ITV

Tag: MSO

  • Hathway Cable gets board nod to hike FII limit to 74 per cent

    Hathway Cable gets board nod to hike FII limit to 74 per cent

    MUMBAI: It was in 2012, when the government had relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in direct to home (DTH), cable TV industry and teleports from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. In keeping with this, Hathway Cable & Datacom which early this week became the first multi system operator (MSO) to have crossed the $1 billion mark in terms of enterprise valuation, is now probably looking at attracting overseas capital into the company.

    The MSO has in an announcement to the BSE informed that its Board of Directors have approved and passed the resolution to increase the foreign investment limit from the current 49 per cent to 74 per cent, this subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India, Ministry of Finance and/or the Reserve Bank of India.

    “Subject to receipt of approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India, Ministry of Finance (FIPB) and / or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and all other applicable authorities, increasing the foreign investment limit only by Foreign Institutional Investors, Foreign Portfolio Investors, etc. under the Portfolio Investment Scheme in accordance with Schedules 2 and 2A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000 in the Company from 49 per cent to 74 per cent of the issued arid fully paid-up share capital of the Company,” reads the announcement.

    The Hathway Board has also passed the resolution of a postal ballot notice along with the explanatory statement and calendar of events for seeking approval of the shareholders of the Company by postal ballot for its foreign investment proposal.

    According to Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO and MD Jagdish Kumar Pillai, the cable TV sector is becoming lucrative for foreign investors. Pillai had earlier told Indiantelevision.com, “With broadband and cable TV getting more transparent, the market is viewing this as a great industry to invest in the next five years, and that’s reflected in the balance sheet. It is a promise of a good potential.”

    With the industry getting more organised courtesy its digitsation drive, Pillai expects more foreign investors to pump in funds into the cable TV sector.

     

  • 142 MSOs get 10 year DAS licence for specified areas, 26 denied permission

    142 MSOs get 10 year DAS licence for specified areas, 26 denied permission

    NEW DELHI: A total of 11 multi-system operators (MSOs) from  all over the country have been granted permanent registration for 10 years to operate the digital addressable system (DAS) during the last two months, bringing the total number of registered MSOs to 142 as compared by 131, as on 7 November.

    Most of these MSOs had been given provisional permission earlier.

    The MSOs who have received permission after the last list released of 7 November are Karuvai Communications for DAS areas in Tamil Nadu, Ajana Cable Network for DAS notified area of phase III in Vaijapur, Aurangabad in Maharashtra, New Peime Network DAS notified in Dehradun, Haridwar, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag, Chamoli Garhwal, and Uttarkashi Districts in Uttarakhand; Jai Mata Di Cable Network for DAS notified areas in Mehendergarh, Rewari, Bhiwani & Jhajjar District of Haryana and Alwar & Jhunjhnu Districts of Rajasthan; Onsky Technology for PAN India; Space Television Network for DAS notified area in Municipal Council of Greater Mumbai in phase I and rest of Maharashtra in phase III; Haldwani Digital Services for the State of Uttarakhand; V. R. Cable for the cities of Kanyakumari, Tuticorin and Chennai in Tamil Nadu; Satellite Cable Communication for phase II, III, and IV areas in Pune District and Nasik District; R.D Cable Network for DAS notified area in Canacona, Quepem, Sanguem and Salcettte in Goa; the Orugallu Communications for DAS notified areas under Phase II,  III and IV in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana;

    The list of MSOs who have been refused permission has gone up to 26 from the earlier figure of 22 with four MSOs being denied permission. Some of those in the cancelled list applied as early as March 2013.

    MSO sources, however, said that the approved list was in addition to the 140 whose names had been approved earlier in March last year.

    The Ministry website mib.nic.in has listed the areas and the date from which the MSOs have been given permission.

     

  • DEN Networks gets new CEO in Pradeep Parameswaran

    DEN Networks gets new CEO in Pradeep Parameswaran

    MUMBAI: Multi system operator (MSO) DEN Networks has roped in Pradeep Parameswaran as its new chief executive officer (CEO). The position was left vacant after SN Sharma, one of the founding members of DEN Networks quit in September 2014.

