ITV

Tag: MSO

  • TDSAT vacates order staying disconnection of signals to MSO

    TDSAT vacates order staying disconnection of signals to MSO

    NEW DELHI: An order staying disconnection of signals of Eenadu TV to Hyderabad Cable Digital Services Pvt. Ltd has been vacated by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

    Chairman justice Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said the order given late last week was being vacated as Eenadu TV Counsel Prabhat Ranjan had produced ample documents that “belie the allegations made in the petition that the supply of signals was abruptly disconnected without any notices, etc.”

    The Tribunal said that Ranjan had produced documents that showed that the multi-system operator owes a substantial amount as dues of subscription fees. Ranjan also stated that the interconnect agreement between the two sides had come to an end.

    Listing the matter for 27 May, the Tribunal asked Ranjan to file Eenadu TV’s reply
    bringing all the documents on record and asked the MSO to file a rejoinder, if any, within a week thereafter.

     

  • Negligible rise in MSOs to 840 with 609 provisional licencees

    Negligible rise in MSOs to 840 with 609 provisional licencees

    NEW DELHI: With the second quarter of the last year of implementation of the final phase of the digital addressable system having begun, the government is attempting to speed up the process of clearing licences for multi-system operators and the number has now gone up to 840 including the 231 which have permanent (ten-year) licences.

    The latest list as on 29 April shows that thirteen more MSOs have been given provisional licences in the week after 21 April and the total of provisional licencees has now risen above 600 to number 609 as against 596.

    By 12 January, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had cancelled the licences of 26 MSOs and closed their cases.

    According to the latest list, the area of operation of one MSO has been revised after 21 April. Unlike the last list, none of the new MSOs have been given pan-India licences. The new registrations are for the states of, or specific disctricts in, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Harayana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

    With the Home ministry directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, the pace remains slow.

    The permanent licence issued to Kal Cable of Chennai had been cancelled on 20 August 2014, but this cancellation was set aside by Madras High Court on 5 September the same year. However, Kal Cable’s name continues to be in the cancelled list – presumably because the cases are still pending. 

    Sources denied that denial of security clearance was the reason for provisional licences and said many MSOs holding provisional licences had not completed certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

  • Negligible rise in MSOs to 840 with 609 provisional licencees

    Negligible rise in MSOs to 840 with 609 provisional licencees

    NEW DELHI: With the second quarter of the last year of implementation of the final phase of the digital addressable system having begun, the government is attempting to speed up the process of clearing licences for multi-system operators and the number has now gone up to 840 including the 231 which have permanent (ten-year) licences.

    The latest list as on 29 April shows that thirteen more MSOs have been given provisional licences in the week after 21 April and the total of provisional licencees has now risen above 600 to number 609 as against 596.

    By 12 January, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had cancelled the licences of 26 MSOs and closed their cases.

    According to the latest list, the area of operation of one MSO has been revised after 21 April. Unlike the last list, none of the new MSOs have been given pan-India licences. The new registrations are for the states of, or specific disctricts in, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Harayana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

    With the Home ministry directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, the pace remains slow.

    The permanent licence issued to Kal Cable of Chennai had been cancelled on 20 August 2014, but this cancellation was set aside by Madras High Court on 5 September the same year. However, Kal Cable’s name continues to be in the cancelled list – presumably because the cases are still pending. 

    Sources denied that denial of security clearance was the reason for provisional licences and said many MSOs holding provisional licences had not completed certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

  • Political, bureaucratic wrangles likely road-blocks for the new I&B secretary

    Political, bureaucratic wrangles likely road-blocks for the new I&B secretary

    NEW DELHI: The biggest challenges for the bureaucrats in the country can be summed up in just a few words: being unprepared, and forced to make compromises.

    Thus, a person taking charge as the head of the bureaucracy in any ministry has to put aside his or her own personal views and get down to translating the decisions of the government and the minister/ministers into action, apart from the fact that he or she may be completely new to the field. And this task becomes even more onerous when there are deadlines to be met in short periods of time.

    Ajay Mittal is taking over the reins of the administrative machinery in the Information and Broadcasting ministry from Sunil Arora who had barely eight months to grapple with problems. Arora joined the Ministry on 31 August last year just as the ministry was making preparations for the Digital Addressable System Phase III and was in the midst of the Phase III auctions of FM radio.

    Mittal, is a senior Indian administrative service (IAS) officer of the 1982 batch from the Himachal Pradesh cadre. Born on 24 February 1958, Mittal is a law graduate and also has a Masters degree in rural development. His first posting was as principal secretary to the then chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and in the information and public relations wing in the state. Mittal was empanelled as secretary in December last year when he was additional chief secretary at Transport, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Shimla.

    Now, Mittal has to deal with not only the onerous task of overseeing the implementation of the last phase in DAS which will cover all remaining urban and all rural areas of the country by December-end, but bringing the government out of the morass of legal cases which stayed the implementation of DAS Phase III in many states and have now been transferred to the Delhi high court.

