detail his agenda on CAS. “The ministry’s broad stand on CAS has been conveyed to the (Delhi) high court.”

    In a reply filed before the Delhi HC some days back, the government sought eight to nine months’ time to implement the court’s order on rolling out addressability in Indian cable homes in select cities.

    Dasmunsi also hinted that a big roadblock in the way of smooth implementation of CAS are the different voices in which the various industry stakeholders are speaking.

    “There hardly seems to be a consensus amongst them,” the minister said on the sidelines of a book release function in the capital.

    On 10 March 2006, the Delhi HC had directed the government to roll out CAS in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata within 30 days time.

    The directive came on a petition filed by a bunch of MSOs, including Hathway and INCablenet, alleging that a delay in implementing CAS since 2004 has resulted in huge financial losses to them.

    The I&B ministry held a series of meeting with the industry, NGOs and consumer bodies soon after the court order, but said in view of inconsistency in the approach of the stakeholders, more time would be needed to iron the differences.

    The next date of hearing of the CAS case is 24 May.

  • Asiasat selects Zenith rocket for Asiasat 5 launch

    Asiasat selects Zenith rocket for Asiasat 5 launch

    MUMBAI: Satellite operator Asiasat has signed a launch contract with Sea Launch for the launch of Asiasat 5 aboard a Zenith-3SLB rocket on the Land Launch system.

    The launch will take place in the second half of 2008.

    As had been reported earlier by indiantelevision.com, Asiasat 5 will be built on a SS/L’s 1300 series satellite platform and will carry 26 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders with an estimated operational life of 15 years. It will replace Asiasat 2.

    AsiaSat 5’s C-band footprint will offer an extensive pan-Asian coverage and its high power Ku-band beams will focus on both East and South Asia, with a steerable beam that will cover anywhere within Asiasat 5’s geographic coverage.

    Asiasat CEO Peter Jackson says, “We are pleased to have completed this major milestone in our procurement of Asiasat 5. The Land Launch Zenit-3SLB rocket is based on a mature, flight-proven design; it is a highly reliable launch vehicle that offers the schedule assurance that meets our requirements for a 2008 launch.”

  • Star World to air Gillette football show

    Star World to air Gillette football show

    MUMBAI: One of English general entertainment channel Star World’s strategies to hook viewers is to offer entertaining specials around current events.

    The biggest event coming up is the Football World Cup. As a run up to the event, Star World will air the Gillette 2006 Fifa World Cup.

    The 12 part half an hour show will air every Saturday from 3 June at 7 pm. Gillette had commissioned UK production firm Sunset+Vine to make the show.

    Information available with Indiantelevision.com indicates that the show will provide a comprehensive overview of the tournament. Viewers will learn a lot about the teams and players who’ll be travelling to Germany to take part in football’s greatest competition. From David Beckham to Zinadine Zidane, Argentina to Trinidad and Tobago the show will present the biggest stars, teams and most exciting new talent playing the game.

    The aim of each episode is to be diverse and fast moving. It will contain a number of features, some of which are regular items, others will appear on a bi-weekly basis.

  • MTV2 plans to launch in India

    MTV2 plans to launch in India

    MUMBAI: MTV Networks India is expanding its bouquet of channels. The latest to plan an entry into India is MTV2, a channel from the Viacom stable which has a mix of music videos, long form music programmes and a line-up of irreverent, lifestyle and cross platform programming focused on youth and pop culture.

    MTV2 has registered for downlink licence. The other channels in the family which are already operating in India are MTV, Nick and Vh1.

    “We have applied for downlink licence for MTV2. This is in line with our plans to increase the MTV Networks franchise in India,” says MTV Networks India spokesperson.

    As for whether MTV2 would be specifically for direct-to-home (DTH) or be made available on cable TV networks as well, the spokesperson declined to provide further details. “It is too pre-mature to elaborate on our plans at this juncture,” he said.

    That the company was looking at expanding its operations in India was stated earlier by former MTV Networks Asia Pacific president Frank Brown.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, he had said, “We are looking at a lot of ideas, including some potential channels for DTH. We are eyeing the launch of new genres of channels. We would like to explore some original channels in India and then probably use it as a test case for launching in other markets.”

