ITV

Tag: Rajan Kaaicker

  • MEN restores DD Sports feed to Hathway in Mumbai

    MEN restores DD Sports feed to Hathway in Mumbai

    NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: Modi Entertainment Network, the distributors of DD sports and the Star India-backed MSO Hathway Cable and Datacom, appear to have declared a timeout in their tussle over paid connectivity numbers.

    As of 10 am this morning, DD Sports, along with FTV, Hallmark and Ten Sports, were back on Hathway in Mumbai. And fears that the Hathway-MEN face-off might spread to the Capital proved unfounded as well on the day when the second cricket Test match between Indian and West Indies began. National broadcaster Doordarshan has exclusive telecast rights for the series.

    It was following the MSO’s refusal to accept DD Sports’ recent monthly subscription price hike from Rs 7.15 to Rs 8.95 that MEN on 11 October switched off its feed in Mumbai and some other parts of Maharashtra.

    When contacted, Rajan Kaaicker, CEO distribution group, MEN, would offer no details except to say that the two sides had reached an understanding.

    It needs recalling that MEN has been taking out advertisements in The Times of India for three consecutive days explaining its stand on the matter and decrying Hathway’s refusal to accept its terms. Whether this was in any way linked to the “understanding” that has been arrived at was not clear at the time of posting.

  • After Mumbai, Delhi may also see DD Sports off Hathway

    After Mumbai, Delhi may also see DD Sports off Hathway

    NEW DELHI / MUMBAI: The Hathway-Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) face-off seems to be spreading. According to indications, if negotiations do not work out between the two parties, DD Sports, along with FTV, Hallmark and Ten Sports, are likely to go off air on Hathway cable networks in the Capital by Thursday, a day when the second cricket Test match between Indian and West Indies begins and for which DD has exclusive telecast rights.

    DD Sports is not available in parts of Pune as well. The Pune Associated Cable (PAC) network has been quoted as saying that it will continue to block the channel as the network could not afford to pay the revised rates.

    According to sources in Hathway, meanwhile, MEN representatives held a couple of rounds of talks with the former on increasing the number of subscribers of each of the channels that MEN distributes. “All of them have ended in a stalemate till date and if things don’t work out we are sure MEN will switch off the decoders,” a senior executive of Hathway in Delhi told indiantelevision.com.

    MEN, a KK Modi group company, looks after the distribution of DD Sports, Hallmark, FTV and Ten Sports. Rajan Kaaicker, CEO distribution group, MEN, was however, noncommittal when asked about whether MEN would switch off Hathway in Delhi like it did in Mumbai.

    According to the Hathway sources, MEN is demanding that for each of the four channels that it distributes, Hathway should declare about 160,000 subscriber base. This means that Hathway, the multi-system operator, would have to shell out more money for each of the four channels, including DD Sports.

    At the moment, cable operators get these four channels for about Rs 24 per subscriber per month.

    What is interesting is that this face-off between MEN and the MSO has come at a time when the cricket fever is high, especially after India’s stupendous performance in Mumbai during the first Test.

    It is also interesting that this is not one of the one-off face-offs. Hathway and Sony Entertainment TV India, in the recent past, in Delhi had run into each other over payments and increasing the subscriber base. The cable subscribers had to do without SET Max during the initial days of the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy.

  • MEN to add four channels by November

    MEN to add four channels by November

    Modi Entertainment Network expects to add four channels to its bouquet by November.

    The distribution network, which has national broadcaster Doordarshan’s DD Sports, the Dubai-based Taj Entertainment Network’s Ten Sports, the Hallmark channel and the two French channels Fashion TV and music channel MCM as part of its bouquet, will be adding on four more channels by November, Rajan Kaaicker, CEO distribution group, MEN, told indiantelevision.com today.

    Kaaicker, said discussions were at an advanced stage and the new additions would include a sports channel, a news channel, and two music channels catering to separate categories. Kaaicker, while refusing to divulge the names of the channels, however, described them as “amongst the best of the best” in their individual categories. Queried as to whether the channels would include any standalone channels already available in India, Kaaicker was however, noncommital.

