ITV

Tag: OTT

  • Tata Sky deploys DataMiner to improve customer experience

    Tata Sky deploys DataMiner to improve customer experience

    MUMBAI: Tata Sky has an impeccable reputation as being best in class in the area of customer services, tech and offerings. It has constantly been investing in tech and customer service to stay ahead of the curve as compared to rivals – Freedish, DishTV-Videocond2h, SunDirect, Airtel Digital and Reliance Big TV.

    Now the company, led by Harit Nagpal, has taken another step in that direction by deploying the DataMiner NMS/OSS (network management system & operations support system) to manage its direct-to-home (DTH) operations for both its pay TV and OTT services.

    DataMiner is a global leader in end-to-end multi-vendor network management and OSS software solutions for the broadcast, satellite, cable, telco and mobile industry. Its NMS/OSS is deployed with a majority of DTH, satellite and service providers worldwide. Its customers include: Gazprom, MTS, France Television, Megacable, Mulitchoice, KPN, Immarsat, Singtel, ABC and many more.  The company is a part of the Skyline Communications group.

    The core of the DataMiner system is a cutting-edge multivendor protocol engine, enabling integration of any device or system from any vendor, regardless of its interface or protocol. In fact, it is already integrated with over 5000 devices and systems from more than 600 key industry suppliers, which represents by far the largest third-party integration deployment available in the industry.

    The objective of Tata Sky, one of the first companies in India to launch multiple products and services, is to connect to the best content in the world on any budget, any screen, anytime and anywhere. And the Dataminer solution offered that.

    Says Tata Sky chief technology officer Yigit Riza: “Tata Sky has invested in the best-of-breed technology infrastructure to ensure maximum uptime, reliability and scalability. Software applications such as CRM, billing and ERP are deployed in a clustered environment, which not only ensures high availability, but also enriches the experience of our subscribers.”

    “The DataMiner Platform at Tata Sky offers one-screen access of the entire operation, including content acquisition and compression platforms across different vendors and technologies. The unified view enables users to easily access and configure services. DataMiner is also scalable, so we can add other equipment and systems in the near future, related to the RF platform and OTT platform,”  adds Skyline Communications regional account manager- south Asia & middle east Pramod Gupta.

    Gupta points out that DataMiner will help the DTH operator’s engineering room restore services as quickly as possible, either through automatic service redundancy switching or through operator-initiated switchover.

    “Moreover, any embedded switchover functions in the network infrastructure can be integrated in DataMiner. DataMiner automation is versatile and adapts optimally to the operational environment. The tailored failover automation engines decrease the mean-time-to-repair to the absolute minimum for every failure scenario,” Gupta says.

    For a customer like Tata Sky, this means it only need to invest in one NMS platform, instead of multiple proprietary and closed systems. End-to-end service orchestration and monitoring is at the heart of the platform.

    With the number of channels as well as its in house VAS services  increasing regularly,  the company believes  DataMiner will help it maintain or improve the QoS service it is reputed to deliver.

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  • STBs, VoDs & IPTV will soon have high-end TV content via Tata-V-Nova tech

    STBs, VoDs & IPTV will soon have high-end TV content via Tata-V-Nova tech

    MUMBAI: V-Nova Ltd., a leading provider of video compression solutions, and Tata Elxsi, a leading provider of specialised broadcast and communications engineering services, have announced a partnership that enables operators to deploy V-Nova Perseus technology at an accelerated pace.

    – Strategic partnership offers broadcasters and operators unique solutions and know-how for TV delivery to connected devices and set-top boxes.

    – Joint offering leverages Tata Elxsi’s system integration expertise to enhance performance, simplify deployment and reduce operating costs.

    – Customers will benefit from faster time to market with V-Nova Perseus-based solutions.

    Tata Elxsi has already integrated V-Nova’s award-winning technology within the set-top-box (STB) of a satellite TV operator in Europe, enabling rapid deployment and immediate benefits.

    V-Nova Perseus offers the benefits of next-generation codecs, on available encoders and decoders, at the same time providing substantial reductions in processing power requirements. Compatible with Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) hardware, including both legacy and the latest generation of STBs, PERSEUS provides optimum performance at the operating points that are key for service delivery.