    DAS Phase III

    Even though the deadlines for the last two phases of DAS were changed, the stakeholders were clearly unprepared as they all claimed shortage of compatible set top boxes – a claim which even the ministry could not deny. Expectedly, several high courts stayed implementation for varying periods  
    And although the ministry has succeeded in getting all the cases transferred to the Delhi high court, the fact remains that the ministry had itself admitted in a letter to its counsel in Chandigarh that it understood the stay to be pan-India, until the Supreme Court said nothing in the directive of the Bombay high court implied this.

    With the shortage of compatible set top boxes and little headway despite the incentives offered under the Make in India scheme, the ministry has to find ways to encourage indigenous production. Even at present, a large number of LCOs work with poor quality STBs made in China or other countries.

    Added to that is the fact that a large number of broadcasters, multi system operators, and local cable operators have still to work out their agreements – an issue further complicated by the directives of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal which wants the tariffs to looked at anew.
     
    In fact, many MSOs or LCOs have also not been able to get the Consumer Application Forms from their clients despite major publicity by the broadcasters.

    It is also a fact that analogue transmission continues in many parts of cities and towns that have gone digital and the government has failed to get the stay of DAS in Chennai vacated.

    The Home ministry had many months earlier made it clear that it was prepared to do away with security clearance for Indian-owned multi-system operators, the I and B Ministry has not yet got the go-ahead, with the result that MSOs are only getting provisional licences and the number of those with ten-year permanent licences remains at 231. The new secretary will have to push the Home ministry if he wants DAS to succeed.

    TRAI

    Although these are issues that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is dealing with, all decisions relating to the broadcasting sector can only be effective if there is proper coordination between the regulator and the ministry. This effectively means there has to be a quick response to any issues that either of the two raises to the other, if deadlines have to be met.

    Other issues pending before TRAI relating to broadcasting include the need to reconsider the foreign direct investment norms for media, shortage of spectrum, a growing demand by states seeking permissions to start their own television channels despite the TRAI having opined against it twice since 2008, and the imperative to work on the tariff issues for commercial and non-commercial set-ups following directives of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

    Although broadcasting duties were handed over to TRAI just over a decade earlier, it is also clear that the ministry will have to consider whether there is need to form a broadcasting-specific body since TRAI is primarily a body set up for the telecom sector. If the Government decides to continue with TRAI handling both portfolios, the regulator will be under pressure from the I and B Ministry to strengthen its broadcasting team and also ensure greater coordination among officers in both broadcasting and telecom.    

    With convergence of technologies becoming a reality, and with issues of spectrum already bringing telecom and broadcasting together, the National Democratic Alliance Government has again begun to talk about convergence and this is bound to gather pace over the next two years.

    Spectrum

    The Defence Ministry has in principle agreed to hand over some spectrum and swap some other spectrum, and TRAI has also worked on the process of auctioning the available spectrum and given out reserve prices, the whole process is caught up in bureaucratic wrangles as it involves the Telecom ministry. If the I and B ministry wants to continue with its policy of ensuring there are no caps on the number of television, FM radio channels, or direct-to-home (DTH) Headed in the sky (HITS) platforms in the country, the issue of spectrum will need early solution.

    FM Radio Auctions

    When the last secretary Sunil Arora took over, the government was in the midst of the first stage of auctions of the FM Radio e-auction which only covered cities which already have FM but there were some vacancies. Learning from the experiences where there were no bids in 13 of the 69 cities, the government has now decided to revise the guidelines for the e-auction. The new secretary may have to find ways of either lowering the reserve price for those cities or finding other incentives before the next stage of e-auction.

    The fact that the cumulative winnings from the channels auctioned so far has exceeded the reserve price by more 100 per cent is undoubtedly a matter of great satisfaction, but some cities failing to attract bidders is an irritant.

    Ad Cap

    The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 was clear that the advertising cap should be twelve minutes an hour, but television channels went to court because many – particularly the news channels most of which are free to air – said they had no other source of income unlike the pay channels. But the ministry is already doing a rethink as admitted by the ministry as well as the News Broadcasters Association.

    This rethink is probably because the I and B minister had said early this last year that he was opposed to ad caps on the print or electronic media, and because the free-to-air channels (most of which are news channels) have already expressed their opposition to this. TRAI had failed to get permission to take action against television channels violating its diktat of a total of 12 minutes of commercial and promotional advertisements every hour, though all broadcasters were asked to keep records of this by the Delhi High Court.

    Spread of FM Radio vs DRM

    The Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium feels that All India Radio has done the most in terms of digitization of radio. AIR has in fact spent crores of rupees on the digitized Digital Radio Mondiale. But Prasar Bharati feels that Frequency Modulation which is an analogue technology should be promoted until the nation is ready for digital radio sets.

    The ministry can resolve this issue only if it can ensure adequate manufacture at affordable process of DRM sets under the Make in India programme. Until then, this continues to be a thorn in the already dicey relations between the public service broadcaster and the ministry. The fact remains that there are just one or two manufacturers of DRM sets and these have also been successfully demonstrated in moving cars, but they remain unaffordable.

