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Tag: Pawan Chopra

  • No conclusions on Star deal says Hindustan Times’ Bhartiya

    NEW DELHI: ,-owned Hindustan Times Ltd, is keeping all its options open, including a deal with the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star India, but said no “conclusions” have been reached yet.

    “We are aware of the developments,” Hindustan Times (HT) vice chairman and Birla’s daughter Sobhana Bhartiya said when asked about the media reports on a HT-Star truck.

    Asked specifically if HT and Star have been talking to each other formally on a possible joint venture for Star News channel, Bhartiya, said, “No conclusions have been reached.” She also pointed out that Star has been talking to many people regarding a joint venture. She was answering questions from journalists after a meeting with information and broadcasting (I&B) secretary Pawan Chopra this evening.

    Asked whether Henderson Global Investment has picked up 20 per cent stake in HT Media, Bhartiya confirmed the development. However, she did not specify whether the investment was meant only for HT’s proposed Mumbai edition or for the whole group.

    Interestingly, while Bhartiya was meeting the I&B secretary on the sixth floor of Shastri Bhawan, which houses among other ministries the I&B ministry too, arch rival Vineet Jain of Times of India was part of a media delegation that was closeted with I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, on the floor below.

    Bhartiya also said that the investment of Henderson was in line with the guidelines prescribed by the Indian government. She, however, did not specify whether an application to this regard has been moved with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

    Just for records, Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer has some investments in Henderson.

    Earlier, a section of the media had speculated on the fact that Murdoch was picking up a minority stake in HT. In turn, these reports had said , 51 per cent of Star News was being offered to HT and/or Bhartiyas so that the news channel could conform to guidelines and avoid further controversies that had been hounding Star News for some time. The deal was supposed to have been struck in London.

  • Regulator must: industry to I&B minister RS Prasad

    NEW DELHI: The reason of an existing `great divide’ amongst stakeholders of the broadcast and cable industry – that the government uses to continue playing the role of an arbiter and wield control – came to the fore today at a seminar here. And, predictably, the Indian government used the same excuse again to justify that market forces alone cannot be left to take care of the needs of a sector that is exploding with possibilities.
    Stressing the need for having an independent regulator for the broadcasting sector, information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today gave it back to the industry, which harped on market forces taking care of things, by saying, “To say that market forces would take care of everything is too simplistic.”
    Speaking at a roundtable on “The need and role of an independent regulator for the TV broadcasting sector”, organised here today by Ficci under Frames-2004 Knowledge Series, the minister justified government interference, saying that the government can’t sit back when the “consumer interests are (getting) impinged.”
    Prasad also took a dig at fellow politicians when he remarked that the need for a regulatory body has been stressed by the fast changing technology, which is overtaking “reactive policies” and there is case for visualising the broadcasting scene 10 years hence.
    Those present at today’s roundtable included The India Today group’s Aroon Purie; TV Today Network CEO G. Krishnan; Nimbus CEO Akash Khurana; Sahara TV president Mahesh Prasad; Discovery India MD Deepak Shourie; Moving Pictures’ Ramesh Sharma; Turner International India country head Anshuman Misra; cable operators Roop Sharma, Rakesh Dutta and Vickky Chowdhry; BBC World’s resident director in India Vinod Bakshi; Reliance Entertainment chairman Amit Khanna; law firm Amarchand Mangaldas’ managing partner Shardul Shroff; I&B ministry secretary Pawan Chopra; DD officials and Ficci representatives, amongst others.
    Surprisingly, the big three pay broadcasters – Star, Sony and Zee – went unrepresented at the roundtable or nobody senior had been sent from these organisations, it seems. Also missing were some of the south Indian channels like Sun TV and Eenadu.
    Meanwhile, Prasad pointed out the “great divide among the various stakeholders like broadcasters, multi-system operators (MSOs) and the cable operators” was brought out clearly by the conditional access system (CAS) experience and such instances further strengthen the case for a regulator.
    Another reason for a regulator, Prasad said is necessitated by the type of content put out by private TV channels about which various sections of the society, including members of Parliament and the National Women’s Commission, have complained.
    “The portrayal of women on our channels has been severely criticised. Now, when people come to me with complaints, what do I do?” Prasad shot back, adding that his continued appeal for self-regulation has fallen on deaf ears.
    Offending and surrogate ads on television, the minister said, keep popping up on other channels every time the government cracks the whip on a particular channel. “Now, is it the government’s duty to sit and continue monitoring such ads that have been served notice once? My plea for self-regulation has not had the desired effect,” Prasad regretted.
    However, Prasad refrained from making any commitments on a regulatory body and said the government would come to a conclusion in this regard after considering all aspects, including the relevance of the Communications Convergence Bill in the wake of CAS (conditional access system), DTH (Direct to Home) and uplinking experiences and also international practices.
    BROAD CONSENSUS ON A REGULATOR
    In whatever form one can call it, a regulator or a commission, the overall consensus at the roundtable was on the immediate need for an independent regulatory body that would take care of the issues specifically related to the broadcasting sector.
    Of all the people who spoke during the interactive session TV Today’s Krishnan made some valid points when he said that content should not be regulated in any form, even by the proposed regulatory authority which, he indicated, would be better off if named a `commission’.
    “Let the consumer decide what he wants to watch or not. If he wants to watch adult fare, let him watch it as a pay channel and pay for it,” Krishnan said, adding the role of a regulatory body should be compliance of rules and not over-policing.
    Making a case for a level playing field for domestic media companies too, Krishnan suggested that if the government wants foreign-owned channels or those uplinking from outside India to adhere to local laws, then it should have a downlinking licence fee too.
    Cable Network Association’s Rakesh Dutta made a case for the cable operators getting arm-twisted by broadcasters in an act that clearly brought out the fact that various stakeholders of the industry were divided and seldom can agree on any issue.
    According to Discovery’s Shourie, various intra-industry relationships and agreements, like that between an MSO and the broadcaster and MSO and a cable op, for example, should be left to the market forces and cannot have a standardised format because of the dynamics of the industry.
    Purie felt that distribution margins, for instance, couldn’t be calculated on a cost plus basis, as somebody had suggested, because different genres of programming tote up different costs.
    Film and TV producer Ramesh Sharma felt that Prasar Bharati should also be brought under the ambit of the proposed regulatory authority.
    Earlier, Shardull Shroff made a presentation on the need for a broadcast regulator in India outlining the industry perspectives and international practices.
    According to Shroff, the industry perspective was to expedite establishment of the Convergence Commission and any interim regulator would only be a patchwork solution.
    Dwelling on the internationally recognised functions of a broadcast regulator, Shroff said in his presentation that these should include frequency allocation, issue and renewal of broadcast licence, dispute resolution and determination of the licence conditions.