     

    Parameswaran   joins   DEN  from McKinsey  and  Co  where  he  was  a partner  and  was  leading  the telecoms,  media  and  technology practice  in  India  and  of  the  operations  and  technology  function  within  telecoms,  media  and technology in Asia.

     

    He holds an engineering   degree from   Mumbai   University   with a Masters in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj and an MBA from Vanderbilt University in the US. Besides McKinsey, he has also worked with Hindustan Unilever and AT Kearney.

  • MSO’s request govt to set up regional units to facilitate DAS registrations

    MSO’s request govt to set up regional units to facilitate DAS registrations

    NEW DELHI: Even as the government has agreed to consider extension of four to five weeks for registration of multi system operators (MSO), who want to opt for phase III of the Digital Addressable System (DAS), the government has been asked to consider setting up regional units to facilitate such registrations.

    Speaking at the task force meeting last week, several stakeholders also wanted online registration for MSO’s wanting to enter their names for phase III.

    Ministry additional secretary J S Mathur, who chaired the meeting, also said that meetings were being organised between manufacturers of indigenous set top boxes and the Ministry of Information and Technology.

    Mathur responding to queries from some MSO’s wanted them to prepare a list of areas in phase III which were currently not being reached by cable television. A member had pointed out that a Headend In The Sky (HITS) platform could be used in such areas.

    Some consumer organisations which are part of the task force, said they will need to organise workshops in different parts of the country to help people understand DAS.  

    The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) representatives said that the association was planning such workshops in Kerala and Guwahati. Mathur asked CII to give him details of the workshops when they are scheduled.

    Mathur regretted that the number of stakeholders attending the meetings was very minimal and expressed hope that later meetings will be attended by larger number of members.

    In the last meeting it had been announced that the task force would meet every month to ensure deadlines are met and phase III of DAS comes into operation by December 2016.

     

  • 2014: The year that changed landscape of distribution

    2014: The year that changed landscape of distribution

    2014 has been the most exciting and an eventful year for us in the Media and Distribution Industry. The phrase “There is never a dull moment” is so apt to define the year of 2014 that changed the landscape of distribution so significantly and posed challenges like never before. The year started on a promising note for the Industry with the impact of digitisation settling down and the benefits of this shift starting to roll in. Reduction in carriage fees and an upswing in subscription revenues indicated change, yet the industry continued to grapple with implementation of packaging at the retail level.

    Value chain as a whole moved towards a more structured form, with constituents at each level moving from an adhoc/ flat fee commercial arrangement to CPS model. Subscription flow from LCO to MSO which was significantly low in analog era started growing. Wider choice at the subscriber end also helped growth in ARPUs.

    One of the biggest changes that shall significantly impact the distribution model is BARC becoming a reality. It is set to redefine the way all of us look at distribution. Expansion in LC1 markets and forthcoming BARC measurement is pushing every broadcaster expand visibility to the deepest, darkest corners of the country. Such is the scope of expansion that it will require any organisation 24-30 months to plan, execute and brace one of the biggest change in the history of distribution.

    DTH industry saw a major shift this year in their outlook towards the business. Almost all of them moved away from the customer acquisition mode to better profitability. While the story of subscriber acquisition was not exceptionally different over the previous year, DTH companies managed churn, HD and ARPU increasingly well.    

    No other year has seen a bigger storm than 2014 in the Regulatory environment. There were so many storming changes that touched every stakeholder in the distribution chain. TRAI came out with regulatory changes like Disaggregation, DAS phase III and IV, Commercial establishments and Ad-Cap. The new regulatory environment posed new challenges such as keeping partners together, protecting bottomline revenue and remaining relevant in the new regime. Postponement of digitisation in phase III & IV caused recalibration of business plans by all stakeholders. TRAI’s regulatory change for commercial establishments affected an entire revenue stream of broadcasters and the matter continues to be fiercely litigated.