    Community Radio

    More than a decade has elapsed since the introduction of community radio, but the number of operational stations is still very low. To boost this sector, the government introduced a new scheme last year for funding community radio and has also been giving away awards, but bureaucratic wrangles continue to hold up the smooth implementation of this scheme.

    Prasar Bharati and the Ministry

    On paper, the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990 is clear that the pubcaster is autonomous. However, in reality this appears to the contrary.

    On the one hand, a group of ministers had decided as a measure to help the pubcaster that persons employed as on 5 October 2007 will get the salary and pension from government funds. For employees who joined after that date, Prasar Bharati was left to fend for itself.

    In any case, Prasar Bharati is listed as an autonomous company under the ministry.

    This means – and it appears so even from the manner in which questions relating to the pubcaster are answered in parliament – that there is dispute on what real autonomy is. Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar – a former bureaucrat himself – feels the government does not give him full freedom and there is interference at every level and has said so either in speeches or in articles by him or others in the pubcaster.

    Journalists on the parliamentary beat are often flabbergasted by the fact that when it suits the government, a reply will say that the pubcaster is an autonomous body, and yet there has been the intervention of the government even in appointments in Prasar Bharati.

    While there is generally full autonomy as far as content goes, there are allegedly checks and balances placed by the government in administrative matters.

    In a new development that has in principle been accepted by the government, Prasar Bharati, which has been losing revenue and viewership, has decided to auction prime time slots – perhaps inspired by the success of the e-auctions of slots on the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD Freedish, or the FM auctions.

    Freedish

    Even though the auctions have been extremely successful and the pubcaster not only got two or three times the reserve price per slot, but even managed to get at least two pay channels to come as FTA, it has still not been able to switch over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 to enable it to increase the number to 112 as promised over the last three to four years.

    Foreign Direct Investment

    The TRAI had given its recommendations for an increased FDI in many sectors of the media in a report in July 2013. Although there was some change by the government earlier this year, it has still not implemented the FDI report of TRAI in full.

    Security Clearance

    While the Home ministry has decided it is doing away with security clearance for MSOs, it has not taken a decision as far television channels are concerned. And while the issue relating to foreign ownership can be understood, the denial of security clearance to Sun TV and its affiliated MSOs continues to flummox everyone in the media. It is generally felt that an accused is not guilty till proved, but the Home ministry – and the I and B ministry – appear to have decided that the Maran brothers should be denied security clearance despite the fact that the cases against them have no relation to the security of the country, and are in fact an incursion n the freedom of the media. Even the Supreme Court while permitting Sun group companies to take part in the FM auction said so.

    Paid News

    It is now almost five years since the issue of paid news became the talk of the town. The Press Council of India set up a committee which even gave recommendations, and a Parliamentary Panel and the Election Commission also wanted some steps to be taken to stop this. But there has been no tangible action so far.

    Film Industry

    The film industry has been raising similar issues year after year. As far as taxation issues were concerned, it was hoped that the Goods and Services Tax when implemented will help. But the way the matter is stuck in parliament forces the industry to just wait and watch.

    Entertainment tax is another issue on which there has been no unanimity and states have different taxes. A proposal about a decade earlier for bringing cinema into the Concurrent List of the Constitution might have solved the problem, but most states opposed the idea. Perhaps the only positive move has been that service tax or cess on entertainment tax has been done away with.

    In a country producing around one thousand feature films every year apart from the large number of films from overseas, the country still suffers from an acute shortage of theatres, with the number less than 11,000. With the high rates of ticketing charged by the multiplexes, the average cinegoer is denied of the pleasure of seeing a film in a cinema hall.

    All attempts to curb video piracy appear to have failed because the film industry and the government have failed to work together to curb the menace, which means huge losses for the makers of bold films unless there are big stars to lure the audiences.

    The Film Museum has been in the planning and making for more than a decade, but it does not appear that the Museum planned for 2013 to coincide with a centenary of cinema will seek the light of day for at least a couple of more years.

    The Centre of Excellence in Animation and Visual Effects

    For almost ten years, minister after minister has promised to set up a Centre of Excellence in Animation and Visual Effects, and Hyderabad and Bangalore have even claimed that they have the right ambience for such a centre.

    But indications are coming that it will be established in the Film City in Goregaon in Mumbai, a decision that may not be digestible to studios of animation and VFX in cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore.

    Clearly, the new secretary has a difficult task ahead, moving on a road that is not without political or bureaucratic potholes that can hold up even his best intentions.

     

  • Political, bureaucratic wrangles likely road-blocks for the new I&B secretary

    Political, bureaucratic wrangles likely road-blocks for the new I&B secretary

    NEW DELHI: The biggest challenges for the bureaucrats in the country can be summed up in just a few words: being unprepared, and forced to make compromises.

    Thus, a person taking charge as the head of the bureaucracy in any ministry has to put aside his or her own personal views and get down to translating the decisions of the government and the minister/ministers into action, apart from the fact that he or she may be completely new to the field. And this task becomes even more onerous when there are deadlines to be met in short periods of time.