  • CAS deferred in Delhi; future tense elsewhere

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: CAS has crashed out! Almost. And the frustration of a section of a disappointed industry was echoed by Hathway Datacom’s vice-president (North India) SN Sharma when he told indiantelevision.com, 
    “There are breaking news, but this is heart-breaking news.”

    With the Indian government today deciding to defer the implementation of the conditional access system (CAS) in Delhi till the state elections are held later this year, the future of its rollout from 1 September in other metros like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, too, has become uncertain.
    Coming out of a high-level meeting, which can be termed a mini-cabinet meet, information and broadcasting minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “It has been decided to defer implementation of CAS in Delhi till the elections.” Though Prasad attempted to put up a brave front saying CAS was a “consumer friendly” initiative, he did admit, it has “become an election issue.”
    Reiterating that in other metros CAS would be sought to be implemented as scheduled, Prasad said, “Because of competitive politics we would not be able to implement CAS in Delhi.” The elections are yet to be notified in Delhi.
    When asked, how will the government convince opponents of CAS like Shiv Sena in Mumbai on a 1 September rollout, Prasad said that the government would speak to Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and try to “convince” him on a timely rollout and the resultant benefits that would accrue to cable consumers.
    Prime minister AB Vajpayee, deputy prime minister LK Advani, finance minister Jaswant Singh and senior ruling Bharatiya Janata party member VK Malhotra, attended today’s meeting, amongst others.
    But today’s meeting was an almost foregone conclusion. At least in the capital city. Another senior BJP member Madan Lal Khurana, who is making a grab for the chief ministership of Delhi later this year in the elections, had told journalists late last week categorically that CAS would be deferred in Delhi. Prasad, then, had refused to be drawn into a detailed comment.
    Though Prasad was mum on exactly what happened inside during the meeting, government sources said that Khurana almost started sobbing that unless CAS was deferred in Delhi, he’d resign from the party, even while Prasad tried to resist such emotional blackmailing. But he had to succumb to the “wishes of the elders.
    Still Prasad admitted: “CAS became an unnecessary hot political property when all along we had said it’ll be a consumer friendly initiative.”
    At a Hathway function last week, in Delhi where the MSO announced the formal launch of its digital conditional access infrastructure, I&B ministry secretary Pawan Chopra, apart from saying that everything relating to CAS was in God’s hand. Words that have turned prophetic!


    Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea
    Chopra had also remarked at the function, attended by Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea, that pay channels would be allowed to do their pricing. This, in a way, indicated the failure of the government to make pay channels toe the line of consumer-friendly low pricing of pay channels after making assertions to this regard many times.


    INDUSTRY UPSET, BUT CAUTIOUSLY GUARDED
    Today evening, when contacted by indiantelevision.com, a guarded Mukerjea said, “The government decision (to delay implementation of CAS in Delhi) would give the industry a chance to consolidate and prepare better for introducing new technology as and when CAS is rolled out.”


    Zee Telefilms VC Jawahar Goel
    But Zee Telefilms vice-chairman Jawahar Goel was not so guarded. “The industry has to sit together and chart out a future course of action, which includes implementing CAS on our own and some political boycotts too.”
    He also indicated that one of the options before the cable industry is to hike the price of the monthly cable subscription.
    INCableNet COO Rajiv Vyas
    INCableNet COO Rajiv Vyas expressed his disappointment by saying: “We see no reason why CAS should have been postponed in Delhi. We have complied with the ministry’s instructions and good intentions; invested crores of rupees on CAS; and prepared the franchisee cable operators too. Finally, the consumer will lose out and will be affected the most – even in the short term. Pay channel rates are likely to be raised soon and the consumer will have to bear the brunt of this. All the advantages envisaged for the consumer in the CAS scenario will come to nought!”
    Another supporter of CAS, National Cable & Telecom Association president Vickky Chowdhry, said, “The government decision is totally surprising and politicians like Khurana have played into the hands of pay broadcasters.”
    While speaking to indiantelevision.com, Shiv Sena Vibhag Pramukh, CODA spokesperson and Dattatray Cable proprietor Anil Parab said, “Using the excuse of elections, the government has deferred CAS in Delhi. But, the government proposes to conduct the ‘experiment’ in the Mumbai market. All the cable operators affiliated to CODA (cable operators and distributors association) will be meeting tomorrow to take a decision.”
    All eyes on Mumbai’s cable operators and the Shiv Sena now!

  • Mumbai cable operators to seek audience with I&B minister

    Mumbai cable operators to seek audience with I&B minister

    MUMBAI: Mumbai based cable operators have expressed disappointment over the recent comments of I&B secretary Pawan Chopra that indicate that the government might soften its stand on the conditional access system (CAS) deadline of 14 July 2003.
     
     
    In fact, several Mumbai-based cable operators who strongly support CAS have announced their intentions to meet the I&B minister RS Prasad in order to seek clarifications, express their reservations and concerns about various issues.

    While speaking to indiantelevision.com, Sonali Cable proprietor Suvarna G Amonkar, a distributor of WIN Cable with nearly 200 affiliated cable operators, says: “I&B minister RS Prasad had promised to grant us an audience during our meeting at Mumbai’s Hotel Orchid on 13 June 2003. Most probably, we shall be meeting the minister early next week (first week of July) and will present a charter of demands.”

     
    The charter of demands that Amonkar will present to the I&B minister include the following:

    * The government must give assurances to the LMOs that their interests – areas of operations, responsibilities, investments in infrastructure and control rooms – will be safeguarded even post CAS. That the government issue licences to those cable ops who have been in operation for a pre-determined number of years is one suggestion. The cable ops are clear on one point though. They do not want “new entrants” to be allowed to start operations in the areas they “control”.

    * The MSOs must finalise agreements with the last mile operators (LMOs) and franchisees clearly indicating the commissions that will be given to the LMOs. Ideally, the MSOs should get 50 per cent of the revenues and the cable operators should get 50 per cent of the MSO share (25 per cent of total revenues), they aver. 

    * Broadcasters must be open to providing signals to groups of cable operators who choose to align themselves under a separate entity.

    Amonkar claims to be an ardent supporter of CAS. He admits that he is in a spot as the cable operators affiliated to him have several questions and he doesn’t have answers for. Because neither the broadcasters or MSOs have taken him into confidence as yet, says. “The broadcasters and MSOs are responsible for this lack of clarity. The I&B secretary’s recent comments are unfortunate and will end giving wrong signals. We will seek clarifications from the I&B minister himself,” says Amonkar.

    Mumbai Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) president Nandan Basu emphasises: “The recent comments of bureaucrats indicating that the government might go “soft” on CAS are uncalled for. There cannot be a soft CAS – there can either be full implementation or no implementation at all.”

