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Tag: Prasar Bharati

  • DD’s new revenue mantra: big films

    DD’s new revenue mantra: big films

    NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Doordarshan has decided to attempt maximizing revenue through its film slots by showing as many blockbuster films as possible during the remaining part of the year.

    This assumes importance in view of the fact that DD does not have exclusive cricket telecast rights, which brought in sizeable revenue during the previous years.

    A high level committee headed by Prasar Bharati CEO Brijeshwar Singh has been formed to ensure smooth implementation of the rejuvenated film policy.
    The other members of the panel are Doordarshan DG L D Mandloi and Rajat Bhargava, additional DG (finance).
    DD has five film slots in a week — the Friday night feature film, Saturday night feature film, Retrospective of Sunday Afternoons, Bio-Scope serialized feature film slot and the slot on Hindi belt network.

    The films will be marketed by Prasar Bharati’s marketing divisions in Mumbai and Delhi and will be largely procured through National Films Development Corporation.
    Prasar Bharati has chosen films to be the revenue growth engines as ananalysis of revenue flow has shown that they have the maximum potential to deliver net revenue.

    For example, Friday feature film is a clear winner. Besides being the most watched feature film on television in all TV homes with ratings of 7 and above (as per TAM data), it also fetches net revenue in excess of Rs 8 million per film.

    The Saturday feature film is a close second with a net revenue realization of approximately Rs 7 million. Retrospective on Sundays, which saw films of eminent artistes, have a niche audience appeal, yet manages to draw sizeable revenue.

    Since last one and a half years, Doordarshan has been showing blockbuster films on its national network on a regular basis.

    Earlier, the frequency was once a month, which was interspersed with other new/ recent films. Gone are the days when DD scheduled only old movies.

    An internal analysis by Prasar Bharati, which manages DD, has also shown that whenever blockbuster films were scheduled, they not only managed to garner higher revenue, but also attracted a sizeable C&S home audience.

    Shah Rukh Khan starrer Swades and Akshay Kumar-Priyanka Chopra starrer Aitraz being some recent examples.

    The blockbusters offer DD another plus. They helped promote other serials and programmes of the national broadcaster, especially offering a sample to those C&S home visitors to DD.

    Last financial year ended 31 March 2006, Doordarshan earned revenue of Rs 9.6 billion. The present effort is to gear up the national broadcaster to meet the challenges and repeat its good performance this year too.

    Giving effect to the new film strategy, DD has scheduled following hit films in the forthcoming days: Munnabhai MBBS on 29 September 2006, Jism on 30 September, Hum Saath Saath Hain on 1 October on Hindi belt network and Swades on 2 October being a Dussehra / Gandhi Jayanti holiday.

    To mark the occasion of birth anniversary of Father of the Nation, DD will also be showing Gandhi Se Mahatma Tak as part of serialized film slot, Bio Scope, on Monday, Tuesday Wednesday (2-4 October).

    Koi Mil Gaya, Mujh Se Shaadi Karoge, Virudh are among other big films lined for October.

  • Reliance Bluemagic receives LoI for DTH ops

    Reliance Bluemagic receives LoI for DTH ops

    MUMBAI: The direct-to-home broadcasting segment is set to witness some more action with the government clearing the application of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises. The proposed DTH project under the brand name Reliance Bluemagic, a subsidiary of Reliance Energy, has received the letter of intent (LoI).

    This will be the fourth licence issued by the government to a private operator. Nonetheless, even after the letter of intent is issued, it would be a while before the letter of approval and an actual DTH license is handed over to the Reliance Bluemagic.

    According to sources close to the government and DTH developments, the information and broadcasting ministry has issued the LoI. “The absence of any foreign investment or partner has simplified matters,” the officials pointed out.

    When contacted, senior officials at Reliance refused comment on the developments.

    Once the letter of approval is issued, the company would be granted a licence after depositing a bank guarantees of Rs 100 million.

    Reliance Bluemagic had applied under for a DTH licence under the name ‘Reliance Skymagic last year. However, News Corp had issued a caution notice, asserting ‘Sky’ was its registered trademark under which the company runs its DTH operations in UK under the name of BSkyB. Consequently, the trademark Sky was also registered in India.