    Ajay Mittal is taking over the reins of the administrative machinery in the Information and Broadcasting ministry from Sunil Arora who had barely eight months to grapple with problems. Arora joined the Ministry on 31 August last year just as the ministry was making preparations for the Digital Addressable System Phase III and was in the midst of the Phase III auctions of FM radio.

    Mittal, is a senior Indian administrative service (IAS) officer of the 1982 batch from the Himachal Pradesh cadre. Born on 24 February 1958, Mittal is a law graduate and also has a Masters degree in rural development. His first posting was as principal secretary to the then chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and in the information and public relations wing in the state. Mittal was empanelled as secretary in December last year when he was additional chief secretary at Transport, Social Justice & Empowerment Department, Shimla.

    Now, Mittal has to deal with not only the onerous task of overseeing the implementation of the last phase in DAS which will cover all remaining urban and all rural areas of the country by December-end, but bringing the government out of the morass of legal cases which stayed the implementation of DAS Phase III in many states and have now been transferred to the Delhi high court.

    DAS Phase III

    Even though the deadlines for the last two phases of DAS were changed, the stakeholders were clearly unprepared as they all claimed shortage of compatible set top boxes – a claim which even the ministry could not deny. Expectedly, several high courts stayed implementation for varying periods  
    And although the ministry has succeeded in getting all the cases transferred to the Delhi high court, the fact remains that the ministry had itself admitted in a letter to its counsel in Chandigarh that it understood the stay to be pan-India, until the Supreme Court said nothing in the directive of the Bombay high court implied this.

    With the shortage of compatible set top boxes and little headway despite the incentives offered under the Make in India scheme, the ministry has to find ways to encourage indigenous production. Even at present, a large number of LCOs work with poor quality STBs made in China or other countries.

    Added to that is the fact that a large number of broadcasters, multi system operators, and local cable operators have still to work out their agreements – an issue further complicated by the directives of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Arbitration Tribunal which wants the tariffs to looked at anew.
     
    In fact, many MSOs or LCOs have also not been able to get the Consumer Application Forms from their clients despite major publicity by the broadcasters.

    It is also a fact that analogue transmission continues in many parts of cities and towns that have gone digital and the government has failed to get the stay of DAS in Chennai vacated.

    The Home ministry had many months earlier made it clear that it was prepared to do away with security clearance for Indian-owned multi-system operators, the I and B Ministry has not yet got the go-ahead, with the result that MSOs are only getting provisional licences and the number of those with ten-year permanent licences remains at 231. The new secretary will have to push the Home ministry if he wants DAS to succeed.

    TRAI

    Although these are issues that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is dealing with, all decisions relating to the broadcasting sector can only be effective if there is proper coordination between the regulator and the ministry. This effectively means there has to be a quick response to any issues that either of the two raises to the other, if deadlines have to be met.

    Other issues pending before TRAI relating to broadcasting include the need to reconsider the foreign direct investment norms for media, shortage of spectrum, a growing demand by states seeking permissions to start their own television channels despite the TRAI having opined against it twice since 2008, and the imperative to work on the tariff issues for commercial and non-commercial set-ups following directives of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.

    Although broadcasting duties were handed over to TRAI just over a decade earlier, it is also clear that the ministry will have to consider whether there is need to form a broadcasting-specific body since TRAI is primarily a body set up for the telecom sector. If the Government decides to continue with TRAI handling both portfolios, the regulator will be under pressure from the I and B Ministry to strengthen its broadcasting team and also ensure greater coordination among officers in both broadcasting and telecom.    

    With convergence of technologies becoming a reality, and with issues of spectrum already bringing telecom and broadcasting together, the National Democratic Alliance Government has again begun to talk about convergence and this is bound to gather pace over the next two years.

    Spectrum

    The Defence Ministry has in principle agreed to hand over some spectrum and swap some other spectrum, and TRAI has also worked on the process of auctioning the available spectrum and given out reserve prices, the whole process is caught up in bureaucratic wrangles as it involves the Telecom ministry. If the I and B ministry wants to continue with its policy of ensuring there are no caps on the number of television, FM radio channels, or direct-to-home (DTH) Headed in the sky (HITS) platforms in the country, the issue of spectrum will need early solution.

    FM Radio Auctions

    When the last secretary Sunil Arora took over, the government was in the midst of the first stage of auctions of the FM Radio e-auction which only covered cities which already have FM but there were some vacancies. Learning from the experiences where there were no bids in 13 of the 69 cities, the government has now decided to revise the guidelines for the e-auction. The new secretary may have to find ways of either lowering the reserve price for those cities or finding other incentives before the next stage of e-auction.

    The fact that the cumulative winnings from the channels auctioned so far has exceeded the reserve price by more 100 per cent is undoubtedly a matter of great satisfaction, but some cities failing to attract bidders is an irritant.

    Ad Cap

    The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995 was clear that the advertising cap should be twelve minutes an hour, but television channels went to court because many – particularly the news channels most of which are free to air – said they had no other source of income unlike the pay channels. But the ministry is already doing a rethink as admitted by the ministry as well as the News Broadcasters Association.

