ITV

Tag: MPEG2

  • DD Free Dish policy: New bucket created in MPEG2 slots for devotional genre

    DD Free Dish policy: New bucket created in MPEG2 slots for devotional genre

    MUMBAI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has amended the DD Free Dish policy in a meeting held earlier this week. Under the amended policy, a new bucket has been created to reserve MPEG2 slots towards devotional channels. The reserve price of the bucket has been fixed at Rs 3 crore.

    “Consequently a new Bucket R1 has been created to reserve MPEG2 slots towards devotional/spiritual/AYUSH channels which may be placed through the open eAuction process as laid down in the policy,” Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati said on Twitter.

    Spiritual channels including channels promoting Yoga, Ayurveda, Health & Wellness (AYUSH) based on traditional methods fall under the devotional category or bucket R1. Under amended policy, three slots have been reserved for genres deemed to be in public interest. The amended policy also says that placement of regional channels of Doordarshan that are currently not available on DTH/cable may be considered for placement on vacant MPEG2/MPEG4 slots reserved for the same.

    Vempati also revealed on Saturday the results of the first annual e-auction for MPEG4 slots on  FreeDish. After robust bidding, a total of 15 MPEG4 slots were successfully sold to channels across genres and languages.

  • DD Free Dish e-auction: 15 MPEG4 slots sold

    DD Free Dish e-auction: 15 MPEG4 slots sold

    MUMBAI: The first annual e-auction for MPEG4 slots on Doordarshan’s FTA DTH platform FreeDish, witnessed intense competition. After robust bidding, a total of 15 MPEG4 slots were successfully sold to channels across genres and languages.

    Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati said on Twitter that the slots were being taken at an average price that was nearly eight to nine times the invitational price. “With this overall projected annual revenue from DD Free Dish will cross 400 cr between MPEG2 and MPEG4 slots,” he added.

    Vempati added that the new line up of 15 channels will be published on Monday, subject to completion of procedural formalities. He also mentioned that three slots have been reserved for public broadcasting purposes.

    Earlier in February, 40 MPEG2 slots were successfully sold under revised guidelines after recommencement of e-auction. Vempati said that the estimated revenue from the sold slots is Rs 395 crore and added that the new channels will be on air from 1 March 2019.

    The Prasar Bharati Board gave a green signal to e-auctioning of DTH slots on DD FreeDish in January. The e-auctioning was arbitrarily called off in October 2017. Earlier, FreeDish would conduct the e-auction every couple of months to award vacant channel slots to private broadcasters. The last e-auction was held In July 2017.

    While revealing the new policy guidelines, Vempati had said a key consideration factored in was to increase the diversity of content available on FreeDish and to expand its reach across India, especially within the non-Hindi speaking states.

  • DD Free Dish e-auction: Reserve price for MPEG4 slots fixed at Rs 5 lakh

    DD Free Dish e-auction: Reserve price for MPEG4 slots fixed at Rs 5 lakh

    MUMBAI: After recommencement of DD Free Dish e-auction, Prasar Bharati (PB) recently revealed the result where a total of 40 MPEG2 slots were successfully sold. Now, PB CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati has revealed that the reserve price for MPEG4 slots e-auction is Rs 5 lakh. He also added that the first e-auction for MPEG4 slots will be notified in a couple of days.

    “The reserve price for these MPEG4 slots is at a low invitational amount of merely Rs 5 lakh. We request all those channels that could not bid for MPEG2 slots for various reasons to consider bidding for the MPEG4 slots,” Vempati said on Twitter.

    PB CEO disclosed the same while addressing the issues raised by religious channels. Various media reports floated recently that the public broadcaster has decided to keep away from religious and devotional channels for DD Free Dish slots.  

    The reports said spiritual channels, including that of Baba Ramdev, have been seeking slots in the auctioning for quite some time. As it could open a floodgate of applicants, the broadcaster has decide to keep a safe distance.

    Vempati has taken a defensive stance saying that they have taken note of several petitions received. “Free Dish is a public platform where placement of channels happens through an open transparent e-auction process. It is the preorgative of individual channels whether to participate or not. If you feel strongly that certain channels should be on Free Dish then please write to them,” he commented.

    The new policy guideline had kept five buckets for e-auction of MPEG2 slots There is no specified bucket for spiritual or regional channels under new guidelines.

    Earlier on 15 February, the Prasar Bharati Board gave the green signal to e-auctioning of DTH slots on DD Free Dish. The e-auctioning of slots on DD Free Dish was arbitrarily called off in October 2017. Earlier, DD Free Dish would conduct the e-auction every couple of months to award vacant channel slots to private broadcasters. The last e-auction was held In July 2017.