    In the present scenario, besides pubcaster Prasar Bharati, which manages DD Direct, there are two private DTH service providers. Dish TV and Tata-Sky already operating. Although South Indian media major Sun Group’s Sun Direct TV received the LoI last year, it has yet to kick off operations.

    The government has set stringent entry norms for DTH operators. According to the norms, the applicant has to be registered under the Indian Company’s Act, 1956, while its total foreign equity holding should not exceed 49 per cent, of which not more than 20 per cent should be the FDI component. It also says the applicant company must have Indian management control, with majority representatives on board, and the company’s CEO must be a resident Indian.

    Reliance’s presence in DTH, FM radio and other segments of media and entertainment means that the group will enable itself to leverage its brand across all platforms.

  • All India Radio elected to ABU Administrative Council

    All India Radio elected to ABU Administrative Council

    MUMBAI: All India Radio has been elected as a Member of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, ABU’s Administrative Council. In the election held at the 43rd General Assembly of the ABU in Beijing, China, AIR was elected for a two year term on the 14 Member Administrative Council, which functions as the executive of the premier broadcasting union in the world.

    AIR has also been appointed to the Policy & Strategy Group of ABU.

    In another event at the on going ABU General Assembly, the Engineer-in-Chief of All India Radio, Mr A S Guin has been honoured with the ABU Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of broadcast engineering in AIR and Doordarshan, the release adds.

    Formed in 1964, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations with more than 150 members from 55 countries of the Asia-Pacific region. It provides a platform for co-operation in the field of news and programme exchange, acquisition of broadcast rights, training and technical consultancy. Doordarshan and All India Radio are among the most active members of the ABU.

    Brijeshwar Singh, CEO, Prasar Bharati and A S Guin, Engineer-in-Chief, All India Radio are representing AIR and Doordarshan at the Beijing General Assembly.

  • AIR’s B Singh acting CEO of Prasar Bharati; Mandloi officiating Doordarshan DG

    AIR’s B Singh acting CEO of Prasar Bharati; Mandloi officiating Doordarshan DG

    NEW DELHI: Director-general of All India Radio, Brijeshwar Singh, has been given additional charge of looking after pubcaster Prasar Bharati as its chief executive.

    He succeeds Navin Kumar whose term as DG Doordarshan and acting CEO of Prasar Bharati ended on 23 August 2006.
    A 1975 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Singh has been heading All India Radio since February 2004.

    Under his stewardship, All India Radio clocked an impressive 70 per cent revenue growth during 2005-06, even while keeping intact its focus on public service programming.

    AIR earned Rs 2.7 billion in revenue during 2005-06.

    Singh’s keen interest in classical music enabled AIR to bring out quality CDs under the brand name Akashvani Sangeet, deriving rare content from the archives of All India Radio.

    An active participant in broadcasting issues, Singh is also the
    vice-president of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association.

    Prasar Bharati is not having a regular CEO since K S Sarma stepped down on June 30, 2006 on attaining the age of super annuation.

    A regular CEO will be appointed by a three-member high level committee headed by the Vice President of India.
    MANDLOI ACTING DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF DD

    Meanwhile, LD Mandloi, the senior most deputy director-general of Doordarshan, has been named as the officiating director-general (DG) of the television pubcaster.

    Mandloi, a programming side person, unlike his bureaucrat predecessors, will look after day-to-day functioning of Doordarshan till a full-time DG is appointed.

    According to sources in the government — despite autonomy through an Act of Parliament, Prasar Bharati still remains an extension of the establishment — 17 applications have been received till now for the post of Doordarshan DG.

    However, a regular DG of DD can only be selected once a full-time CEO of Prasar Bharati is in place.

    After former information and broadcasting secretary Bhaskar Ghose in the late 1980s and early 1990s, DD has seldom had a full-time DG.

    Ghose, father-in-law of CNN-IBN chief editor Rajdeep Sardesai, presently is the chief executive of Lok Sabha TV, an initiative of the Speaker of Lower House of Parliament. The channel is dedicated to airing proceedings of the Lower House, apart from other serious programming.