  • FTV connectivity higher than HBO, AXN, CNBC, says MEN CEO

    FTV connectivity higher than HBO, AXN, CNBC, says MEN CEO

    It may be fashion consciousness, it may be something else. But French fashion channel FTV is expanding its reach at a fast clip, or so it is claimed.

    According to Modi Entertainment Network CEO, distribution, Rajan Kaaicker, FTV’s paid connectivity has crossed three million across India. That is higher than better known channels like movie channel HBO, action channel AXN and business news channel CNBC India, asserts Kaaicker. For good measure, Kaaicker adds that this figure compares well with Hindi entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television (AXN), which according to him has a paid reach of only around 3.5 million.

    When asked for his reaction, Shantonu Aditya, senior V-P, franchise channels & distribution, was quite dismissive of Kaaicker’s assertions, saying that that both in the case of SET and AXN, the numbers were far higher than what was being quoted.

    Kaaicker gave the numbers while claiming that most big MSOs in the major metros were carrying FTV, with some of them carrying the channel on the prime band (RPG in Kolkata was one such, Kaaicker says). Questioned as to why FTV was not being carried on west Mumbai-based MSO Seven Star Cable Network, Kaaicker said a deal had been signed and FTV would be available on the network from 1 April.

    FTV is also in the process of expanding its Indian fashion band from the current one hour to two hours with top designers like Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahilani seeing in the channel a chance to showcase their offerings, says Kaaicker.

    FTV is beaming off PanamSat-10 with uplink from Singapore. The channel is being bundled with DD Sports and Hallmark with a combined package pricing of Rs 13.25 per subscriber per month.

  • Raids put a stop to stealing of Ten Sports signals in Mumbai

    Raids put a stop to stealing of Ten Sports signals in Mumbai

    No more unauthorised reception of the FIFA world cup soccer. Armed with a restraining order issued by the Delhi High Court last night, applicable across the country, Ten Sports has clamped down on cable ops in Mumbai city who have been illegally transmitting the channel since yesterday. 

    Led by a court-appointed commissioner, teams from the channel’s distributors Modi Entertainment, have been scouting the western suburbs, including several areas in Bandra, Andheri East and Dahisar and have successfully shut down the decoders that have been poaching the signals from authorised MSOs who had signed up with Ten Sports.

    MEN CEO, distribution, Rajan Kaaicker, said the five-page court order that had been obtained, had put paid to attempts to steal signals by affiliates of Hathway and InCableNet, which together cover 75 per cent of Mumbai city.

    Kaaicker concluded by saying that the proof of the value that Ten Sports brought to the table could be seen from the fact that across the country all the major MSOs had signed on for the new channel. The only exceptions were IncableNet and Hathway in Mumbai and the Zee Group’s SitiCable in Delhi, Kaaicker asserted.

    Asked to respond to the complaint raised by InCableNet that MEN’s demand for a declared subscriber connectivity of 200,000 (almost on par with what ESPN Star Sports gets) was absolutely unreasonable considering it was a new channel that had just got off the ground, Kaaicker had a riposte ready. According to him, purely going by the India cricket content on offer, after the India-England series in August, what Ten has would in no way be less than ESS. Kaaicker said that as per the information available to him, even the India-New Zealand series that was scheduled in December was likely to be cancelled as most teams would be busy preparing for the March 2003 ICC World Cup in South Africa.

    An ESPN Sports spokesperson dismissed Kaaicker’s assertions by saying the issue was the present context and not future projections. “In 2002 ESS has a total of 82 days of international cricket involving India. What does the competition have?” he asked. 

    After the current India-West Indies one-day series concludes tomorrow night, the Indian team would be in England before the month was out to play a triangular One-Day series involving Sri Lanka as well which kicks off on 27 June with the final to be played on 13 July. 

    From 25 July, a four-test series between India and England is there that concludes 9 September. Then in November India will travel to New Zealand to play two tests and seven one-day internationals. 