    Basu adds: “If the government is not rigid about the 14th of July 2003 deadline, then the High Court interim ruling that cable operators can charge 10 per cent more on the cable rates applicable as of 31 December 2002 will get extended beyond 14 July 2003. Also consumers will refuse to pay the applicable rates and continue to either pay nothing or pay Rs 150. After 14 July 2003, the consumer might go a police station and register a complaint against cable operators using some weird premises or flimsy excuses.”

  • Government weighing various CAS rollout options

    Government weighing various CAS rollout options

    NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Has CAS finally degenerated into unconditional uncertainty? The joke seems to be coming true. But, say government officials, things may not turn out to be so bad as being predicted by the critics of CAS.

     

    The Indian government and the bureaucrats who frame laws and regulations aimed towards better governance are examining various options for phased rollout of CAS so that not only the public, but also the industry is not inconvenienced.

     

    Information and broadcasting ministry secretary Pawan Chopra feels CAS would be enforced more vigorously in time but admits next month’s launch date is not ‘sacrosanct’.” Chopra made this comment in an interview to BBC World that would be telecast on Sunday’s edition of India Business Report .

     

    According to Chopra, “I think we have a fairly good amount of consensus emerging on this. We should not treat the date of 15th July as so sacrosanct, that next day everybody who does not have a set top box will be arrested. We will have a close look at the situation, and we will be flexible in the initial stages. As time goes on, the law will be enforced more vigorously.”

     

    Meanwhile, indications are that the government is considering various alternatives instead of being firm on the 14 July deadline. The options include area wise or zone wise CAS rollout and genre wise roll out of CAS. In both there will be a dual illumination system wherein a mix of the current and new scenario will co-exist.

     

    According to information available with indiantelevision.com, the I&B mandarins are busy pouring over maps of Delhi to see if the city can be divided into zones and CAS can be started off in one zone at a time from 14 July to cover the whole city over a period of time.

     

    Though there was no official confirmation of the zone-wise implementation or that route being taken, industry sources said Delhi, for example, may be divided into zones with the first zone to experience CAS may be the areas in South, South-west and central Delhi — areas that are considered upmarket and where the purchasing power of people is considered to be more.

     

    The second zone that is being looked into for CAS implementation, if this model is accepted, would cover the areas falling in north, north-east and north-west Delhi. The third phase may include east Delhi, generally referred to as `Yamuna paar’ or across the Yamuna river, and the neioghbouring township of Noida, which falls in the state of Uttar Pradesh, but for all practical purposes is considered part of Delhi.

     

    Similar division can be looked at in places like Mumbai and Kolkata too.

     

    The zone-wise breakup is being looked at from the point of view that as CAS progresses to more populated and less affluent areas of Delhi, time gained may help in driving the sale of set-top boxes as knowledge about the whole system spreads by word of mouth.

     

    If the zone-wise rollout is implemented, then it would also mean that the government and the industry would have to live with dual illumination — one in digital mode through the boxes and the other in the analogue mode as is prevalent at present, albeit for a short period of time during the transitory phase.

     

    If the government adopts the genrewise rollout option, CAS will be instituted across all the four metros all but not all pay channels together. For instance starting with English niche channels and moving on to English infotainment or movie channels; Hindi movie channels, so on and so forth.

     

    With opposition to CAS in three states from various quarters — Delhi, West Bengal (Kolkata) and Maharashtra (Mumbai) — if the zone-wise rollout plan does not catch everybody’s fancy, then it’d be back to what broadcasters had earlier suggested: try out CAS in the city of Chennai as there have been no voices of dissent there. The Chennai option is certainly an easier one but offers no real clarity as far as a rollout model is concerned. Principally because the most powerful channel (and network), Kalanithi Maran’s Sun channel, is free-to-air.

     

    Still, the cable industry is in total flux and the MSOs are, understandably, confused. Said Zee Telefilms additional vice-chairman and head of Siti Cable, Jawahar Goel, “At this moment, a response on the reported government stand cannot be given. Some more clarity on the thought process is needed before we can say what would be our next strategy.”

     

    A senior executive of another MSO admitted that the government’s ‘soft launch’ tune is jarring and highlights that there are extraneous forces working over time. However, this person also said that before castigating the government, some more inputs are needed, which would hint at the government’s future course of action.

     

    The CAS saga meanders along without any definite solution in sight even less than a month away from a deadline that was announced six months ago (something worth noting for those who came in late).

  • Hesitant government officials responsible for CAS confusion – cable operators

    Hesitant government officials responsible for CAS confusion – cable operators

    In all the confabulations around CAS, one assumption that has generally made is that broadly speaking the cable fraternity stands as one. Indiantelevision.com met a group of cable operators, in Mumbai and point stands out. The “last link” in the cable chain has an axe to grind not only with the broadcaster and the government vis-a-vis CAS and other issues, but the big multi-system operators as well.