  • DD to be available now in Canada, US

    DD to be available now in Canada, US

    NEW DELHI: Finally pubcaster Doordarshan will be available in the US and Canada.

    Prasar Bharati, which manages DD, has said that it has entered into agreements for the distribution of DD India channel in Canada and the US.

    Briefing fellow parliamentarians, information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi said earlier in the week that a similar distribution agreement for the UK is under finalization.

    In the UK, DD is negotiating to be on the News Corp-controlled BSkyB’s pay platform.

    DD India carries news bulletins, features on topical events, entertainment programmes, feature films, music and dance shows, including children programmes in some regional languages.

    Dasmunsi said that the content medley of DD India is expected to serve the interests and needs of the Indian diaspora.

    A study on the reach and impact of DD India channel in Middle-East countries is also on the anvil.

    DD, AIR INITIATIVES ON REVENUE EARNINGS

    All India Radio (AIR) is charging tower rentals (including maintenance charges) for the infrastructures being offered to private broadcasters during Phase-II FM service as part of revenue generating prospects.

    The rentals for category A+, A, B, C and D cities are Rs. 1.3 million, Rs 0.8 million, Rs 0.4 million, Rs. 0.3 million and Rs. 0.18 million respectively.

    According to the I&B minister, Doordarshan has also decided to charge a carriage fee amounting to Rs. 10 million per annum from private channels that are interested in becoming part of the bouquet of channels carried on its DD Direct Plus subscription free DTH service.

    What’s more, AIR has introduced on line computerized booking system (Central Window Booking) at its Central Sales Unit, Mumbai, which has been linked to all its 15 Commercial Broadcasting Service (CBS) centres for all advertisers and clients.

    The minister said AIR is constantly devising new programming formats to suit local audiences. Local variation components of Vividh Bharati stations on AM frequencies are being increased to augment listenership and attract more
    advertisers.

    AIR has also introduced 1:1 bonus scheme for spot booking to attract more advertisers.

    For the fiscal ended 31 March 2006, AIR generated revenues of over Rs 1oo crore.

    Doordarshan too has taken various steps with a view to increase revenues, including opening marketing divisions in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore and setting up of Development Communication Division
    for securing business and catering to the publicity requirements of various government agencies and public sector undertakings.

    Cable operators have now been given the option to download signals either in analog or digital mode to improve the transmission quality as digitalization increases.

    DD’s commercial rate card is being constantly reviewed and revised to bring it in tune with market practices and the amount of bank guarantee to be submitted by accredited agencies increased from Rs 300,000 to Rs. 25 lakhs.

    Dasmunsi also said that an empowered committee, comprising Prasar Bharati CEO and other senior members of the board have been constituted for quick decisions in commercial matters and payment behaviour is regularly
    monitored.

    For FY06 DD’s total revenue earnings were over Rs. 10 billion.

  • Lanka Tri-series: SC rules Ten Sports’ need not share feed with DD

    Lanka Tri-series: SC rules Ten Sports’ need not share feed with DD

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court today ruled in favour of Taj Television, owner of Ten Sports, while restraining pubcaster Prasar Bharati from interfering with the live transmission of the upcoming Sri Lanka tri-series involving India as well.

    India, South Africa and hosts Sri Lanka will figure in the one-day tri-series to be played from 14 to 29 August on the island nation.

    The ruling of the court, valid for the next three months, is not restricted only to cricket but also includes forthcoming major hockey (women’s Champions Trophy and World Cup) and the US Open tennis tournament that Ten Sports holds telecast rights to.

    While delivering its verdict, the apex court applied a similar yardstick to the one it had used ahead of India’s tour to the West Indies in early May. It had then ordered that Ten Sports had exclusive telecast rights to the series and need not share it with the pubcaster.

    Dubai-headquartered Taj Television had in its original petition on the matter sought a stay on the government guidelines making it mandatory for sports channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

    It also contended that the court should be guided by the earlier verdict in the India-Pakistan series wherein DD was just a carrier of the Ten Sports signals on its terrestrial network and had also deposited a sum of Rs 150 million in the court towards possible compensation to Ten Sports.