    The benefits are particularly suited to (VoDs) video-hungry services, from HD and UHD TV to social media applications, across all delivery networks. V-Nova Perseus is compatible with existing h.264/HEVC workflows irrespective of DRM, streaming protocol such as HLS and DASH, ad-insertion and other processes.

    Perseus has been deployed in a number of applications, from contribution to IPTV and OTT delivery in multiple countries worldwide.

    V-Nova CEO Guido Meardi said: “Together with Tata Elxsi, we can help operators turbocharge the performance of their services with the rapid deployment of V-Nova Perseus 2 on custom integrations across a wide range of client devices, including legacy and new cable, IPTV and satellite STBs.”

    Using its extensive domain depth, product design and integration expertise, Tata Elxsi will provide fast and reliable delivery of V-Nova PERSEUS-based solutions for broadcasters, Pay TV operators, content owners and video service providers. With a backing of over 25 years of experience in technology, systems integration and consulting, Tata Elxsi can maximize the benefits of the deployment of V-Nova Perseus within operator specific head-ends, ad-servers, cloud environments and set-top-box middleware, while minimizing time to market.

    Tata Elxsi VP and head of broadcast business unit KP Sreekumar said: “V-Nova Perseus 2 is a natural fit for our broadcast and communications clients, and we look forward to work closely together to maximize existing services and enable new use cases.”

    The joint offering, combining the performance of V-Nova Perseus with Tata Elxsi’s know-how, will be readily available to operators and broadcasters looking to maximize the potential of video services across connected devices and set-top boxes.

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  • OTT twenty3.tv to stream FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship

    OTT twenty3.tv to stream FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship

    MUMBAI: The 2017 FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship season returned to Asia with the world’s best SuperMoto rider competing for the year’s regional championship title. Gearing up for the season opener on 2 and 3 September 2017 at Thailand Circuit Motorsport Complex, Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand, motorsports enthusiast can rejoice as the championship streams live for global fans on twenty3.tv.

    “The 2017 FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship will be more competitive with the return of top international riders and manufacturers competing for the ultimate title. This year, global fans will be treated with more action packed SuperMoto races,” said Satheswaran Mayachandran, CEO of Asia Supersports Group.

    Tony Nagamaiah, General Manager of Malaysia Major Events, expressed his excitement for the season’s return. “FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship had been a catalyst for the growth of Malaysia’s reputation as a hub for international motorsport scene. Asia Supersports Group has created a bridge to bond agencies and government bodies between every host countries through the championship. I am looking forward to the development of the 2017 season, and I am confident that the championship will lead to greater tourism growth for Malaysia.”

    Nineteen top international SuperMoto riders worldwide will muster for the SuperMoto season, competing for the ultimate pride for their country. 2015 season champion from Thailand, Trakarn Thangthong, rejoins the race and vows to steal the fame from his Malaysian successor, Muhd Habibullah bin Saleh.

    Official OTT Channel Partner, twenty3.tv powered by E-Plus Global, provides HD Live Streaming and Video-on-Demand (VOD) sports and related lifestyle content. Every round of this year’s FIM Asia Supermoto Championship will be streamed live via twenty3.tv which will also have VOD and highlight shows for race.

    The 2017 FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship grand finale will be held at Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.

    FIM Asia SuperMoto Championship is promoted by Asia Supersports Group, a consortium of three companies namely Bikenation Motorsports Sdn Bhd, Trade My Superbike and E-Plus Global Sdn Bhd; sanctioned by FIM Asia; and supported by Malaysia Major Events, a division of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia), Kelab Blogger Ben Ashaari and TX Sports.

  • Dish TV shoots off letter to IBF; alleges discrimination by b’casters, OTT platforms

    Dish TV shoots off letter to IBF; alleges discrimination by b’casters, OTT platforms

    NEW DELHI: In a move that’s certain to set the cat amongst the pigeons, Dish TV, one of India’s biggest satellite platform in terms of subscribers, has not only accused broadcasters of  “discrimination” relating to making available content to various pay distribution platforms vis-à-vis likes of OTT, but also “creating huge disparity” in the market.