    The operators have expressed disappointment over the recent comments of I&B secretary Pawan Chopra that indicate that the government might soften its stand on the conditional access system (CAS) deadline of 14 July 2003. The cable operators also expressed apprehensions that hesitant government officials who have lacked the will to discipline broadcasters and multi-system operators (MSOs) are responsible for the confusion.

    indiantelevision.com spoke to three Mumbai based cable trade constituents (one of them is also a member of the Shiv Sena, a political party that support the BJP-led NDA government) and obtained their viewpoints on the currently ever-more confusing scenario:

    Shiv Sena Vibhag Pramukh and party spokesperson on the issue of the implementation of conditional access system (CAS) in Mumbai Anil Parab:

    Parab is the proprietor of Dattatray Cable in addition to being a Shiv Sena party member handling the parliamentary constituency (Bandra to Jogeshwari). Parab says that the Shiv Sena is not against CAS but feels that the government and bureaucrats are responsible for the current confusion. When questioned as to why the Shiv Sena entered the fray so late; he says that the party officials didn‘t have access to all aspects or CAS related issues due to the workings of the government machinery.

    * As Shiv Sena Pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray had earlier mentioned to information and broadcasting minister RS Prasad, our main reservations relate to the hasty way in which CAS is being implemented. We want CAS to be consumer friendly and the government must ensure that the cable operator‘s rights are protected. After all, the cable operator is the driving force responsible for the success of the cable business in India.

    * Cable operators must continue to handle the operations they hitherto handled – billings, collections, maintenance amongst others – post CAS. This control cannot shift to the MSOs.

    * Somehow, we feel that the government and the bureaucrats have given the wrong impression to consumers. Through their communication, they have given an impression that CAS would ensure that consumers would have to pay less than what they are currently paying. The government should have specified that consumers should be open to paying amounts more than Rs 300 in an open market scenario.

    * Less than a fortnight away from the CAS deadline, there is no clarity about the distribution margins that multi-system operators (MSOs) will offer cable operators. Broadcasters are equally responsible for the uncertainty as they have not yet revealed the pricing of individual channels. The government should have forced the broadcasters to reveal the individual prices by the deadline of mid-June. If necessary, the government should have gone back to Parliament to amend the notification that “cable operators have to declare the prices of pay channels to the consumers.” After all, the NDA government has a majority and can get the appropriate sanctions.

    * Why has the government realised so late that the ground reality indicates that the MSOs and cable operators are not yet ready even as the deadline is fast approaching? Some of the MSOs haven‘t even got the headends in place; sufficient number of boxes are not available.

    * The government has notified that a fixed rate of Rs 72 will be payable to cable operators for showing the free to air channels (FTA) but hasn‘t passed a law to declare MRPs (maximum retail price) within which pay broadcasters can operate and charge.

    * Nearly 30-40 per cent of Mumbai residents live in slums and own black and white television sets. They cannot afford to pay the high rates that broadcasters would continue to charge post-CAS.

    * Broadcasters who say that their “content” is powerful should realise that the cable operators are responsible for improving the brand equity of the so called “popular entertainment channels”. The broadcasters should treat the cable operators with due respect.

    * The government‘s intention is not very clear or firm and this has affected the smooth roll out.

    Sonali Cable proprietor Suvarna G Amonkar:
    Amonkar, a distributor of WIN Cable with nearly 200 affiliated cable operators, is an ardent supporter of CAS. He is in a spot as the cable operators have several questions and he doesn‘t have answers – because neither the broadcasters nor MSOs have taken him into confidence as yet.

    * If the broadcasters are in favour of CAS, why haven‘t they announced the individual rates for pay channels as yet? How can we approach the consumers when we don‘t know what the rates are? How can the broadcasters expect us to announce the rates – what if the broadcasters decide to change the rates or make certain pay channels free to air at the last moment.

    * The MSOs must finalise agreements with the cable operators (last mile operators) and clearly indicate the commissions that will be given to the LMOs. The MSOs should get 50 per cent of the revenues and the cable operators should get 50 per cent of the MSO share (25 per cent of total revenues).

    * How can government bureaucrats inform us a fortnight before the CAS deadline that they had not been briefed about our viewpoints/concerns?

    * The government must give assurances to the LMOs that their interests – areas of operations, responsibilities, investments in infrastructure and control rooms – will be safeguarded even post CAS. Perhaps, the government could give a licence to those cable operators who have operated in a particular area for years.