  • DD Free Dish e-auction: Prasar Bharati nets Rs 395 cr from sale of 40 Free Dish DTH slots

    DD Free Dish e-auction: Prasar Bharati nets Rs 395 cr from sale of 40 Free Dish DTH slots

    MUMBAI: The first e-auction of Doordarshan’s FTA DTH platform, FreeDish, after recommencement witnessed intense competition. Under the revised guidelines, total of 40 MPEG2 slots were successfully sold.

    Prasar Bharati  CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that that the estimated revenue from the sold slots is Rs. 395 crore and added that the new channels will be on air from 1 March 2019, subject to completion of formalities.

    After the e-auction Vempati asserted that the language diversity on DD FreeDish has also seen an expansion with Marathi channels taking up slots.He also added that nearly eight new channels have taken up space across various categories and genres in various languages.

    While revealing the new policy guidelines, Vempati had said a key consideration factored in was to increase the diversity of content available on FreeDish and to expand its reach across India, especially within the non-Hindi speaking states.

    As shared by Prasar Bharati, the highest bid price in Bucket A+ was Rs 15.05 crore, in Bucket A it was Rs 12.45 crore and in Bucket B was Rs 10.95 crore. In Bucket C, which saw the toughest competition, the highest bid was Rs 8.95 crore. Bucket D saw a high of Rs 6.1 crore.

        

    The new policy guideline has kept five buckets for e-auction of MPEG2 slots . Bucket A+ has been kept for Hindi GECs and teleshopping channels with a reserve price of Rs 15 crore, and Bucket A has been dedicated for Hindi movie channels with a reserve price of Rs 12 crore.

    Hindi music, sports, and Bhojpuri GEC and movie come under Bucket B, which has a reserve price of Rs 10 crore. All news and current affairs TV channels in various languages fall under the category of  Bucket C, which had a reserve price of Rs 7 crore. Bucket D with lowest reserve price of Rs 6 crore comprises all other remaining genres/language channels.

    Earlier on 15 February 2019, the Prasar Bharati Board on gave a green signal to e-auctioning of DTH slots on DD FreeDish. The e-auctioning was arbitrarily called off in October 2017. Earlier, FreeDish would conduct the e-auction every couple of months to award vacant channel slots to private broadcasters. The last e-auction was held In July 2017.

  • Freedish to upgrade on 30 Sept; seek out STB makers shortly

    Freedish to upgrade on 30 Sept; seek out STB makers shortly

    NEW DELHI: The country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform, Doordarshan’s Freedish will not be available for five hours on 30 September 2016 ‘due to technical maintenance.’

    The platform, which is slated to carry out its 31st e-auction on 5 October 2016, is understood to be working on increasing its capacity to carry more channels.

    A note on the DD website said: All viewers of DD Freedish may please note that from 00.30 Hrs to 05.30 Hrs on 30.09.2016 Doordarshan DTH service DD Freedish Channels will not be available due to technical maintenance.​”

    Earlier last month, indiantelevision.con had reported that Freedish is increasing its capacity to carry around 104 channels within the next few months.

    A senior Doordarshan official had told indiantelevision.com that the process of switching over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 had been completed and was being tested. This had already taken the headend capacity to 112.

    Freedish at present carries 80 television channels including its own, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV, and private channels, apart from 32 channels of All-India Radio.

    The official said the platform had been encrypted by adopting the Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) developed by Design India Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore. But, he clarified that the platform would remain free-to-air and the aim of iCAS was only to keep track of the number of households that were using Freedish and keep a check on quality of set top boxes.

    (It is also learnt that Doordarshan is expected to issue an Expression of Notice within a month for manufacture of compatible STBs for Freedish.)

    Also read:  Auctions on 5 Oct for Freedish licence renewal

    Also Read:  Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

  • Freedish to upgrade on 30 Sept; seek out STB makers shortly

    Freedish to upgrade on 30 Sept; seek out STB makers shortly

    NEW DELHI: The country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform, Doordarshan’s Freedish will not be available for five hours on 30 September 2016 ‘due to technical maintenance.’

    The platform, which is slated to carry out its 31st e-auction on 5 October 2016, is understood to be working on increasing its capacity to carry more channels.

    A note on the DD website said: All viewers of DD Freedish may please note that from 00.30 Hrs to 05.30 Hrs on 30.09.2016 Doordarshan DTH service DD Freedish Channels will not be available due to technical maintenance.​”

    Earlier last month, indiantelevision.con had reported that Freedish is increasing its capacity to carry around 104 channels within the next few months.