    “Broadcasters, on one hand, keep on charging huge subscription fee from us and, on the other hand, provide the same content/channel to the OTT platforms at highly subsidized rates, thereby not only creating a non-level field, but also causing huge detriment to the subscribers of Dish TV. Availability of same content/channel on alternate distribution platform on much cheaper rate vis-a-vis DTH has started resulting into migration to the alternate distribution platforms,” Dish TV has said in a letter to the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, an apex body of TV channels or broadcasting companies operating in India.

    The Dish TV letter dated 11 August 2017, reviewed by Indiantelevision.com, goes on to highlight why the move of TV channels to turn FTA, join Doordarshan’s free-to-air DTH platform DD FreeDish after paying a carriage fee, and making available content at highly subsided rates to OTT platforms like YouTube and that being proposed by Reliance Jio slides the Indian television market’s business model to be largely advertising driven.

    “It is a common industry knowledge that the broadcasters have provided their channels to the OTT platforms at a highly discounted rates, which is totally prejudicial and discriminatory to the DTH platforms,” the Dish TV letter stated, which has also been sent to the DTH Association of India and the All India Digital Cable Federation, a body of digitally-able MSOs.

    The letter from Dish TV, written by the satellite platform’s managing director Jawahar Goel, is addressed to IBF president Punit Goenka, who also is Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited MD and CEO, and a nephew of Goel. Goenka’s father and media baron Subhash Chandra is a member of India’s Upper House or Rajya Sabha.

     According to people familiar with the development, IBF’s member-companies have been asked to give their feedback on the content of the letter, which could be put to vote some time mid-September.

    “The IBF constitutes of seven major members, viz. Star, Zee, Sony, IndiaCast, Sun (TV group), Discovery and Times, which not only control the IBF but also are the major players collecting the subscription and advertisement revenue— collecting more than 99 per cent of the subscription and advertisement revenue of the Indian broadcasting industry,” the letter stated, adding that actions of the broadcasters “clearly indicate” the focus was shifting towards increasing the advertising revenue against subscription revenue.

    Raising the issue of sector regulator TRAI and disputes tribunal TDSAT’s emphasis on “fairness, reasonability and non-discrimination” as far as making available content to distribution platforms,  Dish TV pointed out that strategies employed by broadcasters were “deterrent to the pay TV market.”

    Pointing out that certain actions of the broadcasters could amount to breach of cross-media restrictions too, the letter exhorted the IBF members to discuss “whether the emphasis has to be on pay model (where the broadcasters can collect subscription) or an FTA model (where the broadcasters can get the advertisement revenue)”.

    Till the time of writing this report, Indiantelevision.com could not get across to IBF for a reaction.

    “Availability of same content/channel on alternate distribution platform on much cheaper rate vis-a-vis DTH rate has started resulting in(to) migration to the alternate distribution platforms,” the letter highlighted, adding that big broadcasters’ own OTT platforms (like Star’s Hotstar, Viacom18’s Voot, Sony Pictures Entertainment’s SonyLIV and Zee’s dittoTV, for example) also contributed to compounding the problem.

    The letter added: “It will be critical for your (IBF) members to spell out the strategy to hold/grow the pay TV market, which has been contributing to around 35-40 per cent of the total revenue of the pay broadcasters.”

    However, it seems that the present slew of letters from Dish TV and accusations will again rock the approximately Rs 558  billion Indian media and entertainment industry, which had thought corporate skirmishes of mid 1990s to mid 2000s had been buried in favour of overall growth of the broadcast and cable sectors and the media and entertainment industry, in general.

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  • PeerLogix signs OTT ad pact with DMP & Neustar

    PeerLogix signs OTT ad pact with DMP & Neustar

    MUMBAI: PeerLogix has announced that it had signed a 12-month revenue sharing agreement with an unspecified Data Management Platform (DMP) in the digital advertising industry.

    It had earlier announced a partnership with Neustar, Inc., a neutral provider of real-time information services, as a preferred data onboarding provider to expand PeerLogix’s data distribution to data management and demand-side platforms. This partnership will enable clients of PeerLogix to execute highly targeted cross-channel advertising campaigns powered by a global audience of 170 million households of Over-the-Top television programming, movies, games and listeners of music. Neustar was selected because it provides precise, scalable, secure, and privacy-friendly data onboarding capabilities in the market.