    * The government must also direct the broadcasters to share signals with groups of cable operators who choose to align themselves under a separate entity – different from the major MSOs who rule the roost at present.

    * Existing LMOs or cable operators who have operated in a particular area for years will not surrender their areas to MSOs‘ dummy operators or new cable operators (irrespective of the fact that these new cable operators might bring in better infrastructure or service standards).

    * The cable operators have played a significant role in ensuring the popularity of channels such as Star Plus or Ten Sports. The sales and distribution teams of several pay channels used to come to us and make a plea that we should place their channels in the prime band. We have played a role in ensuring that the MSO promoted cable channels such as CCC in Mumbai became popular.

    * The current FTA pricing fixed by the government is insufficient since the cost of maintenance of a cable network have gone up substantially and Rs 72 as basic cable fee per subscriber will be inadequate for the cable operator. Hence, we feel that the government must consider increasing the FTA charges set by them to an amount higher than Rs 72 per month.

    * The cable fraternity has bestowed full support to CAS which will bring in transparency and organisation to the entire industry and also will benefit subscribers.

    * The cable fraternity does not intend to under declare its
    FTA or Pay connectivity to the MSO or to any government body.

    * BJP member of parliament Kirit Somaiya is responsible for spreading wrong information amongst Mumbai‘s residents. We have provided proof to the court that he has been making contradictory statements about the interim High Court order issued in March; misguiding consumers by means of an incorrect advertising campaign; declaring that consumers shouldn‘t pay more than Rs 150 per month; urging consumers to avoid buying set top boxes so that broadcasters are forced to convert pay channel into free to air; while at the same time proclaiming that he is responsible for the implementation of CAS.

    Mumbai Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) president Nandan Basu
    Basu stirred a hornet‘s nest when his organization raised its voice against MSOs and backed it up by filing a petition in the Mumbai High Court. Basu has been drawn into several controversies and has been at the receiving end of MSOs, broadcasters and rival cable operator associations. The Mumbai High Court has restrained Basu‘s MCOF from disconnecting cable connections of those consumers who pay 10 per cent more than that of the cable rates applicable as of 31 December 2002.

    * The government has applied force on the cable operators but has not pressurised the broadcaster. The broadcasters must be forced to declare their MRPs immediately and the government must put a cap on the pay channel rates.

    * Due to the misguided publicity campaign of politicians such as BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, consumers are refusing to pay monthly charges. We haven‘t collected our dues from consumers since the last few months. The cable operators have been unable to pay MSOs who in turn haven‘t paid the broadcasters.

    * The recent comments of bureaucrats indicating that the government might go “soft” on CAS are uncalled for. There cannot be a soft CAS – there can be full implementation or no implementation at all.

    * If the government is not rigid about the 14 July deadline, then the High Court interim ruling that cable operators can charge 10 per cent more on the cable rates applicable as of 31 December 2002 will get extended beyond 14 July 2003. Also consumers will refuse to pay the applicable rates and continue to either pay nothing or pay Rs 150. After 14 July 2003, the consumer might go a police station and register a complaint against cable operators using some weird premises or flimsy excuses.

    * It is sad that Mumbai‘s cable operators didn‘t get representation in the CAS task force at an appropriate time so that the government officials could have got a better understanding of the ground realities.

    * The MSOs haven‘t taken the LMOs into confidence about various issues such as pricing of individual pay channels; commissions for the free to air and pay channels; maintenance costs; division of responsibilities between the LMOs and the MSOs.

    * It is really sad that the fate of CAS rests on officials of the government machinery who have very little understanding of ground realities. I feel that the High Court judges should have devoted more time to get a better grasp of the various issues.

  • CAS rollout deadline not sacrosanct: I&B secretary Pawan Chopra

    CAS rollout deadline not sacrosanct: I&B secretary Pawan Chopra

    MUMBAI: Is the “non-negotiable” deadline of 14 July for the rollout of conditioinal access in the four metros about to be extended? Looks likely.
     
     
    Information and broadcasting ministry secretary Pawan Chopra says “CAS will be enforced more vigorously in time but admits next month’s launch date is not ‘sacrosanct’.”

    Chopra made this comment in an interview to BBC World. The interview will appear on this Sunday’s edition of India Business Report .

    “I think we have a fairly good amount of consensus emerging on this,” he tells presenter Manvi Dhillon. “We should not treat the date of 15th July as so sacrosanct, that next day everybody who does not have a set top box will be arrested. We will have a close look at the situation, and we will be flexible in the initial stages. As time goes on, the law will be enforced more vigorously.”