    This rethink is probably because the I and B minister had said early this last year that he was opposed to ad caps on the print or electronic media, and because the free-to-air channels (most of which are news channels) have already expressed their opposition to this. TRAI had failed to get permission to take action against television channels violating its diktat of a total of 12 minutes of commercial and promotional advertisements every hour, though all broadcasters were asked to keep records of this by the Delhi High Court.

    Spread of FM Radio vs DRM

    The Digital Radio Mondiale Consortium feels that All India Radio has done the most in terms of digitization of radio. AIR has in fact spent crores of rupees on the digitized Digital Radio Mondiale. But Prasar Bharati feels that Frequency Modulation which is an analogue technology should be promoted until the nation is ready for digital radio sets.

    The ministry can resolve this issue only if it can ensure adequate manufacture at affordable process of DRM sets under the Make in India programme. Until then, this continues to be a thorn in the already dicey relations between the public service broadcaster and the ministry. The fact remains that there are just one or two manufacturers of DRM sets and these have also been successfully demonstrated in moving cars, but they remain unaffordable.

    Community Radio

    More than a decade has elapsed since the introduction of community radio, but the number of operational stations is still very low. To boost this sector, the government introduced a new scheme last year for funding community radio and has also been giving away awards, but bureaucratic wrangles continue to hold up the smooth implementation of this scheme.

    Prasar Bharati and the Ministry

    On paper, the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act 1990 is clear that the pubcaster is autonomous. However, in reality this appears to the contrary.

    On the one hand, a group of ministers had decided as a measure to help the pubcaster that persons employed as on 5 October 2007 will get the salary and pension from government funds. For employees who joined after that date, Prasar Bharati was left to fend for itself.

    In any case, Prasar Bharati is listed as an autonomous company under the ministry.

    This means – and it appears so even from the manner in which questions relating to the pubcaster are answered in parliament – that there is dispute on what real autonomy is. Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar – a former bureaucrat himself – feels the government does not give him full freedom and there is interference at every level and has said so either in speeches or in articles by him or others in the pubcaster.

    Journalists on the parliamentary beat are often flabbergasted by the fact that when it suits the government, a reply will say that the pubcaster is an autonomous body, and yet there has been the intervention of the government even in appointments in Prasar Bharati.

    While there is generally full autonomy as far as content goes, there are allegedly checks and balances placed by the government in administrative matters.

    In a new development that has in principle been accepted by the government, Prasar Bharati, which has been losing revenue and viewership, has decided to auction prime time slots – perhaps inspired by the success of the e-auctions of slots on the country’s only free-to-air direct-to-home platform DD Freedish, or the FM auctions.

    Freedish

    Even though the auctions have been extremely successful and the pubcaster not only got two or three times the reserve price per slot, but even managed to get at least two pay channels to come as FTA, it has still not been able to switch over from MPEG2 to MPEG4 to enable it to increase the number to 112 as promised over the last three to four years.

    Foreign Direct Investment

    The TRAI had given its recommendations for an increased FDI in many sectors of the media in a report in July 2013. Although there was some change by the government earlier this year, it has still not implemented the FDI report of TRAI in full.

    Security Clearance

    While the Home ministry has decided it is doing away with security clearance for MSOs, it has not taken a decision as far television channels are concerned. And while the issue relating to foreign ownership can be understood, the denial of security clearance to Sun TV and its affiliated MSOs continues to flummox everyone in the media. It is generally felt that an accused is not guilty till proved, but the Home ministry – and the I and B ministry – appear to have decided that the Maran brothers should be denied security clearance despite the fact that the cases against them have no relation to the security of the country, and are in fact an incursion n the freedom of the media. Even the Supreme Court while permitting Sun group companies to take part in the FM auction said so.

    Paid News

    It is now almost five years since the issue of paid news became the talk of the town. The Press Council of India set up a committee which even gave recommendations, and a Parliamentary Panel and the Election Commission also wanted some steps to be taken to stop this. But there has been no tangible action so far.

    Film Industry

    The film industry has been raising similar issues year after year. As far as taxation issues were concerned, it was hoped that the Goods and Services Tax when implemented will help. But the way the matter is stuck in parliament forces the industry to just wait and watch.

    Entertainment tax is another issue on which there has been no unanimity and states have different taxes. A proposal about a decade earlier for bringing cinema into the Concurrent List of the Constitution might have solved the problem, but most states opposed the idea. Perhaps the only positive move has been that service tax or cess on entertainment tax has been done away with.

    In a country producing around one thousand feature films every year apart from the large number of films from overseas, the country still suffers from an acute shortage of theatres, with the number less than 11,000. With the high rates of ticketing charged by the multiplexes, the average cinegoer is denied of the pleasure of seeing a film in a cinema hall.

    All attempts to curb video piracy appear to have failed because the film industry and the government have failed to work together to curb the menace, which means huge losses for the makers of bold films unless there are big stars to lure the audiences.