    The DMP partnership enables PeerLogix’s digital audience segments to be sold directly on the partner company’s platform and to their clientele, including major brands and Fortune 500 companies and features a rev-share commitment to PeerLogix to be paid on a monthly basis. Furthermore, the partnership provides a new capability for the partner company — the ability to advertise, target, and measure a massive amount of previously unavailable OTT audiences based on digital television, music and movie viewing and listening habits of the residents — bolstering the DMP’s offering to its clients in the media and entertainment industries.

    OTT is now mainstream and is projected to grow from USD 28.04 Billion in 2015 to USD 62.03 Billion by 2020 as people continue to cut ties with their cable TV packages and instead opt for a combination of subscription and non-subscription based OTT services, such as streaming applications and websites.

    “Advertisers are rapidly seeking out OTT supply and other ways to make up for lost viewership from linear-tv audiences that continue to contract in overall size. Our partners are taking advantage of our OTT Audience Graph to empower themselves to reach households lost to cord-cutting and the fragmentation of cable, and maximize advertising spend to streaming and digital audiences,” said PeerLogix CEO Ray Colwell.

    The company monitors OTT viewership of mainstream television programming, movies, and major musical artists, and periodically reports on trends seen in the market.

    Cumulative video hours for non-subscription OTT viewership was observed at 306 million hours which was a +20.9% increase from the prior quarter. Based on this rate of growth, the company estimates that total video hours watched for Q3-2017 will be approximately 370 million hours.

    “Much of the increase in Q2 was driven by developing markets, such as India, which has lead OTT viewership growth this year and averaged a monthly growth rate of approximately 10% compared to an 8% growth rate in the US. These trends are consistent with those of Netflix and other OTT services that are seeing larger growth from their international presence where middle-class expansion is taking place at a faster rate than developed markets. We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.” said PeerLogix chief strategy officer William Gorfein.

    Notable to both market observers and advertisers was the specific television content that was popular over the measurement period. Taking a deeper dive, the Company’s Q2 measurement results showed the very strong popularity of HBO programming with Game of Thrones leading the pack with a staggering 6.8 index rating.

    “This is not surprising as the new season of Game of Thrones premiered on 16 July and upticks in viewership are very common before new season premieres, as highlighted in our 17 July report predicting opening weekend box office success of film and television franchises. We’ve seen a halo effect for HBO as this popularity lifted viewership for Big Little Lies and Westworld. Two popular franchises of the network that are notable because they are not currently in season,” Gorfein explains

  • Ownzones’ SVoD brings ‘Best Westerns Ever’ to Amazon, Roku, iOS & Android

    MUMBAI: The Western genre rides again thanks to a new SVOD channel being launched by Ownzones Media Network. The OTT EntTech company will bring Best Westerns Ever to Amazon video channels and via the Ownzones app currently on Roku, iOS and Android platforms beginning today, giving fans exclusive access to hundreds of iconic Western films and TV series at a nominal monthly subscription fee of $1.99.

    Today’s news comes on the heels of Ownzones’ successful rollout of Best TV Ever, a subscription content service for fans of vintage TV series that has seen exponential growth, revealing a great demand for niche programming. ‘Best Westerns Ever’, the next in Ownzones’ plans for a full stable of niche vertical channels, was created to satisfy this demand for underserved fans of the Western genre.

    ‘Best Westerns Ever’ will boast more than 400 film and TV titles featuring the genre’s biggest stars, including John Wayne, Dennis Hopper, Gene Autry, Kirk Douglas, Marlon Brando, Bob Denver, Roy Rogers, Jane Russell, Fred Astaire, Burt Lancaster, and Maureen O’Hara, along with cult classics and rare treasures, such as “The Cisco Kid” and “Bonanza” and films like “Rawhide,” “Billy the Kid Wanted,” “Red River Valley” and “The Over the Hill Gang.”

    “In launching these niche channels, we are recognizing and responding to vastly underserved audience segments by developing exciting, affordable consumer offerings that appeal to their viewing passions,” said Ownzones head of programming Doug Lee.

    “’Best Westerns Ever’ is a robust channel offering sure to delight Western superfans, who will no longer have to pay high prices to gain access to the titles they love. We’re delivering the best of the genre in feature films and series with one-click convenience.”