    The matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Markandey Katju. The Bench had earlier issued notices to the information and broadcasting ministry and Prasar Bharati on Ten Sports’ plea.

    In its plea, Ten Sports contended that it had acquired exclusive live telecast rights for all these events. In particular, it had acquired rights for the tri-series for four years from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board at a cost of about Rs 2.18 billion.

    It is worth noting that Ten Sports’ rights to Sri Lanka cricket, which it has held since 1 January 2004, comes to a close on to 31 December 2006.

  • Lanka Tri-series: SC rules Ten Sports’ need not share feed with DD

    Lanka Tri-series: SC rules Ten Sports’ need not share feed with DD

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court today ruled in favour of Taj Television, owner of Ten Sports, while restraining pubcaster Prasar Bharati from interfering with the live transmission of the upcoming Sri Lanka tri-series involving India as well.

    India, South Africa and hosts Sri Lanka will figure in the one-day tri-series to be played from 14 to 29 August on the island nation.

    The ruling of the court, valid for the next three months, is not restricted only to cricket but also includes forthcoming major hockey (women’s Champions Trophy and World Cup) and the US Open tennis tournament that Ten Sports holds telecast rights to.

    While delivering its verdict, the apex court applied a similar yardstick to the one it had used ahead of India’s tour to the West Indies in early May. It had then ordered that Ten Sports had exclusive telecast rights to the series and need not share it with the pubcaster.

    Dubai-headquartered Taj Television had in its original petition on the matter sought a stay on the government guidelines making it mandatory for sports channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

    It also contended that the court should be guided by the earlier verdict in the India-Pakistan series wherein DD was just a carrier of the Ten Sports signals on its terrestrial network and had also deposited a sum of Rs 150 million in the court towards possible compensation to Ten Sports.

    The matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Markandey Katju. The Bench had earlier issued notices to the information and broadcasting ministry and Prasar Bharati on Ten Sports’ plea.

    In its plea, Ten Sports contended that it had acquired exclusive live telecast rights for all these events. In particular, it had acquired rights for the tri-series for four years from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board at a cost of about Rs 2.18 billion.

    It is worth noting that Ten Sports’ rights to Sri Lanka cricket, which it has held since 1 January 2004, comes to a close on to 31 December 2006.

  • Lanka Tri-series: SC to rule on Ten Sports’ plea

    Lanka Tri-series: SC to rule on Ten Sports’ plea

    MUMBAI: All eyes in the sports broadcast business are on the Supreme Court today, as it is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the plea filed by Taj Television, owner of Ten Sports, seeking a directive to pubcaster Prasar Bharati against interfering with the live transmission of the upcoming Sri Lanka tri-series involving India as well.

    Ten Sports, which holds exclusive telecast rights to Sri Lanka cricket, will obviously be hoping for a ruling similar to the one it secured ahead of India’s tour to the West Indies in early May. The apex court had then ordered that Ten Sports had exclusive telecast rights to the series and need not share it with the pubcaster.

    Ten Sports’ petition is not restricted only to cricket but also includes forthcoming major hockey (women’s Champions Trophy and World Cup) and tennis events (US Open) that it holds telecast rights to.

    The matter will be heard by a Bench of Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Markandey Katju, the Press Trust of India has reported. The Bench had earlier issued notices to the information and broadcasting ministry and Prasar Bharati on Ten Sports’ plea.

    It is worth noting that Ten Sports’ rights to Sri Lanka cricket, which it has held since 1 January 2004, comes to a close on to 31 December 2006.

  • No sole sport rights to Doordarshan: Govt

    No sole sport rights to Doordarshan: Govt

    NEW DELHI: The Indian government today clarified that it was not working towards a mechanism to give pubcaster Doordarshan the sole rights to sporting events in the country.

    The government, however, has issued an order on 5 April 2006 that mandates live feeds of a number of specified sporting events of national importance held in India or abroad to be shared with Prasar Bharati by private broadcasters.

    In case of cricket events, these shall include all matches featuring India and the finals and semi finals of international events, information and broadcasting minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi informed Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) today.

    He also said that the government has no proposal to set up a regulatory authority to monitor and regulate earnings through telecasting of sporting events.