    Chopra also hints at the creation of a regulatory authority at a later stage. “The government had to fall back and had to play the role of regulator, but I am sure that the next thing we will be looking at is a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority.”

    The issue of CAS has been politically charged in India, with a number of those involved disagreeing on many issues. Chopra says: “If we are all sensible, all the stakeholders, the cable operators, the MSOs [multi-system operators], the broadcasters, I think we can do something which is useful for everybody in the long run. Useful for the customer, the viewer of TV, and I think it will lead to the upgradation of TV services in the country… When you change over to a new system, there are bound to be fears, and everybody is jostling for a better share of a future cake. We are not sure of the size of that future cake, despite all the hype and what has been reported in the media,” he explains.

    He adds that CAS implementation is a pressing need and will benefit consumers in the long run. “Over the last two years, the rates for cable TV have increased very sharply, almost doubled in the metros. The objective was to stop arbitrary price increases. So you separate the free-to-air channels and rent for cable service from the actual cost of pay channels, so people can see for themselves what they are paying for.”

  • I&B looking at legal options, studying status abroad of ads on pay channels

    I&B looking at legal options, studying status abroad of ads on pay channels

    NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: The government today sent out a clear warning that it was willing to u se all in its powers to go after “defiant” pay broadcasters who continued to “thwart” its attempts to introduce a conditional access system in the country.

    Information and broadcasting minister ravi Shankar Prasad, expressing his “disappointment” at the stances taken by the likes of Star India and Sony Entertainment, said the government was well aware of its legal rights in such a case and if the broadcasters did not change their stances and become more “consumer-friendly”, it would take suitable measures.

    Prasad also said he had directed his officials to study media laws in other countries to verify what is the status of pay channels vis-a-vis advertisements. Though the minister did not spell out what action was being contemplated, the warning was obvious: toe the line or else…

    Meanwhile, the fallout of yesterday’s “fiasco” of a meeting on pay channel pricing was also felt in the corridors of power in the capital.

    I&B ministry secretary Pawan Chopra was called to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) today by principal secretary to the PM Brajesh Misra for an update on the vexed issue. It is learnt that the PMO’s office instructed Chopra to ensure “that the price line be guarded” at all costs. Chopra was closetted with Prasad for over three hours after that debating what was to be done.

    In the event that errant pay channels do not indicate individual channel prices that are “consumer friendly”, the ministry is reportedly considering invoking Clause 12 of its CAS notification which will mean that post-14 July, these channels need not be carried by the cable service provider.

    And what of the pricing paper that was circulated yesterday? As far as the government is concerned, it has rejected it outright as not being serious in intent. And since it is an unsigned paper, it has no legal tender either is the government’s contention.

  • Government expects pay channels to announce prices ‘very soon’

    Government expects pay channels to announce prices ‘very soon’

    NEW DELHI: The government today expressed optimism that the stakeholders of the industry would come out with solutions to various contentious issues, including the pricing of individual channels, by tomorrow or “very soon” for a smooth transition to the conditional access regime.

    “We are facilitators in this process. If the broadcasters had said they would come back (with the pricing strategy), I have to believe them and think that soon all such issues would get resolved,” information and broadcasting ministry secretary Pawan Chopra today told journalists on the sidelines of a function organised by Doordarshan to launch a new series of CDs to mark 100 years of recorded music in India.

    Quizzed on issues of distribution margin and as to who’ll fix the price of the pay channels — the broadcasters or the MSOs — Chopra said, “I am not a marketing person, so I cannot speak on these. But I am sure the people who do business in the industry will sort them out.”

    Chopra also said that the government would not mind if some sort of a tiering is done so the consumers get choice at a nominal rate.

    “I would say rock bottom price,” the government official added when asked whether the government would prefer tiering of channels or each pay channel being priced at a rock bottom price so as to meet the figure of Rs 200, including the price of the basic tier, that the I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had been quoted as saying would be the monthly cable bill.

    Asked specifically whether the government would relent on the transitory phase of six months and allow broadcasters to hold on to invitation price and such similar schemes that long, Chopra said, “Those things have to be looked into as they (the industry players) have been doing business in a certain way that cannot be upset suddenly.”

    He also expressed the hope that there would be adequate number of set-top boxes available in the market to see through the transition phase to CAS.

    As reported by indiantelevision.com earlier, the I&B ministry officials would meet up with the various stakeholders of the industry tomorrow, including independent cable operators, to take stock of the CAS situation.

