ITV

Tag: MCCS

  • ABP’s Punjabi channel, Sanjha, finally gets its licence

    ABP’s Punjabi channel, Sanjha, finally gets its licence

    MUMBAI: It has been a painful and long wait for Media Content and Communications Service’s news company ABP. It has been eagerly waiting for the licence for its Punjabi news channel, ABP Sanjha, which has finally been approved by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) bringing much needed relief.

     

    MCCS had applied for the licence in early 2013 and since then has been showcasing content on its YouTube channel. Now that the licence has been approved, ABP Sanjha will be beamed off Insat 4A. The official date of launch and the names of the department heads will be announced soon, says an executive from MCCS.

     

    ABP currently has channels in Hindi (ABP News), Marathi (ABP Majha) and Bengali (ABP Ananda). Sanjha will be the third feather to its regional spread.

     

    Setting up of a regional news channel usually requires investment of approximately Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore with much of it going into distribution.  The state’s cable distribution is dominated by MSOs Fastway and Hathway and Siti Cable to a smaller extent, and hence will be the new channel’s first option.

     

    The channel will compete with Punjabi news channels PTC News, Zee Punjab/Haryana/Himachal and MH1 News.

  • Code of Conduct bars clearance of any new TV channels in May 2014

    Code of Conduct bars clearance of any new TV channels in May 2014

    NEW DELHI: Even though it is said that the government is run by bureaucrats and not by politicians, the change in government in the month of May brought stagnancy to the process of clearances of television licences.

     

    In fact, the month saw the first half being ruled by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the second half by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

     

    A large number of new applications including Media Content and Communications Services (MCCS) that runs the ABP group of channels, Star India, Epic TV among others have been waiting in queue for a new licence.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry secretary Bimal Julka says that the delay was primarily because of the Code of Conduct that had come into force. He adds, “There was clear mandate from the Election Commission that no action like clearances for new channels should be given without its permission.”

     

    The list of permitted private satellite TV channels in India remains constant at 795. Out of these 393 are news and current affairs channels while the remaining 402 are non-news and current affairs channels.

     

    The first four months of 2014 saw licences being given to nine channels including AXN HD and SET HD.

     

    The Ministry also placed on its website the names of the companies which own these channels, the language, and the date when permission was granted. 

  • MediaPro terminates distribution alliance with NDTV, MCCS, MGM

    MediaPro terminates distribution alliance with NDTV, MCCS, MGM

    MUMBAI: The MediaPro split is known to all. With Star and Zee setting up their affiliate sales teams for their respective channels, a few networks that formed a part of the content aggregator have now been left with no choice but to distribute the channel on its own.

     

    The three year distribution venture split after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) came out with its regulation on the role of content aggregators. News now is that MediaPro has decided to not renew its distribution deal with New Delhi Television (NDTV) with effect from 1 April 2014.

     

    The content aggregator has also terminated its distribution alliance with   Media Content & Communication Services (MCCS) and MGM programming Service India (MGM) with effect from 16 April 2014.

     

    As a result of this, NDTV (NDTV India, NDTV 24×7, NDTV Good Times and NDTV Profit), MGM (MGM) and MCCS (ABP News, ABP Majha and ABP Ananda) will now distribute their respective channels through their own independent affiliate teams.

  • NBA elections conclude; K V L Narayan Rao continues as president

    NBA elections conclude; K V L Narayan Rao continues as president

    MUMBAI: Results of the just concluded elections to News Broadcasters Association (NBA) are out. NDTV executive vice chairperson K V L Narayan Rao retains his post as president for the year 2013-14, making it his fourth term in office after succeeding DEN Founder Sameer Manchanda in 2010.

    Similarly, MCCS CEO Ashok Venkataramani, who heads the channels ABP News, ABP Majha and ABP Ananda, continues to be Vice President of the association.

    However, Network 18 Group CEO B Saikumar, touted as India’s youngest entrepreneur, has taken over from his predecessor – TV Today’s Anil Mehra – as treasurer.

    However, it isn’t going to be a smooth ride for Rao. “It is not just an appointment. It is responsibility as well. I hope that I will be able to deliver what the industry wants,” says Rao.

    Efforts are on to convince the TRAI and the government to understand their dilemma with respect to the ad cap that has been stayed by a TDSAT order till 11 November. Other problems news channels are grappling with include carriage fees, DAVP rates, and self regulation of content.