    The Film Museum has been in the planning and making for more than a decade, but it does not appear that the Museum planned for 2013 to coincide with a centenary of cinema will seek the light of day for at least a couple of more years.

    The Centre of Excellence in Animation and Visual Effects

    For almost ten years, minister after minister has promised to set up a Centre of Excellence in Animation and Visual Effects, and Hyderabad and Bangalore have even claimed that they have the right ambience for such a centre.

    But indications are coming that it will be established in the Film City in Goregaon in Mumbai, a decision that may not be digestible to studios of animation and VFX in cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore.

    Clearly, the new secretary has a difficult task ahead, moving on a road that is not without political or bureaucratic potholes that can hold up even his best intentions.

     

  • Hathway launches new music and movie channels

    Hathway launches new music and movie channels

    MUMBAI: Hathway has launched a series of four new channels in the music & movie genres as they set on an ambitious roadmap to create a robust bouquet of channels which will offer Hathway subscribers, the best of entertainment package exclusively.

    The four new channels- Djay, Lamhe, Home Theatre and Marathi Talkies have been designed and packaged in a new vibrant, dynamic and cutting-edge look providing a sophisticated, satellite-like experience to Hathway subscribers, thus, offering them wide array of content with a fresh appeal.

    In the present day & age where consumer demands are growing and content is becoming accessible across multiple platforms, several broadcasters have been launching channels in different genres to cater to varied audiences and increasing reach. It is very rare for a TV platform, especially, a digital Cable platform to come out with contemporary channels which offer the best, customised content in a way which appeals to mass segments of consumers. Hathway is one of the only large MSOs that consist of a series of in-house channels, both pan-India as well as regionally. The launch of these 4 new channels adds to the strong existing line-up and with its distinctive approach& innovation in design, content & technology, Hathway is changing the way cable channels are perceived by giving it a contemporary, modern look which can match & compete with any of the satellite channels.

    DJAY-Music Redefined and Lamhe-Music Forever are the music channels from the Hathway stable which will bring the best of new and old melodies to music-lovers. While DJAY is Infinite, Young & Energetic bringing latest Bollywood tracks from the 2000 era which will appeal to the Gen-X,LAMHE brings back the old melodious flavour in a new-age persona by reliving the golden era of 50’s to 80’s.Moving on from the music genre, the 2 new movies channels- HOME THEATRE-Entertainment Recharged & MARATHI TALKIES-Cinema Aaplapacks the best blockbusters from Hindi & Marathi cinema, respectively.  With its slick and youthful packaging, HOME THEATRE will provide the best &latest moviesfrom multiple genres like action, romance, thriller, comedy, family etc. The new entrant, MARATHI TALKIESinspired by the warm, rustic, earthy yet colourful Marathi flavour will offer the best of old & new Marathi movies.

    Commenting on the launch of the new channels,  Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director & CEO Jagdish Kumar said, “As we move ahead to build the Hathway brand and achieve our business objectives, we have set another big milestone to launch a dedicated bouquet of channels which will redefine the way consumers look at Digital Cable channels. These 4 new channels are a start to our endeavor of creating a strong bouquet in multiple genres which will add a new dimension to Hathway and offer varied content to our loyal subscribers.”

    With the digitization era moving ahead towards its sunset and fast-changing trends, consumers are looking at new avenues to consume entertainment content. Some of the best international channels in the entertainment, movies, kids, sports and other domains are built on insights of how a consumer associates with the channels as a personal tool for entertainment, in terms of its style, quality and efficacy of content. Hathways’ new channels have been designed on this very insight that content packaged in the right way and with technology upgrade is the new mantra to bringing consumers closer to entertainment. To build hype and buzz about the channels, Hathway has launched teasers campaigns both offline and online and will be doing a series of marketing activities in the coming days across Print, TV (internal and cross), Digital, PR and OOH to create consumer and trade awareness.

    Hathway Cable & Datacom Video business president T.S. Panesar said, “With DJAY, LAMHE, HOME THEATRE, MARATHI TALKIES, we have started on an aggressive journey to create a potent line-up which will match the best of satellite channels and offer similar experience to our consumers. We are changing the face of cable channels in India by investing in content, technology, design, aesthetics, packagingwhich is young & dynamic and appeals to younger audiences. These channels will add a new dimension to our business, giving us an edge over competition and help us grow to the next level. Very soon, we will reposition & rebrand the entire existing stable of channels to have a strong family. ”

    From today, 25th April, DJAY, LAMHE and HOME THEATRE will be available across the country for Hathway subscribers while MARATHI TALKIES can be enjoyed only by audiences in Maharashtra. The channels will be available on FTA basis for now and part of the BST and Prime packs. The company is also working aggressively to build strong revenue from advertising sales and subscription in days to come.

     

  • Hathway launches new music and movie channels

    Hathway launches new music and movie channels

    MUMBAI: Hathway has launched a series of four new channels in the music & movie genres as they set on an ambitious roadmap to create a robust bouquet of channels which will offer Hathway subscribers, the best of entertainment package exclusively.