    Going into 2015, we strongly believe the industry will undergo some paradigm shifts in the way we do business. Implementation of RIOs in cable will see packaging in cable become a reality. Digital platforms hence shall compete effectively. Carriage fee, a big cost for broadcasters will get reduced to miniscule or only exist for FTA channels. HD and broadband in cable will see a big swing to drive revenues significantly for the cable companies. More interesting deals like DEN-Snapdeal shall emerge. DTH players shall equally bring about next level of offers to bring more value to the subscribers such as OTT, 4K boxes, TV Everywhere, and Binge viewing being offered to the consumers.

    For us here at IndiaCast UTV, the year 2014 was equally exciting. In face of compelling challenges, we en-cashed on the opportunities to attain significant growth. There is ample evidence that we are moving forward and in the right direction. In light of disaggregation, IndiaCast UTV was successfully appointed as the authorised agent for TV 18, Disney UTV and ETPL and the broadcasters reposed full faith in the our team. Transcending these regulatory changes, we emerged stronger than ever.

    On the DTH front, we saw all our renewals happening during the year. We had to up our ante and attain a fair share for the unmatched content that the network stands for. It was tough convincing the platforms but eventually they saw sense in the value we bring to the table. We are proud to say that we were able to stitch our multi-year content deals with all the DTH platforms at a healthy growth rate. On the visibility front, we embarked upon the biggest challenge to put in place an entire LC1 team and collectively put in thousands of manpower hours to expand our reach across the length and breadth of the country. Our ratings in the past few months are a testimony to the efforts of the affiliate team who seeded our channels in a number of new networks across smaller markets.

    The year also saw us successfully launching and distributing the third Hindi GEC “EPIC” which expanded the GEC space by offering a season based formats based on Indian Mythology and folklore. Viacom18 gave a myriad of entertainment options with Colors being the frontrunner in Hindi GEC space, launch of new Hindi GEC “Rishtey”, MTV Indies creating a new space in Music genre and by launching “24” – India’s first international non-reality format show with international standard production quality. TV 18 maintained its leadership position and added a business news channel in Gujarati called CNBC Bajar to its portfolio. The regional offering was strengthened by launching four news channels under the ETV banner – Kannada, Bangla, Gujarati and Haryana.

    This year has seen IndiaCast UTV coming of age, adding stability and propelled us to achieve more. We are confident of setting new benchmarks for ourselves and for the industry and embark on a larger journey which will see us coming out stronger than ever before. We are looking forward to an exciting and eventful 2015.

     

     (These are purely personal views of IndiaCast UTV Media Distribution EVP Amit Arora and indiantelevision.com does not necessarily subscribe to these views)

  • MSOs applying for DAS may get extension of four or five weeks, Task Force informed

    NEW DELHI: The deadline for multi-system operators (MSOs) wanting to apply for digital addressable systems (DAS) licence for phase III and IV may be extended by four to five weeks.

     

    This was indicated during the Task Force meeting on DAS held today, presided over by Ministry Additional Secretary J S Mathur and attended among others by the Adviser for DAS, Yogendra Pal.

     

    MSOs were asked to provide detailed seeding plans for the third phase which concludes in December next year.

     

    MSOs who want to complete DAS in their areas even before the last date on a voluntary basis were asked to negotiate directly with broadcasters, and with the subscribers in their respective areas.

     

    When some MSOs and cable operators referred to some ‘cable-dark’ areas – areas not reached by cable operators, the Ministry wanted the MSOs and other stakeholders to identify such areas.

     

    The meeting was held in keeping with an assurance last month that the meeting would be held every month.

     

    In the last meeting that was held on 21 November it was told that a total of 11 crore set top boxes will be needed for the third and final phase of digital addressable system of which only three crore will be for direct-to-home platforms.

     

  • Delhi HC wants to know if DTH players can run FM channels and VAS

    Delhi HC wants to know if DTH players can run FM channels and VAS

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sought a response of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and six direct-to-home (DTH) operators on a public interest litigation seeking to restrain DTH service providers from carrying any channel or value added service (VAS) which are not registered with or permitted by the government.

