Tag: MCM

Thema targeting cable delivery in India

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: European broadcaster Thema TV, which has five channels in its stable, is targeting India and Asia aggressively through DTH and cable platforms and has lined up Baby TV and lifestyle channel Wine TV for launch later this year.

According to a senior executive of the France-based Thema TV, “India seems to be an exciting market and we would be looking at being available on the DTH platform(s) as well as cable networks here.”

At present in India, Thema TV has a non-exclusive distribution agreement for Trace MCM, Euro News and Euro Sports News with Dish TV, which is 20 per cent owned by Zee Telefilms. Trace MCM, the urban music channel, was launched recently via Dish TV.

The Thema TV executive, in Delhi for the formal launch of EuroNews on Dish TV’s DTH platform on Tuesday, added that though the Indian cable TV market looks a bit “fragmented and complex,” has the potential generating revenue.

“For the time being, we are looking at investing in Asia and India region. We expect revenues to flow in later,” he added.

In this regard, Thema is open to the idea of setting up a formal office in India for marketing and distribution purpose in partnership with Indian partner(s). “We are studying the options,” the company executive explained.

In a bid to test the Indian market —- “even if we manage to get a small slice of the cable TV market here” —- Thema TV is poised to launch Wine TV in July via Thaicom 3 and later Baby TV in an encrypted form for cable ops to pick up the signals.

Though Thema TV and EuroNews senior execs insisted talks are on with Indian cable networks for carriage of Euro News on cable networks as a pay channel, some cable ops, present at the launch party at the French Embassy in Delhi, clarified that they would not be interested in another pay channel, especially when “bandwidth and infrastructure is limited.”

However, Thema TV, a tripartite venture amongst two European media companies and a France-based entrepreneur, who holds 80 per cent equity stake in this less- than-a-year-old company, is excited about the fact that Baby TV, a channel designed for pre-school kids, would definitely have a “market in Asia, especially in a country like India.”

Interestingly, Thema is exploring possibilities of being available on other DTH services as and when they come up in India, including Space TV and Sun group’s proposed direct broadcast service. But Indian pubcaster Doordarshan’s subscription less DTH platform, DD Direct Plus, is still not on the European broadcaster’s radar screen, despite it being “an interesting concept.”

Meanwhile, EuroNews is hoping that it would be able to make a dent in the Asian market where it has invested till now close to half a million dollar, mostly on transponder lease cost.

EuroNews is Europe’s news channel covering world news from a European perspective in a choice of seven languages. It broadcasts simultaneously in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Launched on 1 January 1993, as the first multilingual pan-European news channel, EuroNews claims to be reaching 155 million households in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia and North and South America via cable, digital satellite and through terrestrial channels.

May 14, 2005
Urban music channel Trace TV has a coming out party

NEW DELHI: Thema TV is here from France and brings along a slew of channels and content, including Trace TV, formerly known as MCM, which is available on country’s first DTH network Dish TV.

According to Thema TV MD (Asia) Manivel Malone, “We have developed a new company Thema TV for developing new channels and content for Asia and India.”

Malone and team were here to formally launch the rechristened MCM as Trace TV. Though not much was forthcoming at a party that was rocking till wee hours of the night, it is learnt that Thema TV’s kitty includes products like Eurosport News, Euronews, Baby TV and Motors TV.

Baby TV, in fact, is probably the world’s first channel focused on enhancing the development and learning skills of infants.

April 23, 2005
Chaniya-choli for the world – B4U to be India’s fashion window to the world

Finally Indian fashion will have a showcase to the world. B4U, the channel which carried Indian cinema to the global audience is all set to do the same with India Fashion.

B4U, the distributors of Fashion TV, or FTV as it is popularly known has tied up with the channel and will broadcast Indian Fashion shows throughout the world. This means that a whole new world for people from the Indian fashion industry who have been largely restricted to local markets.

The channel will also be involved in local level promotions like showing Indian fashion shows in theaters, promoting new faces and organising fashion shows and contests. For the purpose of fashion contests, B4U has tied up one of the leading model agencies of the world, Metropolitan.

Apart from the fashion channel, B4U will also start its music channel that is expected to compete with MTV and Channel V. B4U is also doing its bit to popularise Indian music. B4U has an arrangement with the international music channel MCM, wherein MCM will air one hour of exclusive Indian music.

The channel will also make foray into internet with its fashion channel. B4Ufashion.com is under construction and once it is completed it will be linked to FTV.fr. Ravi Nair would heads thec team of the channel. The site would have both B2B and B2C sections.

April 17, 2004
FTV relaunching MCM as Trace 1 April

MUMBAI: French fashion channel FTV is all set to relaunch its music channel MCM, which has been off air for a good while now, in the Asian region from 1 April under a new name Trace-By MCM.

Launching on Asiasat 3 and having a pan-Asian footprint, Trace-By MCM will be completely in English unlike its earlier French speaking avatar, FTV business development head Manivel Malone told indiantelevision.com on the sidelines of the ongoing Ficci Frames 2004.

The music the channel plays will be urban cutting-edge stuff and may also indulge in a bit of skin show via uncensored music video segments. The channel derives its name as it is a collaboration between TRACE, the US-based transcultural styles and ideas magazine, which reports on the interconnected worlds of music, fashion, film, art, politics and today’s multiethnic youth and FTV.

Trace will be initially launched as a free to air offering but will ultimately be encrypted, said Malone. He further added that FTV would be launching an interactive gaming channel within the next few months. The details of the channel were still being finalized, he said. Malone had late last year, announced the proposed launch of three interactive channels, Malibu TV, Casino TV and Platinum TV, the first of which will apparently see the light of day shortly

March 16, 2004
French Gaming channel and Muzzik channel in debut mode

French group Lagardere is planning to launch a 24-hour interactive computer and video game channel, Game One from mid-December over Asia. The channel, which will be uplinked out of Paris and beamed across Asia via Intelsat 704, allows users to download or play games on air.