    Lee adds that, as the end of the traditional TV bundle nears, viewers will be looking to subscribe and spend more in niche OTT services that are of interest to them.

    Ownzones’ launch of ‘Best Westerns Ever’ and success of Best TV Ever validate the company’s business model, which leverages the consumer’s purchase mindset with the organic search capabilities of its partners.

    These new content services will continue to expand to other distribution platforms to meet the growing consumer demand. Both products will also be available on Ownzones.com.

  • SonyLiv to scale up via Amazon Fire & Apple TV, courtesy Cisco IVP

    MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) and Cisco will together extend SonyLiv video experience to Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV customers in India.

    The Cisco Infinite Video Platform (IVP) provides SonyLiv with a fully cloud-based infrastructure, allowing it to offer more than 40,000 hours of broadcast-quality premium viewing experiences, including Live TV.

    Cisco IVP features superior security protocols that protect the video content from all kinds of threats. Through Cisco IVP, SonyLiv will be able to scale up, brand and market its OTT app on Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV in India.

    Users have access to rich content including movies, a strong line-up of events across all sports, shows, music, TV shows and much more across multiple devices and platforms.

    SonyLiv EVP and Head – Digital Business Uday Sodhi said,“SonyLiv has reinvented how users immerse themselves in unmatched entertainment experience. Our association with Cisco provides us the ability to extend our SonyLiv offering to a new set of consumers,allowing them access to our vast content catalogue. Our focus is on bringing the best of Cisco’s technology expertise and our content prowess to establish new benchmarks in the OTT space.”

    Cisco India & SAARC MD – service provider business Sanjay Kaul said, “Superior-quality videos are the way forward. Video will be 75 per cent of India’s mobile data traffic by 2021. Therefore, it is imperative that content-providers are equipped to scale up and deliver dynamic user experience. Cisco’s Infinite Video Platform offers SonyLiv an opportunity to secure its place as the leader by delivering broadcast-quality entertainment to Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV consumers.”

  • Vuclip parent PCCW sells 18% in OTT biz for $110m, fuels growth

    MUMBAI: PCCW Media, the parent company of Vuclip which provides web-based and short-form content video services in 19 markets including India, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa and other emerging markets with multiple patents, has introduced three investors.

    Further fueling growth and innovation of Viu and other OTT services in Asia and beyond, PCCW has brought in Hony Capital (Hony), Foxconn Ventures (Foxconn) and Temasek as investors of PCCW International OTT (Cayman Islands) Holdings Limited (PCCW OTT).

    This strategic investment will strengthen PCCW OTT’s ability to enhance its core value proposition of relevant content including distinctive original productions, and to continue to deploy the latest technologies and leverage its patents in video streaming and encoding to offer the best customer experience. As a rapidly expanding business, PCCW OTT aims to increase its penetration within the existing markets where it has made significant inroads as well as to expand its footprint in other high-growth markets.

    PCCW OTT engages in the provision of OTT (over-the-top) Internet media and entertainment services in 24 markets globally, including video streaming services under the “Viu” and “Vuclip” brands as well as a music streaming service under the “MOOV” brand. Hony, Foxconn and Temasek will own approximately 18% of the enlarged issued share capital of PCCW OTT for a total consideration of US$110 million. PCCW Media will remain as the controlling shareholder of PCCW OTT.

    PCCW Media Group managing director Janice Lee said, “Our focus on content, pricing and technology that are locally relevant in various markets, together with our fast-tracked rollout across the region, has enabled Viu to become a leading OTT video service in Asia. We are very excited to have Hony, Foxconn and Temasek join us as strategic shareholders. Bringing these reputable partners in the business will support our current plans and strengthen our leading position in the market with the introduction of more locally relevant and original content, and technology to support innovative product development – all of which are beneficial to our ecosystem comprised of users, advertisers and business partners.”