    However, the government is contemplating establishment of an autonomous authority to regulate the broadcasting sector.

    The minister, however, did not give any time frame to bring about legislation to regulate the broadcasting sector. Earlier, Dasmunsi had said that his ministry was working towards introducing a Broadcasting Bill in Parliament in the monsoon session, which started on24 July.

    Severe criticism of a draft Bill, doing the rounds of various ministries for feedback on it, has prompted the I&B ministry for the moment from not listing it on the agenda of Parliament’s present session that will close on 30 August.

  • GSLV to launch Insat-4C on 10 July

    GSLV to launch Insat-4C on 10 July

    MUMBAI: The countdown is on for the launch of GSLV-F02, which will be carrying the state-of-the-art communication satellite Insat-4C into space. The launch is expected to take place around 4:30 pm on Monday, 10 July, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced today.

    Preparations for the launch are proceeding satisfactorily at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota from the second launch pad. The launch vehicle systems have been integrated and checked out, Isro said in a statement issued today.

    Insat-4C was transported from Isro Satellite Centre, Bangalore to SDSC SHAR in the first week of June 2006 and since then, it has undergone detailed checks. After propellant filling, the spacecraft has been integrated with GSLV.

    The Mission Readiness Review is planned on 6 July, 2006 followed by the meeting of Launch Authorisation Board which will clear the launch. In the next few days, a complete checkout of the fully integrated launch vehicle along with satellite will be carried out. The final countdown and fuel filling for the liquid propellant stages are expected to commence on the morning of 9 July.

    Insat-4C is the second satellite in the Insat-4 series. The first, Insat-4A, was launched in December last year, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana by an Ariane5 vehicle, which also carried the Meteosat weather Satellite for Eumetsat.

    Isro spokespersons have been pointing out that using indigeneous launch vehicles will result in a saving of about 30-40 per cent or Rs 1.5 billion in expenses per launch. With four satellites to be launched by GSLV Mark II and Mark III, the savings thus will be substantial. Isro will, however, be using the services of Arianespace to launch the Insat 4B satellite from Kouru next year.

    “With the commissioning of the Rs 3.5 billion ($75million) second launch pad at Sriharikota, India is the only country to have such a state-of-the-art facility to launch different types of vehicles Ranging from PSLV (polar satellite launch vehicle), GSLV Mark-1, GSLV Mark-II to the upcoming GSLV Mark-III in the four-tonne class,” a top Isro official is reported to have said sometime back.

    It’s for the first time that India’s space agency is putting into orbit a two-tonne class satellite. Equipped with 12 high-powered Ku band transponders (Like the earlier Insat-4A), the 2,180 kg spacecraft is designed for a mission life of 10 years.

    Insat-4C is designed to provide direct-to-home (DTH) television services, facilitate video picture transmission (VPT) and digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) as well as to serve the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for its VSAT connectivity. The 2,168 kg Insat-4C has a mission life of ten years.

    Insat-4C will be used for broadcasting 150 TV channels through the DTH platform. Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group has booked space on Insat 4C for its DTH venture Sun Direct. All the Ku-band transponders on the Insat 4A satellite, meanwhile, have been leased to the Tata-Star consortium, which will soon be launching the Tata Sky DTH service.

    Other than Tata Sky and Sun Direct, there is also Anil Ambani’s DTH venture Reliance Bluemagic, which will be rolling out in due course.

    At present, DD Direct Plus managed by the pubcaster Prasar Bharati and the Subhash Chandra owned Dish TV are the two operators offering DTH services in the country.

    Salient features of Insat-4C:

    Orbit: Geostationary (74 degree East Longitude)
    Co-located with Insat-3C, KALPANA-1 and EDUSAT
    Lift-off Mass: 2,168 kg
    Mission: 10 years
    Communication Payloads: 12 Ku-band 36 MHz bandwidth Transponders employing 140 W Travelling Wave Tube Amplifiers (TWTAs) to provide an Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) of 51.5 dBW at Edge of Coverage (EOC) with footprint covering Indian mainland; Ku-band Beacon as an aid to users to lock on to the satellite signal