    A senior Doordarshan official had told indiantelevision.com that the process of switching over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 had been completed and was being tested. This had already taken the headend capacity to 112.

    Freedish at present carries 80 television channels including its own, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV, and private channels, apart from 32 channels of All-India Radio.

    The official said the platform had been encrypted by adopting the Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS) developed by Design India Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore. But, he clarified that the platform would remain free-to-air and the aim of iCAS was only to keep track of the number of households that were using Freedish and keep a check on quality of set top boxes.

    (It is also learnt that Doordarshan is expected to issue an Expression of Notice within a month for manufacture of compatible STBs for Freedish.)

    Also read:  Auctions on 5 Oct for Freedish licence renewal

    Also Read:  Free Dish capacity to go up from 80 to 104 TV channels before year-end

  • Ofcom to review Sky’s DTT plan

    Ofcom to review Sky’s DTT plan

     MUMBAI: Last week UK pay TV service provider Sky had announced that it proposes to launch a new service on the digital terrestrial television (DTT) platform.

    Following a series of requests for clarity on the regulatory process regarding the proposed launch, UK media regulatory body Ofcom confirms that it will consult on any such proposals.

    Sky’s announcement noted that the launch of the new service will be subject to approval by Ofcom including the necessary variations to licences held by Sky and National Grid Wireless, which provides Sky with DTT transmission and multiplexing services.

    When Ofcom receives a request for approval of the necessary variations, the issues that would require consultation are likely to include:

    – Firstly, the impact on consumers of Sky’s proposal to use MPEG4 compression technology via new set-top boxes, in order to increase the amount of content which can be carried. Ofcom would need to assess:

    – The potential benefit of a rapid migration from the current compression standard MPEG2, to MPEG4 which will ultimately increase the number of channels available on digital terrestrial television.

    – The potential detriment associated with a reduction in the number of channels received by existing set-top boxes or digital televisions; The risk that existing set-top boxes or digital televisions might be incompatible with multiplexes broadcast using a combination of MPEG2 and MPEG4 coding;

    – The overall effect on consumer confidence in the digital switchover process.

    – Whether any variation to the channel line-up might unacceptably diminish the appeal of the channels to a variety of tastes and interests and whether a reduction in the current range of free-to-air channels would be compensated for by the proposed introduction of the new pay television channels.

    – Finally, the effect of any change to existing licence conditions and / or the need to include any new licence conditions to ensure fair and effective competition for the benefit of consumers.

    The content of the consultation and its timing will be announced once a request for an approval has been received. Ofcom’s normal consultation period is 10 weeks.

  • Motorola introduces new local content distribution system for TV

    Motorola introduces new local content distribution system for TV

    MUMBAI: Motorola, Inc. has introduced a new content distribution system that allows programmers to customise national video feeds for local audiences by inserting content at affiliate sites. The new Motorola On-Target gives programmers a new way to address different market segments by adding local information into a national broadcast.With the new Motorola On-Target system, programmers can pre-position regionalised content such as advertisements, and seamlessly insert that content during a selected local available time slot, giving viewers a customized message that is relevant to their regional area.

    The new On-Target system was demonstrated at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) tradeshow.

    The system consists of two components: An uplink management component to ingest, manage, create schedule, and distribute content, and a new downlink Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) to receive, store and insert customized content into the national feed on a pre-scheduled or real-time basis.

    The new Motorola Integrated Server Receiver (ISR) 4410 is an IRD with a internal 200GB hard drive. The hard drive can receive and store MPEG2 video clips, graphics and text that can be used to insert customized spots into a video feed received from a satellite uplink location. Graphics and text can be animated and composited with stored or live content, with content seamlessly switched between the live and stored feeds.

    The Motorola On-Target Control System is an open-source based server that manages content distribution, including a file queue that can send content to all Motorola ISR 4410s, a subset of the ISRs in a system, or a single device. The system also includes automated remote backup of ISR hard devices.

    In addition, the system includes an authoring station where editors can create timelines, playlists with graphics and/or text, and preview any sequence prior to distribution. The web-based application can be located at an affiliate site so that local content can be created and uploaded to the On- Target Control System for eventual playout to headend-resident ISR4410s.

    “The Motorola On-Target system delivers a complete end-to-end system for customising programmers’ national feeds at the local level and providing the facilities for value-added services. With the advent of the On-Target system, we are continuing our commitment to provide programmers with innovative solutions to leverage their investments in Motorola digital content delivery networks,” said Motorola corporate vice president and Connected Home Solutions general manager Doug Means.