    The four new channels- Djay, Lamhe, Home Theatre and Marathi Talkies have been designed and packaged in a new vibrant, dynamic and cutting-edge look providing a sophisticated, satellite-like experience to Hathway subscribers, thus, offering them wide array of content with a fresh appeal.

    In the present day & age where consumer demands are growing and content is becoming accessible across multiple platforms, several broadcasters have been launching channels in different genres to cater to varied audiences and increasing reach. It is very rare for a TV platform, especially, a digital Cable platform to come out with contemporary channels which offer the best, customised content in a way which appeals to mass segments of consumers. Hathway is one of the only large MSOs that consist of a series of in-house channels, both pan-India as well as regionally. The launch of these 4 new channels adds to the strong existing line-up and with its distinctive approach& innovation in design, content & technology, Hathway is changing the way cable channels are perceived by giving it a contemporary, modern look which can match & compete with any of the satellite channels.

    DJAY-Music Redefined and Lamhe-Music Forever are the music channels from the Hathway stable which will bring the best of new and old melodies to music-lovers. While DJAY is Infinite, Young & Energetic bringing latest Bollywood tracks from the 2000 era which will appeal to the Gen-X,LAMHE brings back the old melodious flavour in a new-age persona by reliving the golden era of 50’s to 80’s.Moving on from the music genre, the 2 new movies channels- HOME THEATRE-Entertainment Recharged & MARATHI TALKIES-Cinema Aaplapacks the best blockbusters from Hindi & Marathi cinema, respectively.  With its slick and youthful packaging, HOME THEATRE will provide the best &latest moviesfrom multiple genres like action, romance, thriller, comedy, family etc. The new entrant, MARATHI TALKIESinspired by the warm, rustic, earthy yet colourful Marathi flavour will offer the best of old & new Marathi movies.

    Commenting on the launch of the new channels,  Hathway Cable & Datacom managing director & CEO Jagdish Kumar said, “As we move ahead to build the Hathway brand and achieve our business objectives, we have set another big milestone to launch a dedicated bouquet of channels which will redefine the way consumers look at Digital Cable channels. These 4 new channels are a start to our endeavor of creating a strong bouquet in multiple genres which will add a new dimension to Hathway and offer varied content to our loyal subscribers.”

    With the digitization era moving ahead towards its sunset and fast-changing trends, consumers are looking at new avenues to consume entertainment content. Some of the best international channels in the entertainment, movies, kids, sports and other domains are built on insights of how a consumer associates with the channels as a personal tool for entertainment, in terms of its style, quality and efficacy of content. Hathways’ new channels have been designed on this very insight that content packaged in the right way and with technology upgrade is the new mantra to bringing consumers closer to entertainment. To build hype and buzz about the channels, Hathway has launched teasers campaigns both offline and online and will be doing a series of marketing activities in the coming days across Print, TV (internal and cross), Digital, PR and OOH to create consumer and trade awareness.

    Hathway Cable & Datacom Video business president T.S. Panesar said, “With DJAY, LAMHE, HOME THEATRE, MARATHI TALKIES, we have started on an aggressive journey to create a potent line-up which will match the best of satellite channels and offer similar experience to our consumers. We are changing the face of cable channels in India by investing in content, technology, design, aesthetics, packagingwhich is young & dynamic and appeals to younger audiences. These channels will add a new dimension to our business, giving us an edge over competition and help us grow to the next level. Very soon, we will reposition & rebrand the entire existing stable of channels to have a strong family. ”

    From today, 25th April, DJAY, LAMHE and HOME THEATRE will be available across the country for Hathway subscribers while MARATHI TALKIES can be enjoyed only by audiences in Maharashtra. The channels will be available on FTA basis for now and part of the BST and Prime packs. The company is also working aggressively to build strong revenue from advertising sales and subscription in days to come.

     

  • DAS: Total number of provisional MSO licence holders rises to 596, taking total to over 825

    DAS: Total number of provisional MSO licence holders rises to 596, taking total to over 825

    NEW DELHI: 22 April: Even as the digital addressable system comes under a cloud with cases of extension getting transferred to Delhi High Court, the government has cleared 35 multi system operators for provisional licences in the first twenty days of this month and took the total to 827 including 231 which have ten-year licences.

    The last list issued as on 31 March had put the total at 792 including the 231 which have permanent (ten-year) licences.

    The Information and Broadcasting had by 12 January cancelled the licences of 26 MSOs and closed their cases.

    According to the list issued today but dated till 21 April, the areas of operation of two MSOs have been revised or amended in the past three weeks.

    Unlike the last list, two of the MSOs have got pan-India licences while the others are for specific states or districts in respective states. The new registrations are from Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

    With the Home Ministry directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, the pace remains slow.

    The permanent licence issued to Kal Cable of Chennai had been cancelled on 20 August, 2014 but this cancellation was set aside by Madras High Court on 5 September the same year. However, Kal Cable’s name continues to be in the cancelled list – presumably because the cases are still pending. 