Additionally, the company is in talks with various cable systems and distributors to roll out its 24-hour classic and jazz channel Muzzik in Asia. Muzzik, consisting of 60 per cent classical, 30 per cent jazz and 10 per cent world music, is slated to make its appearance as a customised local feed in April 2001. Its target audience is 25 and over..
Cabe operators in India will surely be more than happy to redistribute the two services as they have done with TV5, MCM and FTV.

November 30, 2002
15 more channels in INCablenet bouquet in Mumbai

MUMBAI: INCablenet is increasing the number of channels offered in its bouquet from 90 to 105 within a week.

The 15 new channels will include three music channels, a clutch of regional channels and a few cartoon channels, says Incablenet president Rajiv Vyas. The decision was taken following a random survey among Incable’s distributors to determine which channels would be more preferred by viewers, says Vyas. Incable’s fiber optic network in Mumbai was recently upgraded from 750 MHz capacity to 860 MHz, allowing it to add more channels to those being currently offered. “It’s essentially a value addition for our viewers,” says Vyas. Among the new channels being offered are music channels Zee Music and MCM and kids’ channel Nickelodeon.

While five channels have been added to the bouquet since Thursday, a few more are being added today. The additions, being carried out in a phased manner, are expected to be completed in a week’s time, according to Vyas.

September 20, 2002
FTV encrypting 1 November

Come 1 November and French fashion channel FTV will become an encrypted feed.

Preparations for the conversion to a digital feed are on in full swing, says Rajan Kaaicker, CEO Distribution Group, Modi Entertainment Network, the channel’s current distributer in India. According to Kaaicker, 60 per cent of the seeding operations concerning distribution of set top boxes have been completed. The full rollout is expected to be complete by 15 November, he says.

Kaaicker said Modi was using the more expensive Scientific Atlanta set tops costing roughly Rs 33,000 and had no plans to subsidise them. He however said that there would be various payment packages that would be worked out with operators. Kaaicker would not reveal how many boxes he planned to distribute across the country.

Queried as to whether distribution of the channel would be restricted post-encryption considering its niche character, Kaaicker said all-India distribution was what he was looking at as FTV was being positioned as a youth and lifestyle channel. He said currently FTV had a viewer base of 23 million and that was the viewership he expected post-encryption as well.

As to what price the channel was being offered, Kaaicker would only say it would be part of a package deal. Cable industry sources reveal that MEN is bundling FTV along with Hallmark and DD Sports, the two other channels it currently distributes along with French music channel MCM. The cost for all three channels has been put at Rs 13.15 in the metros. The sources say that for the present no price tag is being put on FTV but the costs of both DD Sports and Hallmark have been hiked and the softener as it were is that FTV comes along with the other two. According to the sources, DD Sports which was earlier priced at Rs 5.50 will now cost Rs 7.15 while Hallmark will go up from Rs 3 to Rs 6.

How the cable operators will respond to this move is still unclear though. It should be noted that representatives of two MSOs in Mumbai said they were yet to receive notification on the issue. The representative of a third MSO, while acknowledging that they had received an intimation, said a decision had yet to be taken as to whether to accept the new package rates.

The question that has no clear answer is who would be willing to pay for FTV. It seems to attract a very fragmented viewer base and that too at odd hours. One cable operator had this insight to offer though. According to him, the channel is very popular in the smaller centres for its “hot” content.

It is also true that the monies coming to FTV through ad sales is zilch and moving to a pay mode makes sense if for no other reason than the fact that a regular income source is established.

FTV beams off the Asiasat 2 satellite.

October 23, 2001
B4U pulls plug on distribution deal with Modi Entertainment

B4U Networks has terminated its distribution deal with Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) blaming it for what it says is the surreptitious manner in which the channel distributor reached an agreement with French channel Fashion TV deal to the exclusion of the former.

According to network distribution head Debashish Dey, B4U’s contract with Fashion TV runs till 2005 and the deal signed between FTV and MEN on 9 August was illegal. B4U has served a legal notice on FTV for breach of trust, says Dey. Queried as to what was the status of music channel MCM in the imbroglio, Dey could provide no details.

Henceforth, both B4U Entertainment (soon to be B4U movies) and B4U Music would be handled by the network itself, Dey said.

Dey alluded to MEN’s earlier loss of distribution and marketing rights for sports channel ESPN and the recent loss of its deal to monitor distribution of national broadcaster Doordarshan’s Metro channel while stating that FTV would regret breaking its ties with B4U.

Officials from MEN were unavailable for comment on the issue.

August 13, 2001
MCM shifting from Asiasat 2 to Intelsat 704

The French music channel Channel MCM is shifting from Asiasat 2 to Intelsat 704, a release issued today says.

The dual illumination has started from 8 June and will continue till 21 June.

The new parameters for the channel are given below for necessary information to Operators for re-tuning their IRDs to continue receiving this channel.
Position : 66 degree East (294 ° Ouest)
Frequency : 4055 Mhz
Polarisation : circular
Symbol rate : 27500 Msymb/s
FEC : 3/4
Service ID : 1402 CFI (ASIE PRO)
Transponder : 25
Signal: Hemispherique Est bande C
Transmission Mode : MCPC MPEG 2 DVB
Band : C
EIRP : 33 dB/W

MCM is distributed in India by B4U Networks in a content-cum-marketing arrangement.

June 14, 2001