    The court passed the order on the plea of Hyderabad-based NGO Media Watch-India (MWI) which alleged that DTH service providers carry self-promotion advertisements in violation of uplinking and downlinking guidelines.

    Listing the matter for 4 March next year, a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice P S Teji issued notice to the Ministry as well as six DTH providers – Bharti Telemedia, Tata Sky, Dish TV, Sun Direct TV, Reliance Big TV and Bharat Business channel.

    Counsel Gaurav Kumar Bansal said that value added services like ‘movie on demand’ or games are provided without specific licence from the Ministry. The NGO has said that even FM radio channels are being illegally provided and has sought orders restraining the DTH operators from providing these services.

    The petitioner contended that the Ministry instead of taking action against these entities has been playing the role of a spectator while “statutory guidelines are being flouted with impunity by the private DTH operators”.

    Meanwhile, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recently issued a consultation on regulating platform services of service provider including MSOs cable operators and DTH operators and has also given the recommendation on 19 November which are under consideration of the Ministry.

     

  • IMCL introduces prepaid payment options

    IMCL introduces prepaid payment options

    MUMBAI: It was in February 2014, when Tony D’silva took charge as the MD and group CEO of IMCL and laid the vision of adopting a prepaid model. And as the year comes to an end, the dream has been accomplished.

    The multi system operator (MSO) has brought in two important additions in its operations. One, it has introduced prepaid model for all its a-la-carte including Star channels and mini packs for consumers; and two, the MSO has introduced a prepaid system for last mile owners (LMOs) offering packages to their consumers.

     “The prepaid model is applicable for a-la-carte, Star channels and for the mini-packs. So if a consumer wants all the GECs plus sports or English entertainment channels, they can create a mini-pack and can pay for that through our website or by going to the cash counters. We have introduced all the payment modes that are available for recharge of DTH and telecom,” informs D’silva.

    The prepaid model for a-la-carte channels and mini packs was introduced after broadcaster Star India decided to enter into only Reference Interconnect Offer (RIO) deals with MSOs.  

    This apart, a prepaid mode of payment for LMOs selling packages to their consumers has also been introduced from 1 December. “The reason behind this is that the same pack is priced differently in different parts of the city by the LMOs. In this case, we, as MSOs have no control over the pricing given by the LMO and so we decided that the LMO should pay for the packs they give to their consumers upfront to us,” he informs.

     “In case the LMO does not pay for the packs that they give to their consumers, we will either downgrade them or remove all pay channels from them,” adds D’silva.

    It can be noted that MSO Siti Cable too is looking at a similar prepaid model, wherein the LMOs would deposit an advance to the MSO to take signals and then collect the same from the consumer. The LMO according to the prepaid model will get the signals from the MSO till his credit balance remains.  The MSO is testing the viability of the model in Delhi first, and has decided to replicate it in other states, at a later stage.

    According to D’silva, prepaid model of payment is the only way by which the process of monetisation of packages can begin. Talking about the response, he says that of the 2.2 million IMCL subscribers, so far 100,000 subscribers have used the prepaid model. “This shows that the market wants a payment mode like this,” he adds.

    Also from the LMO point of view, as per D’silva, the collection is going good. “This is the only way that cable industry can move,” he opines.  

    So will the prepaid model help increase ARPUs? Says D’silva, “Everything is about packaging and bundling. Nobody watches more than 20 channels, so if I can give these 20 channels at a reasonable price and after that add extra channels of the choice of consumers; it wouldn’t pinch the consumer’s pocket.”

     

  • Hinduja Venture’s HITS project to rollout by April 2015

    Hinduja Venture’s HITS project to rollout by April 2015

    MUMBAI: Hinduja Ventures’ Headend in the Sky (HITS) project will soon see the light of day. While the platform will start the field testing in January-February 2015, the actual rollout will take place between March-May 2015.

    “We are working as per the plan and are on schedule,” informs IMCL MD and group CEO Tony D’silva to indiantelevision.com.