    Sources denied that denial of security clearance was the reason for provisional licences and said many MSOs holding provisional licences had not completed certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

     

  • DAS: Total number of provisional MSO licence holders rises to 596, taking total to over 825

    DAS: Total number of provisional MSO licence holders rises to 596, taking total to over 825

    NEW DELHI: 22 April: Even as the digital addressable system comes under a cloud with cases of extension getting transferred to Delhi High Court, the government has cleared 35 multi system operators for provisional licences in the first twenty days of this month and took the total to 827 including 231 which have ten-year licences.

    The last list issued as on 31 March had put the total at 792 including the 231 which have permanent (ten-year) licences.

    The Information and Broadcasting had by 12 January cancelled the licences of 26 MSOs and closed their cases.

    According to the list issued today but dated till 21 April, the areas of operation of two MSOs have been revised or amended in the past three weeks.

    Unlike the last list, two of the MSOs have got pan-India licences while the others are for specific states or districts in respective states. The new registrations are from Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

    With the Home Ministry directive about doing away with security clearances for MSOs not being communicated in writing to the MIB, the pace remains slow.

    The permanent licence issued to Kal Cable of Chennai had been cancelled on 20 August, 2014 but this cancellation was set aside by Madras High Court on 5 September the same year. However, Kal Cable’s name continues to be in the cancelled list – presumably because the cases are still pending. 

    Sources denied that denial of security clearance was the reason for provisional licences and said many MSOs holding provisional licences had not completed certain formalities relating to shareholders and so on.

     

  • Canara Star asked by TDSAT to pay Star India Rs 18.91 lakh subject to final outcome of dispute

    Canara Star asked by TDSAT to pay Star India Rs 18.91 lakh subject to final outcome of dispute

    NEW DELHI: The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has directed  Canara Star Communications Pvt Ltd Karnataka, to pay to Star India a sum of Rs.18.91 lakhs for both Kumta and Bhatkal up to 3 March 2016.

    Chairman  Aftab Alam and member B B Srivastava said “These payments are interim and without prejudice to the rights and contentions of either party.”

    Rejecting the plea by the multi-system operator that it was entitled to a further reduction of 15 per cent in the monthly subscription amount fixed under the expired agreements as a result of the setting aside of the Tariff Order by TRAI that allowed 15 per cent enhancement to the MSOs, the tribunal fixed the matter for further hearing on 19 April.

    The tribunal noted that there is no material to prima facie substantiate this assertion and saw no reason to allow any further reduction in the dues which the petitioner could be liable to pay to the respondent as an interim measure.

    Canara Star had originally come before the tribunal against disconnection notices by Star India as for default in payment. One of the grounds on which the disconnection notice were challenged was that another MSO had started operating in those areas and as a result the petitioner’s subscriber base had gone down substantially and the petitioner had been making request for downgradation of its subscriber base and consequently a reduction in the fixed fee payable by it as monthly subscription fee.  There appeared to be some substance in the petitioner’s grievance and on a joint request, the matter was referred to the Mediation Centre.

    The tribunal was informed that before the Mediation Centre, the parties were able to arrive at some understanding in regard to Kumta and Bhatkal areas but Canara Star was also getting signals from Star India for transmission in the DAS area of Bangalore and there too the MSO happened to be in default in payment of the subscription fees.

    Star India wanted a comprehensive settlement that should cover both analogue and digital areas covering not only Kumta and Bhatkal but Bangalore also. A comprehensive settlement, as desired by Star India could not take place and the matter came back to the tribunal.

    The subscription agreement between the parties relating to Kumta and Bhatkal came to end on 31 June 2015.  Under the subscription agreement, the petitioner was liable to pay the monthly subscription fee at the rate of Rs.2,60,081 per month for Kumta and Rs.2,10,716 per month for Bhatkal.  In February 2015 when the petition was filed before the Tribunal the dues against the petitioner amounted to Rs.32.95 lakhs for both Kumta and Bhatkal. By order of 3 February 2015, the petitioner was directed to make payment of the aforesaid amount in two installments subject to which Star India was directed not to disconnect the supply of its signals to Canara Star. Thereafter, the MSO had made some further payments of admitted dues in terms of orders passed by the tribunal from time to time and it continues to receive the signals for transmission in those areas.

    No fresh subscription agreement has so far been executed between the parties.

    According to the respondent, at the rate fixed under the expired agreement, its dues against the MSO now amount to Rs.48.94 lakhs for both Kumta and Bhatkal. Star India counsel Kunal Tandon however submitted that in course of the mediation proceedings, Star India had agreed to give the MSO a discount of Rs.1,07,305 per month for Kumta area and Rs.67,703 for Bhatkal area with effect from November 2014.  He submitted that if computations are made taking into account the discount to which the respondent had agreed and computing the monthly subscription fees after allowing the discounts, the dues would come to Rs.18.91 lakhs for both Kumta and Bhatkal upto 31.03.2016.

    However, Canara Star counsel Tushar Singh wanted further reduction of 15 per cent in the monthly subscription amount fixed under the expired agreements as a result of the setting aside of the Tariff Order by TRAI that allowed 15 per cent enhancement to the MSOs.