    Meanwhile, TV Today’s new representative is Ashish Bagga as Mehra has decided to step down from the NBA. Other members include Independent News Services chairman Rajat Sharma, Times TV Network CEO Sunil Lulla, Zee News CEO Alok Agrawal, TV Today Network director Ashish Bagga, News 24 Chairperson Anurradha Prasad.

  • ABP’s Punjabi foray on hold, for now

    ABP’s Punjabi foray on hold, for now

    MUMBAI: Everyone is feeling the pinch of the bad economic conditions in the country and news channels seem to be hit hard by it.

    According to sources, the Punjabi news channel that MCCS was planning to launch has been postponed to sometime in end-2013, due to the difficult phase that the industry is going through Although no date was fixed, sources had told indiantelevision.com, that it would be sometime in September or October.

    “News media is going through difficult and painful times and we are waiting for things to settle down,” says a source from the organisation. ABP already has a foothold in Hindi (ABP News), Marathi (ABP Majha) and Bengali (ABP Ananda).

    The news network had decided to expand into regional languages or Tier II cities as it felt it had saturated the potential in the metros. It had identified Punjabi as the first of the languages that it would launch. Sources in MCCS say that the company is reaping good profits and the delay is due to the overall financial conditions of the genre and the fact that it was still waiting to be granted an uplink license from the ministry of information and broadcasting.

    Recently, Network 18 laid off more than 350 employees and Bloomberg slashed its rolls by 30 as well. Tough times are peeling off the skin from the news sector.

  • Sudip Roy is Neo Sports Broadcast senior VP, ad revenue

    Sudip Roy is Neo Sports Broadcast senior VP, ad revenue

    MUMBAI: Neo Sports Broadcast has appointed Sudip Roy as senior VP advertising revenue. He has over 16 years of broadcast ad revenue experience.

    He replaces Raju Udupa. Prior to this, Roy was working with Media Content and Communications Services India (MCCS) as business head events and special features. He was responsible for ad revenue for all the news channels (ABP News-formerly Star News, ABP Ananda-formerly Star Ananda and ABP Majha-formerly Star Majha)

    His career began with Zee Telefilms where he quickly rose to become the youngest branch head for all Zee Channels in Kolkata in 2001 and subsequently grew into the role of ad sales head for Zee Bangla in the Western region.

    Post this, he moved to MCCS, where he was the part of the team that launched Star Ananda and was the top regional head from 2005-2008. He also conceptualised the uniform rate card for Star News, Star Ananda and Star Majha and was the rate card president for three years.

    He then took over as the first business head of events, special features for these three channels and ensured that all events conceptualised were profitable.

    Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, “With his impressive track record in the broadcast industry and focus on profitability, Sudip is the ideal candidate to grow our business further and I welcome him into the Neo family.”

    Roy said, “With multiple long term rights deals with leading global sports federations, Neo Sports is poised for growth in an exciting new era for sports broadcasting in India. It‘s been an exciting ride for me in the broadcast industry so far, and I look forward to working with the team to lead advertising revenue at Neo to new heights”.

  • Industry reacts to move to net billing

    Industry reacts to move to net billing

    MUMBAI: After nearly three weeks of speculation, debate and discussions, the advertising agencies, represented by the Advertisng Agencies‘ Association of India (AAAI), and the broadcasters, represented by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the bodies have come to a consensus about shifting to net billing.

    The decision came as a relief to both agencies and broadcasters as the latter had stopped airing ads on their respective networks. Clients were yelling blue murder at the agencies for not being able to promote their products to TV viewers. Indiantelevision.com spoke to some of the network officials to get their views on what they thought about the settlement between the two:

    Says MCCS CEO Ashok Venkatramani, “I welcome it completely. It‘s the right thing and I am very glad that the issue is resolved and I think we have done the right thing moving to net billing. It should have happened earlier, but it‘s better late than never.”

    AXN Networks India business head Sunil Punjabi feels that the new net billing system is not going to affect broadcasters. “It doesn‘t make a difference from a channel‘s perspective. It is just that things will be more transparent. From a tax perspective things will be clearer.” He however adds that from an agency’s perspective there could be an impact pertaining to commission. “Earlier on a bill of Rs 100 we were paid Rs 85. The rest was the agency‘s commission. Now we will charge Rs 85 and get paid that.”