  • Pay broadcasters given some more time to announce rates

    Pay broadcasters given some more time to announce rates

    NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: The government today offered a significant concession to the pay broadcasters on the issue of their channel pricing by giving them some more time to announce rates.

    It may be recalled that I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier said that broadcasters should have their pay channel pricing mechanism in place by 10 June so as to facilitate the cable service providers announcing their rate cards by the 15 June deadline.

     Information and broadcasting ministry secretary Pawan Chopra told journalists after a meeting with broadcasters today evening, “We have had a discussion with broadcasters and they have requested that they need two to three days more to discuss the issue with MSOs and their associates. Since we are trying to facilitate a decision making process, we have not set a deadline for them…but I have been assured they will announce their pricing as early as possible.”

    Having been given that concession, current indications are that a few days on the other side of 15 June is the period that most broadcasters are now looking at to announce the prices of individual channels so that the MSOs can then publicise the prices for the consumers’ benefit.

    Talking to indiantelevision.com, Star India COO Sameer Nair said, “We are aware of the 15 June deadline (on announcement of prices of pay channels) and we will publicise the prices soon.” Asked specifically when does Star expect to publicise the prices of individual channels, Nair replied, “By 16-17 June.”

    SET India CEO Kunal Dasgupta had told indiantelevision.com prior to today’s meeting that the channel pricing details were being worked out and that he expected it to be ready around about the 15 June deadline.

    Subhash Chandra’s Zee Telefilms has maintained that its bouquet would cost Rs 55 but has yet to publicise individual channel rates.

    Nair also said that they have “several options” on pricing of channels, but would like to sit together with all stakeholders of the industry to discuss the issue. “There are several options (and) we need to sit down with fellow broadcasters and MSOs (to thrash out the pricing matter),” he explained, adding, “We are trying to come up with a plan that will benefit all.”

    Zee Telefilms additional vice-chairman Jawahar Goel sounded more strindent when he said, “We took the lead on pricing in a post-CAS regime, but the others have not yet taken any step in that direction. Now, we will wait for others to announce their prices. Let them also come out with some figures.”

    ESPN India’s country head Manu Sawhney, of course, saw no problems for broadcasters. “There are no problems that are worrying us (broadcasters),” he said in reply to a question as to what are the issues that are still bothering the broadcasters, or some of them at least.

    However, according to some of those who attended today’s meeting, during the closed door meeting Chopra made it clear to representatives of all broadcasters in no uncertain terms that the government would tolerate no delays in implementation of CAS and that they should announce the prices of pay channels ASAP.

    Still, experts pointed out that the government does not seem to have much options on the matter vis-a-vis the broadcasters and would find it difficult to make a broadcaster toe the CAS line if that particular company decided to play truant. That is why, the experts explained, the notifications issued by the government refer directly to cable operators and make them responsible for almost everything, while referring to broadcasters only indirectly.

    Meanwhile, when Chopra was asked about the softening in stance of the government vis-a-vis broadcasters — despite I&B minister Ravi Shankar Prasad lashing out against critics and opponents of CAS — the secretary said, “The idea is to let everybody come out with a transitional plan that will be beneficial for the consumer.”

    The meeting, which lasted almost two hours during which several rounds of tea were served, could not be termed a stormy one, but the waiting journalists outside Chopra’s office in Shastri Bhawan in Delhi did get glimpses of some glum faces.

    Others who attended today’s meeting included additional secretary (broadcasting) I&B ministry Vijay Singh, Doordarshan director-general SY Quraishi, Sony Entertainment TV India’s distribution head Shantonu Aditya, Television Eighteen Ltd’s MD Raghav Bahl and TV-18’s CEO Haresh Chawla.

    According to Chopra, the broadcasters also have no problem with the notification that disallows bundling of channels so that the consumer has the freedom to choose a channel of his choice without any pressure to get add-ons too.

    STAR SEEKS CLARIFICATION ON ZEE’S HITS:
    The Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star India has sought clarifications from the partner-turned-competitior Subhash Chandra’s ZeeTelefilms on the headend in the sky project before deciding whether Star channels would be offered on Zee’s HITS platform or not.

    “They had written to us (on HITS) and we have sought some clarification from Zee on uplinking of channels and such issues, but have got no reply yet from them,” Nair responded, when asked by indiantelevision.com whether Star India is willing to join a HITS platform promoted by Zee.

    According to Nair, the clarification was sought some one month back.

    “Unless we get a clarification on such issues (HITS would entail re-uplinking channels from India after being encrypted at a master facility of the service provider), I cannot say whether Star would join a HITS platform or not,” Nair said.