  • Ahead of deadline, 41 TV channels apply for downlinking in India

    Ahead of deadline, 41 TV channels apply for downlinking in India

    NEW DELHI: Talk about cutting it close. With just a day remaining (10 May 5:00 pm to be exact) for the deadline to adhere to downlink norms, 41 television channels have applied for registration in India.

    “Around 40 channels have submitted their applications for registration in India,” the Press Trust of India quoted an an official in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry as saying.
    PTI quoted the I&B official as saying that the channels seeking registration include the Star Group, Sony, Zee, Discovery, Anil Planet, Cartoon Network, CNN, Pogo, MTV, Channel V, Toon Disney, Hallmark, HBO, Ten Sports, Channel News Asia and Times Now

    Those yet to send in their applications include Fashion TV, ESPN-Star Sports and BBC, the report adds.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com on the matter yesterday, a BBC spokesperson had said, ”BBC World is aware of the timetable set out by the Indian government for completion of all formalities of registration under the new down linking guidelines issued on 11 November 2005. In compliance with the timetable, BBC World has prepared its application and will submit the same within the 10 May deadline set.”

    The government, meanwhile, clarified that all those channels that have applied for landing rights on or before 11 May 2006 could continue to be carried on cable networks till the channels’ are denied the right.

    “A cable operator may continue to carry or include in his cable service any television broadcast or channel, which has made an application for registration to the central government on or before the date of commencement of the notification, for a period of six months from the date of such commencement or till such registration has been granted or refused, whichever is earlier,” a government statement posted on the site of I&B
    ministry said.

    The statement also said that amendments to the Cable Television Network Rules 1994 and DTH guidelines will be notified separately and issued on 11 May 2006.

    Those channels that had been granted permission for uplinking from India before 2 December 2005 shall be treated as “registered” television channels and can be carried or included in the cable service. The full list is available under Codes & Guidelines section at mib.nic.in.

    Yesterday, a senior government official had admitted to Indiantelevision.com that the number of applicants seeking landing rights in the country is still “very low” compared to doubts and queries being raised. “This is surprising
    considering the deadline is 10 May,” the official added.

    The government issued an ultimatum last week that those channels not fulfilling all the downlink criteria by 10 May 2006 would be denied landing rights.

    The I&B ministry also posted on its website communications sent to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Star Group, Time Warner and a lawyer. The missive made it clear that the deadline of 10 May stays.

    The lobbying against the downlink norms as a whole and partly is understandable. The moment a television company sets up a permanent establishment (PE) in India, as per downlink norms, its tax liabilities in India would go up drastically. Rather, more the revenues collected in India, higher would be the tax component.

    Recently, Economic Times reiterated this fact in a report also. “After unveiling the downlinking policy for satellite television channels, the government is set to re-examine the tax treatment of revenues earned by foreign TV channels (FTCs). These companies earn advertising revenues from ad agencies, sponsors, and subscription revenues from cable operators.

    “The task force on emerging issues in non-resident taxation, constituted by the finance ministry, is understood to have made an attempt to bring greater clarity and certainty in the tax treatment of FTCs. This, in turn, may enable India to get a larger share of the pie. Going by the recommendations,
    FTCs will be liable to pay tax in India if they have a permanent
    establishment (PE) here. Alternatively, a dependent agent who has the authority to conclude contracts, also constitutes a PE,” the newspaper said.

    Before 2001, foreign TV channels used to pay taxes on a presumptive basis on their advertisement revenues earned in India, which ranged between 35-40 per cent.

  • Windies tour: SC bars Doordarshan from coercing Ten Sports on feed share

    Windies tour: SC bars Doordarshan from coercing Ten Sports on feed share

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has brought to an abrupt halt pubcaster Doordarshan’s “unfettered acess” to coverage of the India cricket team’s tours abroad.

    In a ruling that will for the present hold only for the forthcoming West Indies tour by the Indian cricket team, the apex court ordered today that Ten Sports has exclusive telecast rights to the series and need not share it with the pubcaster.

    A two-judge Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice LK Panta directed that Prasar Bharati (which manages DD) will not take any coercive step or action for taking the live feed of the matches, a Press Trust of India report said.