    The platform is in talks with several independent MSOs and LMOs.  “By the time we launch, we will have close to 8-10 million consumers being serviced through our HITS platform,” he says.

    In order to gauge the interest level of the operators in the HITS project, Hinduja conducted a major research in nine states including four states from the south, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and others. “The study was done by an outside agency and involved close to 1000 operators,” informs D’silva who is elated with the results.

    According to D’silva, the research shows that the operators are happy with the cash and carry model being offered by Hinduja’s HITS model. This apart, the study revealed that the operators are also excited about the customised packaging and bundling at a charge which is 50 per cent lower than what they would pay for this kind of setup.

    While the study also shows that the operators are excited about the launch, D’silva says that he doesn’t want to launch it in a hurry. “We want to test our services and make sure that the set top boxes (STBs) are of top quality. There have been a lot of issues with the boxes all across the country and so we want to subject the STBs to all kinds of heat, cold, dust etc test,” he adds.  

    The operators are also happy to do a small Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) for the boxes, probably at the cost of Rs 5 per subscriber per month, so that replacement of STBs becomes easier.

    As for the licence clearance from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, D’silva says that the process is moving smoothly. “We will get the final licence in hand only after we are ready for the rollout and pay Rs 40 crore as bank guarantee. Licence will not be an issue any more,” he says.

    D’silva claims that the platform has got the best products and four vendors have been roped in to provide the STBs.  “While no indigenous STB manufacturers are currently onboard, we are still looking at them. We want MPEG4 boxes at the same commercial terms as others. But, we haven’t got any positive feedback from them as yet,” informs D’silva.  

    As for the name of the platform, D’silva says that the research for the name is on. “I think, while brand name is good for us to build but at this point, HITS as a concept is more understood by the LMOs and so we do not want to confuse them at this stage,” he adds.  

    No agreements will be signed between the MSO or LMO and HITS, but a MoU could be signed before the HITS project is launched. “We cannot sign an agreement before the launch, since we will get the licence only after the rollout, but we may enter into MoUs.”

    The marketing campaign about the new launch will commence from middle or end of January. “We are providing a very competitive service to fight any competition, with value added services etc. We are also providing HD STBs to operators at the cost of SD boxes. We are entering the market looking at the future and not today,” signs off D’silva.

     

  • Hathway launches HD personal video recorder

    Hathway launches HD personal video recorder

    MUMBAI:   The cable and broadband service provider, Hathway, has launched a high definition personal video recorder. Hathway is the first national MSO to launch a HD PVR.

     

    The Hathway HD PVR has several features that will enhance the TV viewing experience of Hathway customers:

    •     Dedicated Search button on the remote to search content by keying in search words, like actors name, sporting events etc. A first in the country.

    •     Pause LIVE TV

    •     Rewind LIVE TV

    •     Planned Recording

    –    Schedule recording of your favourite programs

    –    Series recording possible

    –    Record upto two different programs while watching the third.

    •     1080i Resolution HD video out supported

    •     7.1 Dolby Digital Plus supported

    •     500 GB disk storage to record upto 625 hours of content

     

    The HD PVR is being launched at a special introductory price of Rs 7999 with one month complimentary viewing for all SD and HD package channels.  Options with six months and one year packages are also available at attractive prices.

     

    Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar said, “The launch of the HD PVR is yet another milestone for the cable industry. The TV viewing habits of customers are continuously evolving. Given the hectic lifestyle of consumers today our HD PVR gives them total control over their TV viewing experience through features like ‘Search’, ‘Pause and Rewind LIVE TV’ and ‘Record program or Series’. Hathway’s mission is to provide an incomparable world class TV viewing experience to every Indian customer.”

     

    Marketing and business development EVP Kunal Ramteke added, “With the advent of the holiday season the “Record” feature will ensure  customers don’t miss out on their favourite TV programs even when they are off on vacation. The Hathway HD PVR is the first in the country with the powerful Cisco Evo 12 EPG, not deployed by any MSO or DTH player and showcases our commitment to provide cutting edge global features for digital television in India.”