    Venkatramani adds that the industry was “just hanging to the system which is completely outdated and nobody was gaining. It was just a paper number, paper figure or you can say paper transaction and it doesn‘t make much difference to their (agencies‘) life. They just need to sit with their clients and renegotiate their actual fees.”

    Taking a slightly milder tone, Colors CEO Raj Nayak said, “I am glad that both the IBF & the AAAI have been able to come to a mutually agreeable solution on the net v/s gross billing issue. This is an industry issue and we have to address it together keeping the interests of all stakeholders in mind.”

    NDTV group CEO Narayan Rao is in complete agreement and adds, “We were part of that decision and we fully supported it. I am glad that the IBF leadership and also some of the CEOs of our broadcasting channels have been able to achieve this conclusion.”

    Helios Media CEO Divya Radhakrishnan feels that the standoff between the two stakeholders of the industry served little more than proving a point one way or another. She said, “Broadcasters and agencies are working in the same space of providing communication solutions for brands. Hence there can be no reason for working at cross purposes. An amicable solution works for all concerned. Such stand offs serve no purpose other than wanting to prove a point. Lastly, if a stance has to be taken then it cannot be selective.”

  • MCCS appoints Gautam Sharma as national sales head

    MUMBAI: Media Content and Communications Services India (MCCS), which runs ABP News, ABP Majha and ABP Ananda, has appointed Gautam Sharma as its national sales head.

    In his new role, Sharma will be responsible for driving revenues of all the three channels.

    Sharma joins MCCS from India TV where he was working as SVP – Sales. He spent over a year at India TV and was responsible for heading all India revenue of India TV which included airtime sales revenue, events and special properties.

    This is Sharma‘s second stint with MCCS. He earlier worked with the company for four years (December 2006- November 2010) as assistant vice president.

    Prior to joining MCCS in 2006, he had also worked with TV Today, Star India and Planman Media.

  • Star in process of selling its 26% stake in MCCS to ABP

    Star in process of selling its 26% stake in MCCS to ABP

    MUMBAI: Star India is in the process of transacting the sale of its 26 per cent stake in Media Content & Communications Services (MCCS), the company that owns and operates three news channels, to its joint venture partner Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group.

    “We have offered our shares to ABP Group at a mutually agreed value. We are in the process of selling our entire stake in MCCS”, said Star India chief executive officer Uday Shankar in an interview with Indiantelevision.com.

    The completion of the transaction will free News Corp from owning any stake in a local news venture in India. Star had already disengaged itself from any involvement in MCCS and the Star brand name had been taken out of the Hindi, Bengali and Marathi news channels.

    In April this year, Star and Ananda Bazar Patrika (ABP) Group had announced their divorce. MCCS, the joint venture company with Star as a 26 per cent stake owner and ABP holding the balance 74 per cent, launched Star News in March 2004, Star Ananda (Bengali) in June 2005 and Star Majha (Marathi) in June 2007.

    According to a source, Star is selling its stake at a value that is not high. Shankar, however, declined to talk on this. “We do not talk about our financials. All that I can say is that we have split amicably,” he said.

    MCCS has operationally broken even since FY’11, from its loss of around Rs 60 million in the earlier year on a revenue of Rs 2.13 billion, according to market estimates. The company’s revenue in FY’12 has crossed Rs 2.6 billion.

    When asked whether Star was planning to buy a stake in NDTV, Shankar said the company had decided to exit the news business in India because of the 26 per cent FDI cap in the news sector. “We will not invest in any news venture including NDTV till the FDI cap is upped. “

    Star feels that the whole economics of the TV news business in India is not working. “News Corp is not a financial investor. If you are not in the driver’s seat or have no significant say in the business, it doesn’t make strategic sense at all,” said Shankar.

    But won’t the former MCCS CEO and a newsman himself miss the news business? “We have created a tremendous entertainment footprint and will now build the sports business. News is definitely a gap in our portfolio. But unless there is a change in the FDI limit, it doesn’t make sense,” said Shankar.

    Balaji Telefilms is the other joint venture company where Star has exited from any involvement but is holding on to its 25.9 per cent stake. While Star has been wanting to sell for long, the promoters of Balaji Telefilms have not made the purchase yet as the share prices have slipped drastically over the years. In the joint venture termination agreement inked in 2008, Balaji had the right to purchase the shareholding held by Star for an aggregate price of Rs 190 per share. But that period has lapsed and Star has the right to independently find a buyer for its stake in Balaji Telefilms.

  • 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.