    “Thats a total of six months of India cricket on ESPN Star Sports,” the spokesperson concluded. 

  • FTV encrypting 1 November

    FTV encrypting 1 November

    Come 1 November and French fashion channel FTV will become an encrypted feed.

    Preparations for the conversion to a digital feed are on in full swing, says Rajan Kaaicker, CEO Distribution Group, Modi Entertainment Network, the channel’s current distributer in India. According to Kaaicker, 60 per cent of the seeding operations concerning distribution of set top boxes have been completed. The full rollout is expected to be complete by 15 November, he says.

    Kaaicker said Modi was using the more expensive Scientific Atlanta set tops costing roughly Rs 33,000 and had no plans to subsidise them. He however said that there would be various payment packages that would be worked out with operators. Kaaicker would not reveal how many boxes he planned to distribute across the country.

    Queried as to whether distribution of the channel would be restricted post-encryption considering its niche character, Kaaicker said all-India distribution was what he was looking at as FTV was being positioned as a youth and lifestyle channel. He said currently FTV had a viewer base of 23 million and that was the viewership he expected post-encryption as well.

    As to what price the channel was being offered, Kaaicker would only say it would be part of a package deal. Cable industry sources reveal that MEN is bundling FTV along with Hallmark and DD Sports, the two other channels it currently distributes along with French music channel MCM. The cost for all three channels has been put at Rs 13.15 in the metros. The sources say that for the present no price tag is being put on FTV but the costs of both DD Sports and Hallmark have been hiked and the softener as it were is that FTV comes along with the other two. According to the sources, DD Sports which was earlier priced at Rs 5.50 will now cost Rs 7.15 while Hallmark will go up from Rs 3 to Rs 6.

    How the cable operators will respond to this move is still unclear though. It should be noted that representatives of two MSOs in Mumbai said they were yet to receive notification on the issue. The representative of a third MSO, while acknowledging that they had received an intimation, said a decision had yet to be taken as to whether to accept the new package rates.

    The question that has no clear answer is who would be willing to pay for FTV. It seems to attract a very fragmented viewer base and that too at odd hours. One cable operator had this insight to offer though. According to him, the channel is very popular in the smaller centres for its “hot” content.

    It is also true that the monies coming to FTV through ad sales is zilch and moving to a pay mode makes sense if for no other reason than the fact that a regular income source is established.

    FTV beams off the Asiasat 2 satellite.

  • Modi Entertainment hopes to push FTV’s ad sales

    Modi Entertainment hopes to push FTV’s ad sales

    Modi Entertainment Network (MEN) Television was in the process of working out a plan to increase ad sales for the French channel Fashion TV CEO Rajan Kaaicker said, a day after being served a legal notice by B4U Television Network chief distribution officer Debashish De for breach of contract over a distribution and marketing agreement the two parties had signed.

     

    B4U’s contract with Fashion TV runs till 2005 and the deal signed between FTV and MEN on 9 August was illegal, De has said therefore the notice. Henceforth, both B4U Entertainment (soon to be B4U movies) and B4U Music would be handled by the network itself, De said.

     

    Putting forth MEN’s position in the matter, Kaaicker said FTV had terminated its agreement with B4U over two months previously and the approach for a deal had been initiated by FTV. MEN was just one among a number of major players it had approached for a tie-up, Kaaicker While admitting that he had received a legal notice from B4U he said MEN had in no way violated any of the terms of its contract with the network and added that his lawyers would be filing a suitable response in due course. Kaaicker said that in fact it was B4U that was in breach of contract because MEN had honoured its part of the bargain in full and would continue to do so.

     

    On what the agreement with FTV entailed, Kaaicker said Men’s brief was not only to distribute the channel but also to work out ways to increase ad revenues (virtually non-existant at this juncture). As to what were the initiatives that were being introduced to achieve this, Kaaicker could provide no details except to say that over the next quarter the results would be seen. Reacting to reports that the fashion channel was in the process of going pay, Kaaicker said it was not an option at all at this point. The focus at present was to promote the channel and increase ad revenues, he added.