    India is scheduled to play five one-day matches and four Tests in the Caribbean in a tour that kicks off with the first ODI on 18 May.

    The court, according to one of the parties involved in the case, said that the clause in the downlink guidelines relating to making available feeds of all events of national importance to DD on a mandatory basis lacks proper legal teeth.

    In the absence of a detailed and written order, which will be issued later by the court, the ramification of this order cannot be fully gauged in terms of the overall downlink guidelines, which is being sought to be implemented by the government from 10 May by when all stipulations have to be fulfilled by a channel to get landing rights in India.

    “Going by what the court has said DD will have to do without the West Indies tour, but the ruling is limited to only Ten Sports and the cricket tour concerned for the present,” DD director-general Navin Kumar told Indiantelevision.com.

    Asked if DD will be restrained from carrying French Open tennis, for which Ten Sports holds exclusive rights for the region, Kumar added, “I suppose Ten Sports will have to move a separate application in the court for that. We cannot comment at the moment on what will be our future course of action.”

    Last week, Dubai-headquartered Ten Sports had moved the court arguing that if interim relief was not granted to it this time round, a judgment of the court delivered before the recent Indo-Pak series would become infructuous.

    Taj Television Ltd, owner of Ten Sports, had in its original petition on the matter sought a stay on the government guidelines making it mandatory for the sports channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

    It also contended that the court should be guided by the earlier verdict in the India-Pakistan series wherein DD was just a carrier of the Ten Sports signals on its terrestrial network and had also deposited a sum of Rs 150 million in the court towards possible compensation to Ten Sports.

    Ten had said it has already sold distribution rights of the West Indies tour to Set Discovery Pvt Ltd, which will have the right to license throughout the country.

    The Bench had given an inkling on its thinking on the matter at the last hearing itself in actual fact. During the brief hearing last Friday, the Bench observed that last time it was a series with Pakistan and “matches of Indo-Pak series are different from the others.” It added, “For West Indies, many people may not be interested.”

  • Govt ultimatum to channels on downlink norms

    Govt ultimatum to channels on downlink norms

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government has issued an ultimatum to all TV channels that those failing to adhere to downlink norm deadline of 10 May will not be allowed to downlink into the country.

    In a statement issued on 3 May, the government has said, “It is clarified that (television) channels for which even complete applications, with processing fees, are not received on or before May 10, 2006, shall not be permitted to be downlinked thereafter.”

    The information and broadcasting ministry has come out with clarifications on various queries on the policy guidelines for downlinking of television channels in India on its website.

    The guidelines stipulate a time of 180 days from 11 November 2005 for completion of all formalities of registration under downlinking guidelines.

    On queries relating to foreign direct investment (FDI) permitted in television ventures, the government statement states that 100 per cent FDI is permitted in the broadcasting sector, which is not under the automatic route and all such proposals will have to be routed through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

    The government has also clarified that as on the date of submission of application for permission under downlinking guidelines, the applicant company must have requisite net worth and continue to satisfy the requirement thereafter.

    The information and broadcasting ministry had earlier stipulated different net worth of television companies as per categories, namely entertainment, news, etc, in an effort to differentiate between the serious and non-serious players.

    The downlink guidelines state that all TV channels wishing to be downlinked into the country would have to get themselves registered with a designated authority and also establish a permanent establishment, amongst some other stipulations that have been dubbed stringent by some media companies.

    For example, the government reiterated on Wednesday that an applicant company is required to provide a facility where online monitoring of content being beamed into India is possible.

    Also, the system should have the capacity to store data for 90 days, which should be available to the government at any point of time in India at a pre-designated place.

    The companies need not set up new facilities for this purpose, but could authorize any of their multi service operators (MSOs) or head end operators to provide this facility, the ministry has clarified.

    The government has shot off letters relating to various queries on downlink norms to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, Star Group and Time Warner, according to information posted on the site of the I&B ministry.

    Earlier in March, the government had turned down a request from the Indian Broadcasting Foundation to extend the 180-day deadline for fulfilling newly-formulated downlinking norms by broadcasting companies.

    Indiantelevision.com has learnt from government sources that Star group, for instance, has applied under downlink norms for various family channels separately.