    Hony Capital chairman and CEO John Zhao said, “Hong Kong is the forefront of international collaboration responding to the Belt and Road Initiatives, and Viu at present has laid out effective business map in Southeast Asian countries along the Belt and Road, which will no doubt play an essential and unique role to help the culture, content as well as creative ideas to travel abroad. We are glad that we can join hands with Viu led by Lee, and we hope Hony Capital can bring in not only the capital support, but also other value-added services and resources. In the meanwhile, Hony Capital can incorporate the business into our existing endeavors in the cultural and creative industry, to eventually offer even better Chinese contents to the world.”

    Foxconn EVP Fang Ming Lu said, “Foxconn is transforming to be a Technology Service Provider from content creation to network transmission. We will work with PCCW to deliver advanced OTT service to the market. We believe the collaboration will enhance the customer experience in entertainment life and accelerate the development of the OTT ecosystem.”

    Launched in October 2015, Viu has over 12 million monthly active users as of June 2017. The service operates on a dual-model of an ad-supported tier of service and a premium subscription tier of service with more features. Viu delivers premium Asian content in different genres from top content providers with express delivery of local language subtitles as fast as four hours after original telecast. It also offers original production series under the “Viu Original” initiative. Viu is available in 15 markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and the Middle East countries of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

    Joining the PCCW family in May 2015, both Viu and Vuclip users can enjoy smooth and unbuffered viewing experience regardless of device or network conditions. MOOV is one of Hong Kong’s largest multi-platform digital streaming music service and ranked number one on brand awareness and user satisfaction in Hong Kong (which is also available in Vietnam).

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  • Amazon Prime country head Nitesh Kripalani quits

    MUMBAI: After the neck-and-neck race in  the OTT space in India with originals, regionals and prominent content deals, comes a speed bump. Nitesh Kripalani has resigned as the country head of Amazon Prime Video in India, an Amazon India spokesperson confirmed late last evening. 

    “Amazon confirms that Nitesh Kripalani, who is leading Amazon Prime Video in India, has decided to move on from Amazon due to personal reasons.  Nitesh helped build the team and deliver a great experience to our customers.  We wish Nitesh the best in his future endeavors,” the spokesperson said.

    Prime Video, available in over 200 countries and territories, with an eligible membership, allows one to watch movies and TV shows from its website on your computer, or through its app on any of the following devices: Android smartphones and tablets, iOS devices (iPhone, iPad & iPod touch), and Smart TVs (supported Samsung, Sony & LG models).

    Two years after Kripalani joined Amazon, Amazon India launched Prime Video in December 2016 and subsequently tied ups with several leading content creators and production houses such as Excel Entertainment, Dharma Productions, Vishesh Films, TSeries, and Yash Raj Films, among other.

    One of the investors in Timesaverz Dotcom since October 2011, Kripalani worked with Sony Pictures Network as an EVP where he oversaw business development, new media, and digital/syndication and reportedly instrumental in planning SonyLiv.

    The SVoD player has since claimed to have seen a crucial growth in subscriber figures. The streaming service recently launched its first India original ‘Inside Edge’ and also stitched a deal with exclusive streaming of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s future movies.

    Amazon Prime has seen significant growth after it invested majorly in TV shows, exclusive movies, and stand-up comedy content.

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  • Prasar may soon launch OTT, keep tabs on DD costs, exploit reach

    MUMBAI: When almost all the broadcasters — Indian and foreign — have an OTT platform of their own, how could India’s own pubcaster be left behind. Although it’s a tad late, but it’s never too late. Prasar Bharati is drafting a plan to foray into digital broadcast even as the public broadcaster plans to revamp prime-time content on Doordarshan for which several ideas are in the works.

    Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati told FE that, instead of viewers watching linear content, DD Kisan, for example, could be transformed into a digital platform such an on-demand app – which would permit farmers to view content on the move, and would also help them get information on farming subjects.

    Speaking on the sidelines of ‘Create4India’ conference hosted by the Digital India Foundation, Vempati did not clarify whether the pubcaster would launch a single-video OTT app or would have a set of channels on YouTube, stating that the details would be finalised later as part of Prasar’s three-years vision.

    About Prasar’s plans to launch an English news channel, he quipped that real news was DD News. He said he wanted to exploit the reach of DD News by launching a 24-hour dedicated English news channel. The news channel will also have an on-demand app.

    So as to keep costs under control, Vempati said that, instead of launching the channel in international markets, an app was a cost-efficient solution.

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